Following the custom of the time, the vice presidency remained vacant for the balance of President Pierce’s term. Wishing to die in his own country, he endured an exhausting two-week return trip to his Alabama plantation. Just weeks after assuming the job, it was obvious he would not survive his illness. The vice president never had a chance to perform his official duties. consul in Cuba to administer the oath of office to King-the only time such an oath has been taken on foreign soil. Instead, Congress passed a special act that allowed the U.S. Unfortunately, his condition worsened, and by spring 1853, he was too weak to travel back to Washington for the inauguration. On a doctor’s advice, he went to Cuba in hopes that in the tropical climate he would find a cure. Shortly after the votes were counted, however, the vice president-elect was diagnosed with tuberculosis. In 1852 the party rewarded the 66-year-old with a place on the lower half of the ticket for that year’s presidential election. When the modern Democratic Party formed during the 1820s, King was among its earliest loyalists. For the next three decades, he served as one of that state’s senators. A son of the North Carolina planter class, he migrated westward as a young lawyer and became one of the driving forces behind Alabama statehood. Well-bred and handsome, King was among the antebellum era’s most distinguished statesmen. ![]() 2 man in President Franklin Pierce’s administration. His less well-known equivalent in the ranks of vice presidents is William Rufus King, who lived just 45 days into his term as the No. Many people know about William Henry Harrison, the president who died after serving just 31 days. William Rufus King: The Vice President Who Never Served Close
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