President Joe Biden underwent a colonoscopy on Friday morning and had to "transfer power to the vice president for the brief period of time when he is under anesthesia," according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki. That means Kamala Harris became the fourth individual—and first woman of color!—in history to serve as acting president of the United States.
Biden's decision to receive the colonoscopy under anesthesia is a regrettable display of weakness compared with the fortitude and stamina demonstrated by his predecessor, Donald Trump, who reportedly stayed awake during his own colonoscopy in 2019 because "he didn't want Vice President Mike Pence to take over temporarily as commander-in-chief and loathed showing any kind of weakness."
Harris was the least popular (acting) president since Richard Nixon at the height of the Watergate scandal, when just 24 percent of Americans approved of his job performance. Harris is slightly more popular, with a job approval rating of 28 percent. On the bright side, just 51 percent of Americans disapprove of Harris's job performance, compared with 66 percent who said the same about Nixon in August 1974.
Harris's historic reign of power lasted one hour and 25 minutes.