Nine times in our nations history, the Vice President of the United States became the President following the death or resignation of the sitting President. In either of the circumstances where this occured, the Vice President had been elected along side the President in the most recent election. However, in one of those circumstances, that wasn't the case. So, off of our Pocket Trivia: US Presidents game: Who is the only President to never be elected Vice President or President? Was it Nelson Rockefeller, Millard Filmore, Gerald Ford or Lyndon Johnson?
If you know your Presidential Trivia, this isn't the most difficult question in the world.
One answer you can throw out right away: Nelson Rockefeller. He was never President. He was appointed Vice President by President Ford following Ford's ascendency to the Presidency - and, within a three week span in 1975, almost became President twice following two attempted assassination on Ford. However, Rockefeller was booted from the 1976 Republican ticket in place of a Ford/Bob Dole ticket - that lost to Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale anyway.
It wasn't Millard Filmore. Filmore became President after the death of Zachary Taylor, but he was elected as Taylor's running-mate in 1848. Filmore was never elected President in his own right, however.
It wasn't Lyndon Johnson either. Johnson became President after the assassination of JFK in 1963, but he was elected with Kennedy in 1960. He then was elected to his own term in 1964.
The correct answer, then, is Gerald Ford. Ford was the Republican minority leader in the House of Representatives when Richard Nixon tapped him to be his Vice President following the resignation of the former VP, Spiro Agnew, after allegations of kickbacks and bribery surfaced. Ford then became President following the resignation of Nixon - making him the only man alive to ever become President despite never having been elected to that office, or the office of VP.
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