What was the last year that a U.S. vice president immediately jumped from the VP office to the presidency by election?

The most recent person to make the jump from vice president to president by getting elected was George H.W. Bush in 1988. Before that, we have to go back to 1836, when Andrew Jackson’s vice president, Martin Van Buren, was elected.

George H.W. Bush and Martin Van Buren are the only vice presidents to immediately succeed the president they served by election since the 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution established the electoral process for president and vice president.

Vice presidents have had more success when they inherited the office of the presidency. Roosevelt, Coolidge, Truman and Johnson were re-elected after assuming the presidency as a result of their predecessors’ deaths.

Also, most vice presidents never ran for president. Only nine have tried — excluding John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, as they were vice president prior to the 12th Amendment. Vice presidents typically get the party’s nomination when they run for president, but only three of nine were elected.