But after President Mugabe fired his vice president earlier this month, other officials were afraid he was paving the way for his wife, Grace Mugabe, to take over.
If Pelosi is bypassed, or doesn't want the job, the rules call for the presidency to go to the Senate's president pro-tempore who at the moment is 87-year-old Republican Chuck Grassley.
And that's why he's one vote away from the Presidency right now because he's put himself out there as an authentic figure and he's presented himself authentically.
Some Whig leaders remembered how William Henry Harrison had won the presidency for the party by campaigning as a military hero. The country had a new military hero now.
After an agonising dispute over " hanging chads" , George W. Bush was judged to have won the state by just 537 votes, and Democrats accused Mr Nader of handing him the presidency.
He easily won the presidency in eighteen sixty-eight in the first election held after the war. Now, he would spend four more years as president of the United States.
All I want to do is see that every man has a fair deal. No more, no less. Roosevelt believed the United States needed a strong leader. He planned to strengthen the presidency whenever he could.