We’re on day 4 of our theme week on Vice Presidents! Today we’re talking about William King, who served (briefly) under President Franklin Pierce. He had also been a U.S. representative from North Carolina and one of the first senators for the new state of Alabama. King was known for having a close, intimate relationship with President James Buchanan. Neither man ever married, and actually lived together for 13 years. Contemporaries commented on their unusual closeness, with Andrew Jackson calling them “Miss Nancy” and “Aunt Fancy” and representative Aaron Brown referring to King as Buchanan’s better half. Historians have pointed out, however, that customs and expressions were different in the 1800s than they are today and that none of their letters reveal any personal feelings at all. King was nominated for Vice President at the 1852 Democratic National Convention. He came down with tuberculosis and traveled to Cuba in an effort to regain his health, so he wasn’t able to be in Washington to take his oath of office in March 1853. But by a special act of Congress, he was allowed to take the oath outside of the U.S., and was sworn in by the U.S. consul to Cuba. King is the first and the only Vice President or President to take the oath of office on foreign soil. Shortly afterward, he returned home to Alabama, where he died within 2 days of his arrival. He was the 3rd Vice President to die while in office. Only John Tyler and Andrew Johnson, both of whom succeeded to the Presidency, had shorter tenures. Learn more in the audio below.