a split second later, blaine would have pulled the trigger. 14 hours after losing one president, the nation came chillingly close to losing another one. if that that had happened, if lyndon johnson had been accidentally killed by that jumpy secret service agent at his house that night, then the 37th president of the united states would have been this man, speaker of the house, john mccormick. and not only was john mccormick one itchy trigger away from the presidency that night, he apparently did think he was president for just a moment on the day of j.f.k.'s assassination. he was misinformed that both president kennedy and vice president johnson were dead. quote, the possibility that he was at that moment president prompted a severe attack of vertigo. mccormick almost collapsed in table cloth and silverware. obviously he was not president