How many vice presidents did not serve out a full term to which they were elected?

a) 6

b) 13

c) 17

d) 23

Answer c): Of the 44 men elected as vice president of the United States — not including the two who were appointed to the office — 17 did not complete a term to which they were elected.

The death of a president or vice president was involved in 15 of these circumstances.

Eight of the short-term vice presidents moved up to succeed the presidents who died in office:

• John Tyler, sworn in as vice president in March 1841, served only a month before the death of William Henry Harrison, whose presidency was the shortest in the nation’s history.

• Millard Fillmore, sworn in as vice president in March 1849, became president in July 1850 upon the death of President Zachary Taylor.

• Andrew Johnson, sworn in as vice president in March 1865, became president a month later following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

• Chester Alan Arthur, sworn in as vice president in March 1881, became president that September when James A. Garfield died of wounds inflicted by an assassin in July.

• Theodore Roosevelt, sworn in as vice president in March 1901, became president that September following the assassination of William McKinley.

• Calvin Coolidge, sworn in as vice president in March 1921, became president in August 1923 after the death of Warren G. Harding.

• Harry S. Truman, sworn in as vice president in January 1945, became president that April after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

• Lyndon B. Johnson, sworn in as vice president in January 1961, became president in November 1963 following the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Seven vice presidents died while serving in that office. James Madison had particular bad luck, as both men elected vice president for his two-term presidency did not live out their terms:

• George Clinton, who previously served as vice president during Thomas Jefferson’s 1805-09 second term, took the oath as Madison’s vice president in March 1809 but died in April 1812.

• Elbridge Gerry, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and political strategist for whom the word “gerrymander” was coined, was sworn in as vice president under Madison in March 1813 but died in November 1814.

• William R. King was the William Henry Harrison of vice presidents, as he was sworn in as vice president under Franklin Pierce in March 1853 but died just a month and a half later.

• Henry Wilson, sworn in as vice president in March 1873 for Ulysses S. Grant’s second term, died in November 1875.

• Thomas A. Hendricks, sworn in as vice president in March 1885 under Grover Cleveland, died that November.

• Garret A. Hobart, sworn in as vice president in March 1897 as McKinley’s first vice president, died in November 1899.

• James S. Sherman, sworn in as vice president in March 1909 as William Howard Taft’s vice president, died in October 1912 just days before Taft finished third in his re-election bid behind victorious Democrat Woodrow Wilson and former President Theodore Roosevelt running on the Progressive Party ticket.

The other two elected vice presidents who left early resigned from office:

• John C. Calhoun, who was John Quincy Adams’ vice president during his 1825-29 term, was sworn in as vice president under Andrew Jackson in March 1829. His resignation in December 1832 spoke volumes about the lack of regard in which the office of vice president was then held. He had sought and won a Senate seat in his native South Carolina because he believed — quite correctly, it turned out — that he’d have more influence in that position than as vice president.

• Spiro T. Agnew, who was sworn in to a second term as vice president to Richard M. Nixon in January 1973, resigned that October after pleading no contest to a charge of failing to report income after he was initially charged by federal prosecutors with accepting bribes.

The only other vice president to leave office early was Gerald R. Ford, Agnew’s successor. Ford was appointed by Nixon and confirmed by Congress in December 1973 under the provision for vice presidential succession included in the 25th Amendment to the Constitution ratified in 1967. Ford became president the following August when Nixon resigned following revelations of his role in the Watergate scandal.

Ford then tapped Nelson A. Rockefeller to replace him as vice president. He was confirmed in December 1974 and served until the end of the term in January 1977.