Arthur had left himself with no immediate successor. His refusal to fill his vacant Senate seat after the March inauguration had prevented the election of a president pro tempore of the Senate, and with Congress in recess, there was no speaker of the House. Arthur, fearing that he would be assassinated en route to Washington, sent a letter to the White House with instructions to hold an immediate special session of the Senate to elect a president pro tempore and advance the line of succession. This letter was unneeded, as Arthur survived the travel, and three weeks later, he presided over the special session in which Thomas F. Bayard was named as president pro tempore of the Senate.
