There were three U.S. presidents in one year — twice.

(from left): Martin Van Buren; William Henry Harrison; John Tyler

Given that presidential elections are quadrennial in the United States, most calendar years feature only one commander in chief. But exceptions occur when one administration leaves and another enters, of course, and on two occasions there were even three presidents in a single year.

The first time was in 1841. That year, outgoing President Martin Van Buren’s term ended on March 4. He was succeeded by William Henry Harrison, who holds the unfortunate distinction of having the shortest presidency in American history. He served for just 31 days, as he fell ill shortly after his inauguration and died on April 4, making him the first president to die in office. His vice president, John Tyler, then served the remainder of his term.

A similar confluence of events occurred exactly 40 years later. In keeping with his pledge not to seek a second term, Rutherford B. Hayes left the White House on March 4, 1881. James A. Garfield then became the 20th president, though his was not to be a long tenure. He was shot on July 2 and succumbed to his injuries on September 19, making him the second president to be assassinated, after which Vice President Chester A. Arthur took the oath of office. All six presidents involved in these incidents have something else in common: None of them served more than a single term.

By the Numbers

Did you know?

English wasn’t Martin Van Buren’s first language.

Exactly one U.S. president didn’t speak English as their first language: Martin Van Buren, whose native tongue was Dutch. He was born in Kinderhook, New York, where most of the population was of Dutch stock. Van Buren was the sixth generation of a pioneer family who emigrated from the village of Buurmalsen in the Netherlands to the colony of New Netherland (modern-day New York) in 1631. He was also the first president born after the American Revolution, was a primary founder of the Democratic Party, and blocked the annexation of Texas because he opposed the expansion of slavery and feared it would cause Mexico to retaliate. He was right: Following Texas’ admission to the United States as the 28th state on February 19, 1846, the Mexican–American War began within two months.