Of 49 US VPs, only 4 accomplished what Harris is attempting

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The ascension of Vice President Kamala Harris to become the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee in less than 48 hours is an unprecedented occurrence in American politics.

Her victory in November, if it happens, would also be an extremely rare event.

Only four people in US history have won a presidential election as a sitting vice president.

Two of those races, from more than 200 years ago, featured Founding Fathers running in a different election system.

Back then, the vice president was the runner-up in the presidential election. The bitter elections of 1796, which was won by John Adams, and 1800, which ended in a tie and was decided when the House of Representatives picked Thomas Jefferson, led to the adoption of the 12th Amendment, after which electors voted for president and vice president as separate positions.

A few decades later, in 1836, Vice President Martin Van Buren, who was known as the “Little Magician” for his short stature, won the race to succeed two-term populist President Andrew Jackson. Van Buren was the first president born after the Declaration of Independence. Bank failures and a financial collapse marred his presidency, and Van Buren lost his bid for reelection in 1840 and also failed in an attempted comeback with a third party years later.

And that was it for nearly 150 years. Vice presidents became president after the death of multiple presidents and the resignation of one, but no other person won the White House from the vice presidency until 1988, with George H.W. Bush, who succeeded two-term President Ronald Reagan.

The current president, Joe Biden,