Line of Succession

I was actually trying to find some info on what would happen if John McCain would die before the general election (would Hucklebee be the candidate or Palin). Found this first and thought interesting. From www.mentalfloss.com:

If something were to happen to the President today…
The current line of succession is:
The Vice President - Dick Cheney
Speaker of the House - Nancy Pelosi
President pro tempore of the Senate - Robert Byrd
Secretary of State - Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of the Treasury - Henry Paulson
Secretary of Defense - Robert Gates
Attorney General - Michael Mukasey
Secretary of the Interior - Dirk Kempthorne
Secretary of Agriculture - Edward T. Schafer
Secretary of Commerce - Carlos Gutierrez
Secretary of Labor - Elaine Chao
Secretary of Health and Human Services - Mike Leavitt
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development - Steven C. Preston
Secretary of Transportation - Mary E. Peters
Secretary of Energy - Samuel Bodman
Secretary of Education - Margaret Spellings
Secretary of Veterans Affairs - James Peake
Secretary of Homeland Security - Michael Chertoff

The government is just very careful about keeping everyone in the line from being in the same place at the same time. For events that all persons in the line usually attend – the State of the Union address, joint sessions of Congress, presidential inaugurations – one member of the cabinet eligible for the presidency is selected as the designated survivor and hidden in an undisclosed location for the duration of the event. In case disaster strikes, the designated survivor will be able to take charge.

Succession law also doesn’t provide any direction for a situation where a former president ineligible to serve another term is in the line of succession (if they don’t close that loophole, it’s a great way for Slick Willy to sneak back into office).