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[[File:Ford sworn-in.jpg|thumb|Gerald Ford sworn in as the 38th president of the United States by Chief Justice Warren Burger on August 9, 1974 after the resignation of Richard Nixon.]]
The '''United States presidential line of succession''' is the order in which government officials replace the [[President of the United States]] if the president leaves office before an elected successor is [[inauguration|inaugurated]]. If the president dies, resigns or is removed from the office, the [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]] becomes president for the rest of the term. If the vice president is unable to serve, the [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] acts as president.

== Previous lines ==
The [[United States Constitution]] says that the [[Vice President of the United States|vice president of the United States]] is the person who will replace the president if the president is not able to continue.<ref>See [[:wikisource:Additional amendments to the United States Constitution#Amendment_XXV|United States Constitution, Amendment XXV]].</ref> In 1868, during the [[impeachment]] [[trial]] of President [[Andrew Johnson]], [[Benjamin Wade]] was the leader of the Senate, who nearly became president, as Johnson was found [[Innocence|not guilty]] by one [[vote]]. Johnson had previously served as vice  president for [[Abraham Lincoln]], and became president after Lincoln’s [[assassination]]. As a result, there was no vice president during Johnson’s presidency. 

In 1886, after the death of Vice President [[Thomas A. Hendricks]], [[United States Congress|Congress]] passed a law that took out the leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives from the line of succession.<ref name="mw">
{{cite web |url=http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/a_succession.htm |title=Succession to the Presidency - A Chronology |accessdate=21 October 2015}}</ref> The new person behind the vice president in line was [[Secretary of State]], followed by other [[United States Cabinet|Cabinet]] members.  The leaders of the Senate and House were restored to the line of succession by the Presidential Succession Act of 1947.<ref name="mw" />

== Present line of succession ==
Below is the current line of succession for the president of the United States:

{|
|+
|-
! <abbr title="Number in line">Number
! Office<ref name=wftvAPOTUS>{{cite news| last=Lord| first=Debbie| title=A president resigns, dies or is impeached: What is the line of succession?|url=https://www.wftv.com/news/trending-now/a-president-resigns-dies-or-is-impeached-what-is-the-line-of-succession/772080208| publisher=[[Cox Media Group]]| website=WFTV.com| date=June 18, 2018| access-date=June 18, 2018}}</ref>
! name
! colspan=3 |Party
|-
| 1
| [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]]
| [[Kamala Harris]]
| style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}" |
| Democrat 

|-
| 2
| [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House of Representatives]]
| [[Mike Johnson (politician)|Mike Johnson]]
| style="background: {{party color|Republican Party (US)}}" |
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]

|-
| 3
| [[President pro tempore of the United States Senate|President pro tempore of the Senate]]
| [[Patty Murray]]
| style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}" |
| Democrat

|-
| 4
| [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]]
| [[Antony Blinken]]
| style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}" |
| Democrat

|-
| 5
| [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]]
| [[Janet Yellen]] 
| style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}" |
| Democrat

|-
| 6
| [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]]
| [[Lloyd Austin]]
| style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}" |
| Democrat

|- 
| 7
| [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]]
| [[Merrick Garland]]
| style="background: blue" | 
| Democrat

|-
| 8
| [[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior]]
| [[Deb Haaland]] 
| style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}" |
| Democrat

|-
| 9
| [[United States Secretary of Agriculture|Secretary of Agriculture]]
| [[Tom Vilsack]]
| style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}" |
| Democrat

|-
| 10
| [[United States Secretary of Commerce|Secretary of Commerce]]
| [[Gina Raimondo]]
| style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}" |
| Democrat

|-
| 11
| [[United States Secretary of Labor|Secretary of Labor]]
| [[Julie Su]] (Acting)
| style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}" |
| Democrat

|-
| 12
| [[United States Secretary of Health and Human Services|Secretary of Health and Human Services]]
| [[Xavier Becerra]]
| style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}" |
| Democrat

|-
| 13
| [[United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development|Secretary of Housing and Urban Development]]
| [[Marcia Fudge]]
| style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}" |
| Democrat

|-
| 14
| [[United States Secretary of Transportation|Secretary of Transportation]]
| [[Pete Buttigieg]]
| style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}" |
| Democrat

|-style="background:#d2d2d2"
| 15
| [[United States Secretary of Energy|Secretary of Energy]]
| [[Jennifer Granholm]]{{efn-ua|Secretary of Energy [[Jennifer Granholm]] is not allowed to become acting president, as she is not a [[Natural-born-citizen clause|natural-born U.S. citizen]]. Granholm's citizenship was given through [[Naturalized citizen of the United States|naturalization]].}}
| style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}" |
| Democrat

|-
| 16
| [[United States Secretary of Education|Secretary of Education]]
| [[Miguel Cardona]]
| style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}" |
| Democrat

|-
| 17
| [[United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs|Secretary of Veterans Affairs]]
| [[Denis McDonough]]
| style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}" |
| Democrat

|-style="background:#d2d2d2"
| 18
| [[United States Secretary of Homeland Security|Secretary of Homeland Security]]
| [[Alejandro Mayorkas]]{{efn-ua|Secretary of Homeland Security [[Alejandro Mayorkas]] is not allowed to become acting president, as he is not a [[Natural-born-citizen clause|natural-born U.S. citizen]]. Mayorkas' citizenship was given through [[Naturalized citizen of the United States|naturalization]].}}
| style="background: {{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}" |
| Democrat
|}

==Notes==
{{notelist-ua}}
{{reflist|group=upper-alpha}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Other websites ==
* [http://www.gvsu.edu/hauenstein/index.cfm?id=601D0FE4-91D9-2007-7215B9E21141C6DB Ask Gleaves: Presidential Succession]
* [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=362 Presidential Succession Act of 1792],  1 Stat. 239
* [http://www.jsonline.com/news/nat/ap/sep03/ap-presidential-su092003.asp “Presidential Line of Succession Examined”] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031210190305/http://www.jsonline.com/news/nat/ap/sep03/ap-presidential-su092003.asp |date=2003-12-10 }}, [[September 20]] [[2003]]
* [http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/a_succession.htm Presidential line of succession at various times in history]

{{Orders of succession by country}}

[[Category:Presidency of the United States]]

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