Two days later, Arthur took part in a second inauguration in Washington, D.C., with the oath administered by Morrison Waite, the Chief Justice of the United States.

Arthur became president following the death of his predecessor James A. Garfield, who had been assassinated by a troubled office seeker, Charles J. Guiteau.

The question of presidential incapacitation remained into the 20th century, particularly after Woodrow Wilson suffered a non-fatal stroke, until the Twenty-fifth Amendment was ratified in 1967.

The first president of the United States to die in office was William Henry Harrison, who succumbed to pneumonia shortly after midnight on April 4, 1841.

[12] Upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the cabinet asked Andrew Johnson where and when he wished to be inaugurated: he chose his hotel room at the earliest possible time.

[16] At the 1880 Republican National Convention, Blaine was the front-runner for the presidential nomination from the Half-Breed faction, while the Stalwarts sought a third term for Ulysses S.

[17] The two parties remained deadlocked until the 34th ballot, at which point the delegation from Wisconsin united behind James A. Garfield, an Ohio congressman who was supporting John Sherman for the presidency.

[22] On the other side of the party, Edwin Lawrence Godkin reassured readers of The Nation that "there is no place in which [Arthur's] powers of mischief will be so small as in the Vice Presidency".

[32] On May 18, two days after Conkling resigned from his Senate seat, Guiteau decided to assassinate Garfield, believing that God was telling him that "If the President was out of the way every thing would go better".

[33] Guiteau purchased a .44 caliber British Bull Dog revolver, a knife, and a box of cartridges on June 6,[34] and he practiced his shooting on the edge of the Potomac River.

"[38] While sitting in the District Jail, Guiteau continued to insist to police that he was personal friends with Arthur, and that he would be rewarded for his assassination of Garfield.

[39] New York City Police Commissioner Stephen French feared that the American public would connect Arthur to Guiteau and attempt violence against him.

[42] Harrison and Taylor were indisposed for a matter of days before succumbing to their respective illnesses, while Lincoln had died only hours after his assassination 16 years prior.

The most that Article Two had addressed an ill or injured president was in the clause "inability to discharge the powers and duties of his office", which did not entirely apply to Garfield, whose lucidity waxed and waned throughout his recovery process.

Garfield's assassination attempt was met with dread as newspapers and politicians realized that his death would result in Arthur's ascension to the presidency.

Finally, they proposed that Congress pass an act providing for the "temporary discharge of presidential duties during the president's inability", which would be difficult to do during a recess period.

"[60] The initial report was shortly followed by a telegram from United States Attorney General Wayne MacVeagh and signed by four other cabinet members.

MacVeagh advised Arthur "to take the oath of office as president of the United States without delay" and asked him to come to Washington "on the earliest train tomorrow".

"[62] When a reporter for The New York Times arrived at Arthur's home asking if the new president would make a statement, Aleck Powell turned him away, saying, "He is sitting alone in his room sobbing like a child ...

[62] Fearing a loss of presidential succession if he died in an accident or was assassinated while en route to Washington, Arthur mailed a proclamation to the White House calling an immediate special session of the Senate so it could elect a president pro tempore.

[62] Upon arriving in Washington, Arthur destroyed the letter and three weeks Thomas F. Bayard was elected president pro tempore.

[66] Fearing that the hasty initial inauguration, which had been performed by a state official and without any federal record, would cause a legitimacy crisis, Arthur agreed to repeat the presidential oath in a formal ceremony in Washington, D.C.[66] He traveled to Washington on the morning of September 20 to attend Garfield's funeral procession, and the following day, he repeated the oath of office before Chief Justice Morrison Waite.

Bright, the Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate, instructed to set aside the Vice President's Room of the Capitol for the ceremony.

In it, he emphasized the strength of presidential succession, saying, "No higher, more assuring proof could exist of our popular government than the fact that though the chosen of the people be struck down, his constitutional successor is peacefully installed without shock or strain.

"[70] Arthur attempted to quell the public's fears in his inaugural address, promising that he would follow Garfield's vision for the county rather than striking a different path.

In 1893, Grover Cleveland underwent surgery for oral cancer in secret, with his advisors claiming that he was on vacation to dissuade any rumors about his health.