In a presidential system: President (Executive's title) is both head of government (the nation’s chief administrator) and head of state (the symbolic embodiment of the nation).
Here's the Order of Presidential Succession:
• The Vice President
• Speaker of the House
• President pro tempore of the Senate1
• Secretary of State
• Secretary of the Treasury
• Secretary of Defense
• Attorney General
• Secretary of the Interior
• Secretary of Agriculture
• Secretary of Commerce
• Secretary of Labor
• Secretary of Health and Human Services
• Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
• Secretary of Transportation
• Secretary of Energy
• Secretary of Education
• Secretary of Veterans Affairs
• Secretary of Homeland Security
According to the Presidential Succession Act of 1792, the Senate president pro tempore1 was next in line after the vice president to succeed to the presidency, followed by the Speaker of the House.
In 1886, however, Congress changed the order of presidential succession, replacing the president pro tempore and the Speaker with the cabinet officers. Proponents of this change argued that the congressional leaders lacked executive experience, and none had served as president, while six former secretaries of state had later been elected to that office.
The Presidential Succession Act of 1947, signed by President Harry Truman, changed the order again to what it is today. The cabinet members are ordered in the line of succession according to the date their offices were established.
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