"President for One Day" and "President for a Day" redirect here. For other uses, see President for One Day (disambiguation).
David Rice Atchison
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
In office December 20, 1852 – December 4, 1854
Preceded by
William R. King
Succeeded by
Lewis Cass
In office August 8, 1846 – December 2, 1849
Preceded by
Ambrose Hundley Sevier (acting)
Succeeded by
William R. King
United States Senator from Missouri
In office October 14, 1843 – March 3, 1855
Preceded by
Lewis F. Linn
Succeeded by
James S. Green
Member of the Missouri House of Representatives
In office 1834–1841
Personal details
Born
(1807-08-11)August 11, 1807 Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
Died
January 26, 1886(1886-01-26) (aged 78) Gower, Missouri, U.S.
Resting place
Greenlawn Cemetery, Plattsburg, Missouri, U.S.
Political party
Democratic
Alma mater
Transylvania University
Profession
Politician
lawyer
Signature
Military service
Allegiance
United States
Missouri (Confederate)
Branch/service
Missouri Volunteer Militia Missouri State Guard
Years of service
1838 (MVM) 1861–1862 (MSG)
Rank
Major-General (MVM) Brigadier-General (MSG)
Battles/wars
Missouri Mormon War
Battle of Crooked River
American Civil War
Action at Blue Mills Landing
Portrait by George Caleb BinghamStatue in front of the Clinton County Courthouse, Plattsburg, Missouri
David Rice Atchison (August 11, 1807 – January 26, 1886) was a mid-19th century Democratic[1] United States Senator from Missouri.[1] He served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate for six years.[2] Atchison served as a major general in the Missouri State Militia in 1838 during Missouri's Mormon War and as a Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War under Major General Sterling Price in the Missouri Home Guard. Some of Atchison's associates claimed that for 24 hours—Sunday, March 4, 1849, through noon on Monday—he may have been Acting President of the United States. This belief, however, is dismissed by nearly all scholars.[2][3]
Atchison, who owned a plantation and many enslaved African Americans, was a prominent pro-slavery activist and Border Ruffian leader, deeply involved with violence against abolitionists and other free-staters during the "Bleeding Kansas" events that preceded admission of the state to the Union.[4][5][6][7]
^ ab"David Rice Atchison Biography". Who2.com. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
^ ab"1801: President for a Day – March 4, 1849". United States Senate. May 29, 2014. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
^Christopher Klein (February 18, 2013). "The 24-Hour President". The History Channel. Archived from the original on January 5, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
^McPherson, James M., Battle Cry of Freedom, Penguin Books, 1990, ISBN 978-0-14-012518-4 pp. 145–148
^Stampp, Kenneth, America in 1857: a nation on the brink, Oxford University Press US, 1992, ISBN 0-19-507481-5, p. 145
^Grimsted, David, American Mobbing, 1828–1861: Toward Civil War, Oxford University Press US, 2003, ISBN 0-19-517281-7, p. 256
^Freehling, William W., The Road to Disunion: Secessionists triumphant, 1854–1861, Oxford University Press US, 2007, ISBN 0-19-505815-1, pp. 72–73
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Global Information
Missouri Volunteer Militia
Missouri State Guard
Major-General (MVM)
Brigadier-General (MSG)
