William Howard Hearst had many big accomplishments. So why was he a one-term premier?

If we were in the United States, this wouldn’t be much of a story. That country has a more than two-century-old tradition of knowing how to replace a president or governor in the event that the office holder dies on the job.  

So when eight presidents — from William Henry Harrison in 1841 to John Fitzgerald Kennedy in 1963 — died in office, America had a playbook to follow for what came next. In each case, the vice-president took over.

But we don’t have vice-presidents in Canada. Even the titles of deputy prime minister and deputy premier aren’t codified in law. They’re just titles the prime minister or premier has the option of bestowing on colleagues (or not).

In almost all of Ontario’s nearly 160 years of history in Confederation, replacing premiers in the event of their deaths hasn’t been an issue, with one notable exception. And it happened on September 25, 1914 — 112 years ago this week.

James P. Whitney was one of Ontario’s most important and successful premiers. He was the last to win […] This is an excerpt. Read the full article at TVO.org.