U.S. Vice-Presidents Who Died In Office Or Resigned

Seven vice-presidents have died in office since 1789, whilst another two resigned.

The first vice-president to die in office was George Clinton, in 1812. The most recent was James Sherman, in 1912.

The first vice-president to resign was John C. Calhoun, in 1832. The second was Spiro T. Agnew, in 1973. Calhoun had been elected to the Senate, whilst Agnew resigned in the face of criminal charges.

No vice-president has ever been assassinated but nine left the office due to becoming president following the assassination, death or resignation of the president. They were: John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester A. Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry S. Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson and Gerald Ford.

The office of vice-president has been vacant 19 times for a total of 37 years, 290 days since 1789, around 17% of the time (as of 2017). The first vice-president, John Adams, was sworn in 48 days late, in 1789, as the new government took shape.

Until 1965, there was no provision to replace a vice-president who died or resigned. The passage of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution allowed the president to nominate a new vice-president with the approval of the Senate.

Since the 25th Amendment came into force, it has been used twice to replace a vice-president. In 1973, President Richard Nixon nominated Gerald Ford as vice-president, following the resignation of Spiro Agnew, who had pleaded no contest to corruption charges on condition he resigned. Following Nixon’s 1974 resignation due to the Watergate scandal, Ford became president and nominated Nelson Rockefeller as vice-president.

The table below lists the vice-presidents who died in office or resigned. It also shows the number of days the office of vice-president was vacant as a consequence. It includes the two vice-presidents who each served under two different presidents.

U.S. Vice-Presidents Who Died In Office Or Resigned
No.	Incumbent Presidents	Vice-Presidents	Vice-President’s Period in Office	V-P’s Term	Departure	Age	Office Vacant (Days)
1.	Jefferson Madison	George Clinton	04.03.1805 – 04.03.1809 04.03.1809 – 20.04.1812	7y, 1m, 16d	Death	72	318
2.	Madison	Elbridge Gerry	04.03.1813 – 23.11.1814	1y, 8m, 19d	Death	70	832
3.	(J.Q.) Adams Jackson	John C. Calhoun	04.03.1825 – 04.03.1829 04.03.1829 – 28.12.1832	7y, 9m, 24d	Resignation	50	66
4.	Pierce	William Rufus DeVane King	04.03.1853 – 18.04.1853	1m, 14d	Death	67	1,416
5.	Grant	Henry Wilson	04.03.1873 – 22.11.1875	2y, 8m, 18d	Death	63	468
6.	Cleveland	Thomas A. Hendricks	04.03.1885 – 25.11.1885	8m, 21d	Death	66	1,195
7.	McKinley	Garret A. Hobart	04.03.1897 – 21.11.1899	2y, 8m, 17d	Death	55	468
8.	Taft	James S. Sherman	04.03.1909 – 30.10.1912	3y, 7m, 26d	Death	57	125
9.	Nixon	Spiro T. Agnew	20.01.1969 – 10.10.1973	4y, 7m, 21d	Resignation	54	57

See Also:

Complete List of all the Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the United States – includes details of Congressional control
Ages of Presidents – the oldest and the youngest
Presidents who died in office
State-by-State Presidential Election Results Since 1972