in 1886 a presidential succession law was passed, whereby on the death of the president and the vice-president the order of succession shall be the secretary of state, the secretary of the treasury, the secretary of war, the attorney-general, the postmaster-general, and the secretaries of the navy and of the interior. this gives the secretary of agriculture an extremely remote and rarefied chance at the presidency. still, he should be just as faithful to his trust as he would be if he were nearer the throne.