For starters, this is the one that started it all - the tidbit that was just so odd, I thought, "This oughta be a podcast." So both listeners can blame it on this one.
But what really strikes that odd mix of fun and horrifying about this is that we don't really have a definite answer. It shouldn't have to be scholars who tell us what happened and who held the office - it should just be librarians looking it up and saying, oh - according to X and Y laws and documents and such, Z should be President at this time. SURELY they've got it figured out by now, right? RIGHT? Your guess is as good as mine.
At any rate, David Rice Atchison is mentioned as being President for a day pretty much everywhere David Rice Atchison is mentioned, including on his grave. This is one of those happily enduring myths that continues in perpetuity because everybody loves a good story, and this is certainly a fun one. So listen, go with your gut on this one - it took a bunch of scholars years to figure out the accepted answer, but no matter what they say, David Rice Atchison will still be President for a day in our hearts. Go, you Transy Pioneer.
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