After Liz Truss resignation, a look at other world leaders whose short tenures broke records
By Michael Lee
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TORONTO (CTV Network) — After spending only six weeks in the role, the U.K.’s Liz Truss resigned on Thursday, making her tenure as prime minister the shortest in the nation’s history.
Truss, who was elected Conservative Party leader in September, made the announcement after spending 45 days as prime minister. Her government faced weeks of turmoil, blamed in part on her economic plan, the ensuing financial upheaval and the replacement of her Treasury chief. She says she will remain in office until her party finds a new leader.
The shortest term on record for a U.K. prime minister was previously set nearly two centuries ago by George Canning, who spent 119 days in office in 1827 before dying.
Here is a look at some of the shortest terms among world leaders in the West: CANADA
At 69 days, Charles Tupper’s term as prime minister stands as the shortest in Canadian history.
A former premier of Nova Scotia and one of the Fathers of Confederation, Canada’s sixth prime minister held the role from May 1 until July 8, 1896, after his Conservatives suffered an election defeat that year to the Liberals led by Wilfred Laurier. UNITED STATES
William Henry Harrison, America’s ninth president, died on his 32nd day in office in 1841.
At the time, Harrison was also the oldest U.S. president to be sworn in at the age of 68, until Ronald Reagan’s inauguration at 69.
Not a month into office, Harrison caught a cold — after delivering his inaugural address outdoors without a hat or coat — which developed into pneumonia.
On April 4, 1841, he become the first U.S. president to die in office. AUSTRALIA
Serving in a caretaker role following the death of John Curtin, Australia’s Francis “Frank” Michael Forde holds the country’s record for shortest time in office at eight days.
He served in the role from July 6 to 13, 1945, until the Labor Party he helmed for just over a week chose JB Chifley as its leader.
Prior to becoming prime minister, Forde served as deputy prime minister. GERMANY
Joseph Goebbels, minister of propaganda for the Third Reich under Adolf Hitler, technically holds the record for shortest term as German chancellor – at one day.
Goebbels succeeded Hitler as chancellor after the dictator killed himself on April 30, 1945.
However, on May 1, 1945, Goebbels and his wife, Magda, had their six children poisoned before killing themselves. FRANCE
Louis Antoine assumed the French throne as King Louis XIX in 1830 after his father, Charles X, abdicated.
Famously, Louis XIX also abdicated — within 20 minutes — setting the record for shortest reigning monarch in history and earning an entry in the Guinness World Records book.
Louis XIX shares the title with Luis Filipe of Portugal, who became king following the assassination of his father, Carlos I, on Feb. 1, 1908.
However, Filipe’s reign also was short lived at just 20 minutes after he too was fatally wounded in the attack. ITALY
Umberto II’s reign as king of Italy lasted a little over one month after his father, Victor Emmanuel III, renounced the throne in May 1946.
After the Italian public voted for a republic, Umberto and his male heirs were exiled from the country.
With files from The Associated Press
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Sonja Puzic
