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President, vice president, speaker ... then who? A look at the presidential line of succession

By: RNN Staff

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(RNN) – We all know the vice president steps in if the president can't serve.

Most of us know the speaker of the House of Representatives takes over if the vice president can't.

But what happens if the speaker can't fill the office?

The presidency then goes to an official who's already a president of sorts - president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate.

From there, the line of succession goes through eligible heads of federal executive departments who form the president's cabinet.

That's according to the Presidential Succession Act, signed by President Harry Truman in 1947.

Here are the 18 officials in line for succession, in order: