<P> David Rice Atchison ( August 11 , 1807 -- January 26 , 1886 ) was a mid-19th century Democratic United States Senator from Missouri . He served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate for six years . 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 . He is best known for the questionable claim that for one day ( March 4 , 1849 ) he may have been Acting President of the United States . This belief , however , is dismissed by nearly all historians , scholars , and biographers . </P>
<P> David Rice Atchison ( August 11 , 1807 -- January 26 , 1886 ) was a mid-19th century Democratic United States Senator from Missouri . He served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate for six years . 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 . He is best known for the questionable claim that for one day ( March 4 , 1849 ) he may have been Acting President of the United States . This belief , however , is dismissed by nearly all historians , scholars , and biographers . </P>
who was the president of the united states for only one day
who was the president of the united states for only one day
David Rice Atchison
David Rice Atchison