In 1916, during World War I, President Woodrow Wilson devised an unorthodox plan to avoid a lame-duck presidency and allow his Republican opponent Charles Evans Hughes to assume presidential powers immediately if Hughes had won the election. In that case, Wilson planned to appoint Hughes as Secretary of State, who under the Presidential Succession Act of 1886 was second in the presidential line of succession. President Wilson and Vice President Thomas R. Marshall would have then both resigned, leaving Hughes to become acting president. The plan was never implemented because Wilson was narrowly re-elected.
In 1916, during World War I, President Woodrow Wilson devised an unorthodox plan to avoid a lame-duck presidency and allow his Republican opponent Charles Evans Hughes to assume presidential powers immediately if Hughes had won the election. In that case, Wilson planned to appoint Hughes as Secretary of State, who under the Presidential Succession Act of 1886 was second in the presidential line of succession. President Wilson and Vice President Thomas R Marshall would have then both resigned, leaving Hughes to become acting president. The plan was never implemented because Wilson was narrowly re-elected.