Luckily, William Seward survived an attack by assassin Lewis Powell. The assistant secretary of state on April 15, 1865, was Frederick W. Seward, the son of William Seward. General Grant may have run for president as a compromise candidate, but other prominent Republicans included Seward, Colfax, Thaddeus Stevens, and Benjamin Wade. Among American heroes, Lincoln continues to have a unique appeal for his fellow countrymen and also for people of other lands. The former Confederate states wouldn’t have been involved since they weren’t readmitted to the union. *Everything counts! Abraham Lincoln may be your favorite President, and perhaps you think you know him well. The Democrats were also divided and had been badly beaten in the 1864 presidential campaign. We depend on donations from exceptional readers, but fewer than 2% give. The assistant secretary of state on April 15, 1865, was Frederick W. Seward, the son of William Seward.

“He does not appear to be have ever recovered from the disappointment of his defeat in 1866,” the article stated. Johnson was also a target on that fateful night, but his would-be assassin failed to show up. Frederick Seward was also seriously injured defending his father during Powell’s assassination attempt. Now its your turn, "The more we share The more we have". If Johnson had died, an acting President would be appointed until a special election could be held to elect a new President (and not a Vice President). The act was changed in 1886 and 1947 to deal with different scenarios. The Republican Party was already split between its Radical and Moderate wings. The 20th Amendment addressed what happens if a president-elect can’t take office, and the 25th Amendment cleared up the succession of a new Vice President and what happens when a president is temporarily unable to perform his or her duties. And if Foster wasn’t available, Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax would have been next, and last, in line to succeed Lincoln and Johnson. A Unionist Democrat from Tennessee, Johnson was chosen as Abraham Lincoln's running-mate in the 1864 election, and became President after Lincoln was assassinated on April 15, 1865. And what would have happened in the special presidential election of November 1865? Since the office was established in 1789, 44 men have served as president. Get the National Constitution Center’s weekly roundup of constitutional news and debate. We don't have salespeople. Scott Bomboy is the editor-in-chief of the National Constitution Center, Recent Constitution Daily Stories About Lincoln, 50 interesting facts about Abraham Lincoln’s life, On this day, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation changes history, The forgotten man who almost became president after Lincoln. Foster also was cited for being above the politics that led to his Senate defeat in 1866. And what would have happened in the special presidential election of November 1865? We're sure you are busy so we'll make this quick: Today we need your help. Michael McConnell, Adam Cox, and Cristina Rodríguez discuss. According to his obituary, Foster was “a prominent figure in congressional life, as a clear and forcible debater upon great public questions, and as an unsurpassed presiding officer in the Senate, that he was most widely known and will be best remembered.”. General Winfield Scott Hancock had presidential ambitions in later years, and he had personally supervised the executions in the Lincoln assassination case. The 20th Amendment addressed what happens if a president-elect can’t take office, and the 25th Amendment cleared up the succession of a new vice president and what happens when a president is temporarily unable to perform his or her duties. The Republican Party was already split between its Radical and Moderate wings. From what we know about Lafayette Sabine Foster, he was a conservative Republican who was named as the president pro tempore of the Senate about a month before Lincoln’s death. His lenient Reconstruction policies toward the South, and his vetoing of Reconstruction acts, embittered the Republicans in Congress which led to his political downfall and impeachment, though he was acquitted in the Senate by one vote.

Benjamin Wade replaced Foster as Senate president pro tempore in 1867 and nearly became acting president in 1868, when President Johnson avoided removal from office by one vote in a Senate trial. “He was no seeker after popularity, certainly he never descended to any truckling arts to secure it, and probably to some extent he lost favor by the high tone of both his character and bearing, and by the selectness of his friendships,” the obituary said. According to the rules of presidential succession in 1865, only Vice President Johnson, and not Seward or Grant, was in line to replace Lincoln if he died. Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. president (1861–65), who preserved the Union during the American Civil War and brought about the emancipation of the slaves. If Johnson had died, an acting president would be appointed until a special election could be held to elect a new president (and not a vice president). Three hours after Lincoln died, Johnson was sworn in as the 17th President of the United States. In honor of his 210th birthday, we've also included his first photograph ever and his last known photograph among other rare images. Back in 1865, Booth had convinced George Atzerodt, an acquaintance, to kill Johnson by setting a trap at the Kirkwood House hotel where the vice president lived. General Ulysses Grant was another possible target. But if John Wilkes Booth’s plot were entirely successful, a little-known Senator may have been thrust into the White House. Abraham Lincoln, a self-taught lawyer, legislator and vocal opponent of slavery, was elected 16th president of the United States in November 1860, shortly before the outbreak of … The National Constitution is a private nonprofit. If Atzerodt or another assailant had succeeded, Senator Foster would have been acting President until March 4, 1866. All questions can't be solved in 3 steps! Should the president be America’s immigration policymaker-in-chief? He was later a judge in his home state until his death in 1880. Former New York Governor Horatio Seymour, the eventual 1868 nominee, was a key player in the party, as was George H. Pendleton, the 1864 vice presidential nominee.

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Powered by. If Abraham Lincoln had died 1861, who would have replaced him? Try3Steps is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercialShareAlike4.0 International. Scott Bomboy is the editor-in-chief of the National Constitution Center. Andrew Johnson assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. “He does not appear to be have ever recovered from the disappointment of his defeat in 1866,” the article stated.

The person charged with the official notification of the states to start the special election process was the secretary of state. However, Atzerodt lost his nerve and didn’t attempt to kill the Vice President, even though he had a rented room above Johnson’s and a loaded gun was found in the room. The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a 4-year term by the people through the Electoral College.The officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.. Booth’s full plot included killing Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William Seward. The Times article said Foster remained bitter about losing his Senate seat. If Atzerodt or another assailant had succeeded, Senator Foster would have been acting president until March 4, 1866. Share our work with whom you care, along with your comment ...Kindly check our comments section, Sometimes our tool may wrong but not our users. Please support our educational mission of increasing awareness and understanding of the U.S. Constitution.