David Rice Atchison

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David Rice Atchison

Junior Senator, Missouri
In office December 4, 1844 – March 3, 1855
Preceded by	Lewis F. Linn
Succeeded by	James S. Green

Born	August 11, 1807 Frogtown, Kentucky, USA
Died	January 26, 1886 Gower, Missouri, USA
Political party	Democratic
Profession	Politician, Lawyer

David Rice Atchison (August 11, 1807 – January 26, 1886) was a mid-19th century Democratic United States Senator from Missouri. Frequently serving as President Pro Tempore of the Senate, he is probably best known as the focus of an urban legend claiming that, for one day in March 1849, he was de jure President of the United States.

1 Early life and Senate career
2 "President for One Day" Claim
3 Memorials
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early life and Senate career

Born in Frogtown (later named Kirklevington, which is now part of Lexington), Fayette County, Kentucky, Atchison was educated at Transylvania University in Lexington before becoming a lawyer and farmer in western Missouri.

In the early 1830s he began practicing law in Liberty, Missouri and was to defend Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, in his efforts get rights to vote in Daviess County, Missouri which was to ultimately erupt in the Mormon War.

He served in the Missouri General Assembly in 1834 and 1838, was named a county commissioner of Platte County, Missouri in 1841. In 1844 he was appointed to fill the vacancy left by the death of U.S. Lewis F. Linn.^[1] He was the first senator from western Missouri and, at age 36, the youngest Missourian at that time to enter the U.S. Senate.

Having a pro-slavery positions he locked horns with the other senator from Missouri Thomas Hart Benton over the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Act was to repeal the Missouri Compromise which had limited the expansion of slavery but was to clear the way for a process for Kansas and Nebraska to join the Union. Atchison was at the forefront of successful efforts to keep Benton from being re-elected.

In 1854 he was among the founders of Atchison, Kansas which was intended to be a settlement for pro-slavery settlers. The town (and county) were named for him.^[2] Atchison was to advocate that the First Transcontinental Railroad be built along the "central route" (as opposed to the "southern route" through Texas). His proposed route was to go through Atchison.

Due to his strong desire to see the Kansas territory be admitted to the Union as a slave state, after leaving office in 1855 he led pro-slavery "border ruffians" into Kansas, where they voted fraudulently in Kansas territorial elections in 1855-1857, setting the stage for the "Bleeding Kansas" crisis.

At the beginning of the American Civil War he assembled pro-Confederate forces in northern Missouri and joined up with Sterling Price and his Missouri State Guard during his first Missouri offensive in 1861. Union troops in the Battle of Liberty attempted to stop Atchison from crossing the Missouri River to join Price in the Battle of Lexington I.

After Confederate aims were crushed in the Battle of Pea Ridge, Atchison retired to his farm near Plattsburg, Missouri.

[edit] "President for One Day" Claim

Some claim that Atchison technically was President of the United States for one day—Sunday, March 4, 1849. Outgoing President James Polk's term expired at noon, March 4, and his successor, Zachary Taylor, refused to be sworn into office on the sabbath (Sunday). Taylor's Vice Presidential running mate, Millard Fillmore, likewise was not inaugurated. As President Pro Tempore, and therefore Acting Vice President, under the presidential succession law in place at the time, Atchison was believed by some to be Acting President.

However, while it is alleged that the offices of President and Vice President were vacant, Atchison in fact was not next in line. While the terms of James K. Polk and Vice President George Mifflin Dallas expired at noon, March 4, Atchison's tenure as President Pro Tempore did as well. He also never took the oath of office, although there is no constitutional requirement, then or now, for an Acting President to do so. No disability or lack of qualification prevented Taylor and Fillmore from taking office, and as they had been duly certified to take office at noon as President-elect and Vice President-elect, if Taylor was not President because he had not been sworn in as such, then Atchison, who hadn't been sworn in either, certainly wasn't.

Atchison was sworn in for his new term as President Pro Tempore minutes before both Fillmore and Taylor, which might theoretically make him Acting President for at least that length of time; however, this also implies that any time the Vice President is sworn in before the President, the Vice President is the de facto Acting President. Since this is a common occurrence, if Atchison is considered President, so must every Vice President whose inauguration preceded that of the President. Obviously this is not the case. Therefore, while one could argue that Atchison was legally President for a few minutes (though even this much is highly debatable), claims that he should be considered an "official" President are surely incorrect.

On the other hand, it can be argued Atchison was in fact "acting president" despite the argument above. The presidency is not vacated simply by the act of installing a new vice president. When Washington left office in 1797, Thomas Jefferson took the vice presidential oath of office prior to John Adams taking the presidential oath. Washington remained president until Adams was officially inaugurated on the day set by law. The same can be said in the case of Atchison. The "noon" expiration was not written into law until over a century later. The terms of the President and Vice President expired officially at midnight. This seems to be a general understanding, as each full presidential term is considered March 4, 1789 to March 3, 1797 for Washington's two terms and March 4, 1845 to March 3, 1849 for Polk's single term. Polk's term officially ended at midnight, and Taylor refused to be inaugurated until over twenty-four hours later. David Rice Atchison was elected President Pro Tempore "in the absence of the Vice President" for an undeclared term. By virtue of his continuance in office as a Senator from Missouri, and with Vice President Dallas' term expired, it is implied Atchison remained officially next in line to the presidency. President Atchison served from midnight March 4, 1849 until Taylor took the oath of office on March 5. In a letter to the State Department, dated February 20, 1821, Chief Justice John Marshall wrote, "The time of the actual President will expire, and that of the President elect commence, at twelve in the night of the 3d of March. It has been usual to take the oath at mid day on the 4th. Thus there has been uniformly and voluntarily an interval of twelve hours during which the Executive power could not be exercised."

When asked what he did on March 4, 1849, Atchison replied, "I went to bed. There had been two or three busy nights finishing up the work of the Senate, and I slept most of that Sunday." He jokingly boasted that his "presidency" was the "most honest administration this country ever had."

Despite this, a museum exhibit in his honor (claiming to be the country's smallest "presidential library") opened in February 2006 at the Atchison County Historical Museum in Atchison, Kansas.

Atchison was 41 years and 6 months old at the time of his "presidency," which, if it had been official, would still make him the youngest President in American history. Theodore Roosevelt, the youngest to serve, was 42 years and 11 months old when he was sworn in following the death of William McKinley in 1901, and John F. Kennedy, the youngest to be elected, was 43 years and 7 months old when he was inaugurated in 1961. As President Pro Tempore, Atchinson served as Acting Vice President on two separate occasions, from October 20, 1852 to March 4, 1853 and from April 18, 1853 to December 4, 1854 during Vice Presidential vacancies.

David Rice Atchison's tombstone.

[edit] Memorials

Atchison is buried in his home of Plattsburg, Missouri, where a statue honors him in front of the Clinton County Courthouse. His grave marker reads "President of the United States for One Day."

Atchison, Kansas is named for him. The town subsequently gave its name to the famous Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad.

[edit] See also

Places named for David Atchison

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Preceded by Lewis F. Linn	United States Senator (Class 3) from Missouri December 4, 1844 – March 3, 1855 Served alongside: Thomas Hart Benton and Henry S. Geyer	Succeeded by James S. Green
Preceded by Ambrose Hundley Sevier	*President pro tempore* of the United States Senate** August 8, 1846 – December 2, 1849	Succeeded by William R. King
Preceded by William R. King	*President pro tempore* of the United States Senate** December 20, 1852 – December 4, 1854	Succeeded by Lewis Cass