DAVID R. ATCHISON - AUTOGRAPH DOCUMENT SIGNED 03/28/1840 - HFSID 13151

DAVID RICE ATCHISON
David Rice Atchison signed an autograph document.
Legal Autograph Document Signed: "Atchison & Hood for Deft.", 1p, 8¼x5½. Docketed on verso: "March 28 1840". In full: "M. D. Taylor Agt Z. Martin Trespass/And the said Defendant moves the Court, for a rule on the said Plaintiff to give security for costs; because The said Plaintiff is unable to pay the costs of said Suit." When Polk's Vice President, George M. Dallas, resigned as President of the Senate on Friday, March 2, 1849, Missouri Senator David R. Atchison was elected President Pro Tempore. Polk's term as President ended at the stroke of midnight, March 3, 1849. President-elect Zachary Taylor refused to take the oath of office on Sunday, March 4, 1849. He took the presidential oath on Monday, March 5, 1849, the same day Vice President-elect Millard Fillmore was sworn in. Since Article II of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to declare "what Officer shall then act as President" in case of the "Inability, both of the President and the Vice President", and since the President Pro Tempore of the Senate was next in line to the Presidency, there are historians who insist that Atchison was President of the United States for one day, March 4, 1849, and this is noted on his tombstone. Folds, not at signature. 6 nail head-size stains in blank areas. Irregular edges. Slight ink show through. Tip of lower right corner missing.