July 18, 1947: The Presidential Succession Act

July 18, 1947: The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 is signed into law by President Harry S Truman. He believed that, the way it was structured, it was the right new law, even though it puts his Democratic Party at a notable disadvantage.

Since 1886, the line of succession had been: President, Vice President, and then the Cabinet secretaries by order of their establishment, starting with Secretary of State. Truman thought that, after the Vice President, the next person should be an elected official, not an appointed one.

So the new order was, and remains: President, Vice President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and then the Cabinet secretaries.

Truman signed the bill even though Congress was then controlled by the Republicans, and his own rise from Vice President to President meant that the Vice Presidency was vacant. And that meant that, if anything happened to him before January 20, 1949, the next President would be Joseph W. Martin, a very conservative Republican from Massachusetts.

Fortunately, Truman was alive and well on the next Inauguration Day, and had won a term of his own, with outgoing Senate Minority Leader Alben Barkley of Kentucky elected as his Vice President; and had a Democratic Congress, too, led by Speaker Sam Rayburn of Texas.

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July 18, 1947 was a Friday. Magazine publisher Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr., a.k.a. 1996 and 2000 Republican Presidential candidate Steve Forbes, was born.

This was also the day that Britain's Royal Navy refused Exodus 1947, a ship full of Jewish refugees, entry into the port of Haifa, in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine. I have a separate entry for that event.

These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 8-0 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Fred Hutchinson pitched a 2-hit shutout, walking none, and striking out 8. The hits were a single by Joe DiMaggio in the 2nd inning, and a bunt single by George "Snuffy" Stirnweiss in the 7th. Hutchinson also went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs in his own cause.

* The New York Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-3 at the Polo Grounds. Willard Marshall went 3-for-4 with 3 home runs and 5 RBIs. Johnny Mize and Bobby Thomson also homered for the Giants.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-0 at Ebbets Field. Ralph Branca had a perfect game for 7 innings, until he allowed a single to Enos Slaughter and a walk to Whitey Kurowski the 8th. Stan Musial, who normally came through at Ebbets Field, to the point where Dodger fans would say, "Uh-oh, that man is back in town!" leading to his nickname, "Stan the Man," went 0-for-3 this time. Jackie Robinson went 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Braves, 2-1 at Braves Field in Boston. Kirby Higbe outpitched Bill Voiselle. Hank Greenberg went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Ralph Kiner went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-5 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Washington Senators, 6-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Don Black pitched a 5-hit shutout, outpitching Early Wynn.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 4-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* And the St. Louis Browns beat the Boston Red Sox, 9-8 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Ted Williams went 5-for-5 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs.