Head of state succession

• Death of the current Head of State
• A military Coup d'état against the present government
• A general election
• A Vote of No Confidence by the national legislature
• Hereditary succession or appointment by a pre-determined council
• Resignation
• Impeachment
• Abdication

  Head of state succession procedures

Dramatic portrayals

• Fiction regarding United States presidential succession is a major area of dramatic portrayal
• The film Der Untergang details the last days of the Third Reich to include the succession procedure enacted by Nazi Germany after the death of Adolf Hitler
• ' dealt with the succession of the Klingon Chancellor after an assassination against the reigning Klingon Head of State. Several episodes of ' dealt more in depth with the exact procedures of transferring the leadership of the Klingon High Council from one person to another.
• Although Battlestar Galactica is not set on Earth, the political structures of the 12 Colonies of Kobol closely resemble those of the United States. During the Cylon attack, Secretary of Education Laura Roslin receives a message from the Case Orange automated beacon, a special mechanism seeking communication with any surviving Colonial government officials. After verifying her identity, she learns that—other than herself—all members of President Richard Adar's government have apparently been killed or are missing. The Case Orange response assigns Roslin new instructions, and she is duly sworn-in as President.
• King Ralph: The entire British Royal Family is killed in a freak accident, and controversially the next person in line to the throne is an American.