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List of Presidents of United State who died in office.

During the history of the United States, eight presidents have died in office.[1] Of those eight, four were assassinated and four died of natural causes.[2] In all eight cases, the Vice President of the United States took over the office of presidency as part of the United States presidential line of succession.[3]

William Henry Harrison holds the record for shortest term served, holding the office of presidency for 31 days before dying. Harrison was the first president to die while in office when he caught pneumonia and died on April 4, 1841.[4] On July 9, 1850, Zachary Taylor died from acute gastroenteritis.[5] Abraham Lincoln was the first president to be assassinated. He was shot behind his left ear by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865.[6] Sixteen years later, on September 19, 1881, President James A. Garfield was assassinated by Charles J. Guiteau.[7] Nearly twenty years after that, President William McKinley died from complications after being shot twice by Leon Czolgosz.[8] President Warren G. Harding suffered a heart attack, and died on August 2, 1923.[9] On April 12, 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt collapsed and died as a result of a cerebral hemorrhage.[10] The most recent president to die in office was John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated with two rifle shots on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.

William Henry Harrison

On March 26, 1841, William Henry Harrison became ill with a cold. According to the prevailing medical misconception of that time, it was believed that his illness was directly caused by the bad weather at his inauguration; however, Harrison's illness did not arise until more than three weeks after the event. The cold worsened, rapidly turning to pneumonia and pleurisy.[12] He sought to rest in the White House, but could not find a quiet room because of the steady crowd of office seekers. His extremely busy social schedule made any rest time scarce.[13]

Harrison's doctors tried cures, applying opium, castor oil, leeches, and Virginia snakeroot. But the treatments only made Harrison worse, and he became delirious. He died nine days after becoming ill,[14] at 12:30 am on April 4, 1841, of right lower lobe pneumonia, jaundice, and overwhelming septicemia. He was the first United States president to die in office. His last words were to his doctor, but assumed to be directed at John Tyler, "Sir, I wish you to understand the true principles of the government. I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more." Harrison served the shortest term of any American president: March 4 – April 4, 1841, 30 days, 12 hours, and 30 minutes.[15][16]

Harrison's funeral took place in the Wesley Chapel in Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 7, 1841.[17] His original interment was in the public vault of the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. He was later buried in North Bend, Ohio. The William Henry Harrison Tomb State Memorial was erected in his honor.[18]

Zachary Taylor

The cause of Zachary Taylor's death has not been fully established.[19] On July 4, 1850, Taylor was known to have consumed copious amounts of ice water, cold milk, green apples, and cherries after attending holiday celebrations and the laying of the cornerstone of the Washington Monument.[20] That same evening, he became severely ill with an unknown digestive ailment. Doctors used popular treatments of the time. Taylor died in the White House at 10:35 p.m. on July 9, five days after becoming ill.[21] Contemporary reports listed the cause of death as "bilious diarrhea, or a bilious cholera".[22]

Almost immediately after his death, rumors began to circulate that Taylor was poisoned by pro-slavery Southerners, and similar theories persisted into the twentieth century.[23] The remains were exhumed and transported to the Office of the Kentucky Chief Medical Examiner on June 17, 1991. Neutron activation analysis conducted at Oak Ridge National Laboratory revealed no evidence of poisoning, as arsenic levels were too low.[24][25] The analysis concluded Taylor had contracted "cholera morbus, or acute gastroenteritis", as Washington had open sewers, and his food or drink may have been contaminated.[26]