Atchison was president for only one day. The term of James K. Polk ended at noon on March 4, 1849, but because this was a Sunday, Zachary Taylor refused to be sworn in until the next day. Since Polk's vice president had resigned a few days earlier, by law the president pro tempore of the Senate automatically became president during this vacancy. That was Atchison. He later said, "I slept most of that Sunday." On his gravestone, it says, "President of U.S. one day."
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