What Would Happen?

[Peter]

I like the idea of S 920, but I don't think it goes far enough - the Line of Succession should be expanded to at least 100 posts, if not several thousand if at all possible.

I heard a proposal a while ago that we should add the Governors of the 50 States in the order that they ratified the Constitution or acceded to the Union on to the bottom of the line of succession. I'm not sure whether this would have constitutional problems however vis a vis the theoretical problems concerning the Speaker and PPT.

[Peter]

Another question about the original scenario.  The vice-president becomes president as soon as the president dies.  Is he included on the list of presidents even though he is never sworn in?

David Rice Atchison was President for 1 day in 1849 because Zachary Taylor refused to be sworn in on a Sunday and he is never mentioned as a President.

By your reasoning it is required that a President swear in to actually become President: Since Taylor did not swear in on the Sunday, he was not President. Since Atchison did not swear in either, does it not stand to reason that he was not President either?

Arguably, the United States did not have a President at all for that day since no person was duly sworn into be President.