Jared Cohen: Accidental Presidents

Chris Riback's Conversations

With 20 candidates and 2 Democratic debates spread over 48 hours this week, the 2020 Presidential campaign season is officially underway. We know the process: For the next 16 months, candidates will debate, boast, fundraise, debate, and fundraise some more. Then on Nov. 3, 2020, we’ll have the decision – the President will be chosen.

But what about when we get a new President not over two years, but in a heart beat? When we don’t elect our President following an intense, 500-day process, but rather get our new leader instantaneously and by accident.

I’m talking, of course, about the times when we’ve gotten a new President because the sitting one died.

So what does history tell us about these leaders, the process, our country – about what happens when accidents occur?

Jared Cohen has written the NY Times best-selling book – “Accidental Presidents: Eight Men Who Changed America.” Cohen offers a unique way look at our history – and the many ways our country evolved purely based on chance: Because an assassin or disease forced an immediate change in our land’s highest office.

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