Who was president for a few days
Statue of America's Only One-Day President
Plattsburg, Missouri
Whatever his legacy as a lawyer, statesman, and pro-slavery racist, David Rice Atchison will always be known as the guy who was President of the United States for just one day.
It says it right on the plaque beneath his statue: "President of United States One Day."
Atchison served as a U.S. senator from 1843 to 1855. As President pro tempore of the Senate on March 4, 1849, Atchison was shoved into the highest office in the land in a constitutional cusp between James K. Polk and Zachary Taylor. Polk's term had ended, but Taylor refused to be sworn in on a Sunday. That, in theory, left Atchison in charge for 24 hours until the ceremonies could take place.
Some scholars argue that Taylor automatically became President when Polk left office, bypassing Atchison; others say that America simply had no President for a day. But don't tell that to the citizens of Plattsburg! A statue honoring the town's history- Fisher-price talk to me books.