Death of a person who was incumbent of an office-position until the time of death
Adeath in office is the death of a person who was incumbent of an office-position until the time of death. Such deaths have been usually due to natural causes, but they are also caused by accidents, suicides, disease and assassinations.
The death of most monarchs and popes have been deaths in office, since they have usually held their papacy/reign for the rest of their lives. As most other office positions require that the incumbent be constantly competent in performing the associated duties, other deaths in office are usually premature deaths.
Systems differ in how they deal with the death of an office holder. In some death results in a casual vacancy, whereby the office is unfilled for a time. The office may subsequently be filled by a by-election or by appointment. A person may temporarily take the powers and responsibilities of the deceased in an "acting" capacity before a permanent replacement is made. In other systems there may be a legally defined order of succession. For example, in hereditary monarchies reigns are typically expected to end with death and the transition of power to an heir. Many presidential systems have offices of vice president, whose principal responsibility is to immediately assume the presidency if the president dies or otherwise leaves the office.
In addition, 8 U.S. presidents died in office, four of which were assassinated.
William Henry Harrison, in 1841 of pneumonia; Harrison died 31 days into his presidency in The White House, the official home of the President, making him the President with the shortest tenure. His pneumonia supposedly escalated from a common cold, acquired after Harrison did his inaugural address, the longest in American history, in the rain without a jacket.
Zachary Taylor, in 1850, of gastroenteritis; Taylor contracted the illness after consuming cherries at a party. Some suspect he was poisoned. He also died in The White House.
A well-known legend is the Curse of Tippecanoe in which Harrison, elected in 1840, was allegedly cursed by a Native American chief during the Battle of Tippecanoe, so that he and future Presidents elected in the years ending in "0" would die in office. The curse also affected Lincoln (1860), Garfield (1880), McKinley (1900), Harding (1920), Franklin D. Roosevelt (1940), and Kennedy (1960). Ronald Reagan (1980) survived an assassination attempt in 1981. George W. Bush (2000) also did not die in office. Joe Biden (2020), the incumbent president, is next in line for the curse.
The curse does not apply to Taylor as he was elected in 1848.
