who was the 12th President of the US??

[flyingfysh]

Most people will probably get this one wrong. Answer below:




















And the answer is: David Rice Atkinson!!

How can this be? Don't the history books say that the 12th president was Zachary Taylor? Actually, they're wrong. Zachary Taylor refused to be sworn in on a Sunday. So the President was the President Pro Tem of the Senate. His term had also expired, but on Monday he was sworn in a few minutes before Taylor. So he was President for at least a few minutes, and possibly a whole day. You can find details here:
http://home.nycap.rr.com/useless/atchison/index.html

This means that the 43rd President of the United States is someone who ran a budget surplus, did not create a useless war in Iraq, and tried to put in place universal health care. That's great news!

[Ignacio Upton]

1. Well

By that logic, Clinton would still be the 42nd President because Grover Cleveland is counted as being both the 22nd and 24th POTUS. Also, didn't Bush briefly transfer power to Cheney when he went in for something a few years ago?

[Strawman]

2. Urban legend

http://www.snopes2.com/history/american/atchison.htm

[flyingfysh]

3. Oops! You're right

Should have checked Snopes first.

[Strawman]

4. It was really interesting though

I can see how one could make the argument the other way.

[UTUSN]

5. Charo??!!1 n/t