History Main / ShortLivedLeadership

** After Dumbledore is declared a fugitive in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'', the Ministry of Magic nominates Umbridge as Headmistress of Hogwarts. She holds the position for less than a year before being unceremoniously relieved by the Ministry's admission of Voldemort's return and vindication of Dumbledore. Aside from her lapdogs, nobody in Hogwarts recognizes her as headmistress. Apparently, not even ''the school'' itself does (she's not given a permission to enter the headmaster's office).

* ''Series/TwentyFour'': This show ran through Presidents very quickly. Out of the ten on screen Presidents, only one, David Palmer, actually managed to finish the term of office he was elected to. Even then, he was incapacitated for a large portion of it, with Vice President Jim Prescott having to serve in his stead. In fact, Prescott holds the title for shortest term of office of any President in the series, acting or otherwise, with his first acting presidency (he had two) lasting only a few hours before he returned power to President Palmer. For actual Presidents, Palmer's brother Wayne had the shortest time in office, as he was elected President but only served for just under months before being nearly assassinated and [[UncertainDoom possibly dying]].

* ''Fanfic/LovedAndLost'': In this extended retelling of the 2nd season finale of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Prince Jewelius overthrows the princesses right after [[ForWantOfANail Twilight Sparkle stops the Changeling invasion]] [[spoiler:(which he started with Queen Chrysalis before double-crossing her)]] by tricking the shaken public into believing that all the other heroes but Twilight are to blame for the invasion. For one whole week, he then enjoys [[TyrantTakesTheHelm his new status]] as "Holy King Jewelius I" who has [[CorruptTheCutie Twilight]] as his student and fiancée, but his urge to personally murder his aunt Celestia and cousin Cadance causes him to lure the banished heroes back to Canterlot and [[JustBetweenYouAndMe brag about his success in their faces]]. After the heroes and the entire Changeling army have escaped from his clutches, [[SkewedPriorities he single-mindedly focuses on destroying the heroes]] and completely ignores the Changelings to the point that he [[NiceJobFixingItVillain allows Twilight and all of Canterlot's inhabitants]] [[EverybodyHasStandards (who are all more concerned about the Changelings than about the fugitive heroes they're gradually starting to forgive)]] [[BrokenPedestal to see him for the selfish monster he is]]. Even if the heroes hadn't defeated all of his minions and cornered him during the final battle before the vengeful Changelings came to kill him, his reign wouldn't have lasted much longer because the public started wanting the princesses back to power.

* [[https://www.deviantart.com/crookedisstrange CrookedIsStrange]] on Website/DeviantArt gives us ''Witch With A Capital B'' (which, yes, includes at least one instance of [[WitchWithACapitalB that very trope]]), a NotSafeForWork AlternateUniverse fanfic of ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'' exploring what would happen if, near the end of the Inazuma arc, La Signora [[spoiler:[[ForWantOfANail had fled from Raiden Shogun's palace after losing her duel with the Traveler before Raiden got the chance to execute her]]]]. The story's premise is that Signora is excommunicated from the rest of the Harbingers because of it, but amasses an army for her own takeover of Teyvat [[TyrantTakesTheHelm and steals Inazuma's throne]] two months later while the Shogun is on vacation. Out of cruelty, incompetence, and a drive to [[ItsAllAboutMe have every aspect of Inazuma under her control]], she and her forces proceed to [[TheCaligula drive the nation to the brink of ruin]] and [[KickTheDog horribly mistreat its populace]], not knowing or caring that this kind of so-called leadership is ''asking'' for a violent uprising... [[spoiler:which, sure enough, is exactly what happens. Between that and Raiden finding out and returning earlier than scheduled, a thoroughly and [[ClothingDamage literally]] [[HumiliationConga dressed-down]] Signora is in the end the only member of the usurping party left alive - and even then, she's last seen [[ExitPursuedByABear being chased off into the distance by a pack of Mystical Beasts]] [[UncertainDoom which, it's implied, will eventually kill her]]]]. All told, the Crimson Witch only got to enjoy being shogun for just over two days.

* ''Fanfic/TheKingNobodyWanted'': The death of Haegon II in a battle near Pentos ushered in a brief era of this for the Blackfyres -- Haegon's eldest son Haegon III "ruled" for one attempted charge in the same battle, his seven-year old second son Aegor was the Blackfyre pretender for a few months before dying of a fever, after which their cousin Daemon Blackfyre IV reigned as Blackfyre pretender for only a week before being killed by his cousin Maelys while Daemon's own sister (who became a lieutenant of Maelys as well as his heir) laughed.

* The shortest term of a [[UsefulNotes/TheMenOfDowningStreet British prime minister]] goes to UsefulNotes/LizTruss, who lasted all of 49 days in the role -- and ten of those days were the official mourning period for Queen Elizabeth II, when no government work was done. Her term was marked by self-inflicted damage, flip-flopping positions, high-profile resignations, and so much general chaos that it became untenable for her to stay in office. The fact that she wouldn't spend much time in office was highly expected thanks to the political crisis, to the point where the ''[[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers Daily Star]]'' pitted her against [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Star_lettuce a head of lettuce]] to see who would last longer; the lettuce won. She beats the next-shortest term by a large margin, as UsefulNotes/GeorgeCanning served for 119 days before dying of pneumonia.

* Pedro Lascurain was President of Mexico for 45 minutes on February 19, 1913. (Mexico had ten presidents between 1911 and 1920 as the Mexican Revolution raged.)

** From 1946 to 1958, France had 24 different governments lasting anywhere from 1 to 16 months, leading to the drafting of a new constitution of the Fifth French Republic.

* ''Fanfic/TheWillOfTheEmpire'': Vader's reign as Emperor lasts only for the length of time it takes to get from the Death Star throne room to the hanger bay where he dies. He uses that time to kick in motion his plot to make Luke the officially recognized heir to the throne.

* The shortest term of a [[UsefulNotes/TheMenOfDowningStreet British prime minister]] goes to UsefulNotes/LizTruss, who lasted all of 44 days in the role before she announced her resignation. Her term was marked by self-inflicted damage, flip-flopping positions, high-profile resignations, and so much general chaos that it became untenable for her to stay in office. The fact that she wouldn't spend much time in office was highly expected thanks to the political crisis, to the point where the ''[[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers Daily Star]]'' pitted her against [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Star_lettuce a head of lettuce]] to see who would last longer; the lettuce won. She beats the next-shortest term by a large margin, as UsefulNotes/GeorgeCanning served for 119 days before dying of pneumonia.

* ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'': After the grand takeover of Molossia, WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic crowns himself the president of the micro-nation. He quickly grew to abuse his power, culminating in the rest of the Website/ChannelAwesome]] team overthrowing him. As such, his leadership lasts about a week, and Molossia is returned to the original leader.

* ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'': After the grand takeover of Molossia, WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic crowns himself the president of the micro-nation. He quickly grew to abuse his power, culminating in the rest of the [[Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses Channel Awesome]] team overthrowing him. As such, his leadership lasts about a week, and Molossia is returned to the original leader.

* ''Series/{{CSINY}}: The season 3 finale, "[[Recap/CSINYS03E24 Snow Day]]" opens with a morning raid on an Irish mob's massive drug horde. In the aftermath, detectives find the body of their leader who had been killed by the gang before the police arrived. The man's son takes over, but Mac and Co. corner him when the gang tries to steal the drugs back from the Lab that same day. Mac says, "Congratulations on the shortest criminal reign in history." It becomes especially true when he tries to escape and accidentally triggers the explosion of a claymore mine Mac and Stella had constructed around one of his minions, killing them both.

* In the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6254783/1/Rise-of-the-Wizards Rise Of The Wizards]]'', Harry is somehow elected Headmaster of Hogwarts, but becomes so dissatisfied with the role that he resigns from the position [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6254783/35/Rise-of-the-Wizards after a mere three months]]. He refuses to even acknowledge that he was Headmaster at all until [=McGonagall=] and the past Headmaster portraits remind him that being placed in that position in the first place still made him '''a''' Headmaster regardless of how long it lasted. It's mentioned in the same conversation that there was a Century of the Three Hundred Headmasters, with a portrait of a past Headmaster noting that a Richard Masters held the record of shortest time as Headmaster of Hogwarts at only six ''hours''.
* [[https://www.deviantart.com/crookedisstrange CrookedIsStrange]] on Website/DeviantArt gives us "Witch With A Capital B" (which, yes, includes at least one instance of [[WitchWithACapitalB that very trope]]), a NotSafeForWork AlternateUniverse fanfic of ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'' exploring what would happen if, near the end of the Inazuma arc, La Signora [[spoiler:[[ForWantOfANail had fled from Raiden Shogun's palace after losing her duel with the Traveler before Raiden got the chance to execute her]]]]. The story's premise is that Signora is excommunicated from the rest of the Harbingers because of it, but amasses an army for her own takeover of Teyvat [[TyrantTakesTheHelm and steals Inazuma's throne]] two months later while the Shogun is on vacation. Out of cruelty, incompetence, and a drive to [[ItsAllAboutMe have every aspect of Inazuma under her control]], she and her forces proceed to [[TheCaligula drive the nation to the brink of ruin]] and [[KickTheDog horribly mistreat its populace]], not knowing or caring that this kind of so-called leadership is ''asking'' for a violent uprising... [[spoiler:which, sure enough, is exactly what happens. Between that and Raiden finding out and returning earlier than scheduled, a thoroughly and [[ClothingDamage literally]] [[HumiliationConga dressed-down]] Signora is in the end the only member of the usurping party left alive - and even then, she's last seen [[ExitPursuedByABear being chased off into the distance by a pack of Mystical Beasts]] [[UncertainDoom which, it's implied, will eventually kill her]]]]. All told, the Crimson Witch only got to enjoy being shogun for just over two days.

** The second arc has [[spoiler:Prance Herdless become selected as the new Great Mother after the previous Great Father, Thorn, passes away. This is despite her concerns that she, as a gazelle, might not be a good fit for the role, and the fact that Bravelands is gripped by a crisis involving a megalomaniacal [[TheGreatSerpent giant serpent]] doesn't help much. It isn't stated how long she was Great Mother, but the arc ends with her pulling a HeroicSacrifice to plunge the serpent into a lava flow, reducing herself to a mere spirit projection presumably until the next true Great Parent is found]].

* In the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6254783/1/Rise-of-the-Wizards Rise Of The Wizards]]'', Harry is somehow elected Headmaster of Hogwarts, but becomes so dissatisfied with the role that he resigns from the position, [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6254783/35/Rise-of-the-Wizards having held the role for a mere three months]]. He refuses to even acknowledge that he was Headmaster at all until [=McGonagall=] and the past Headmaster portraits remind him that being placed in that position in the first place still made him '''a''' Headmaster regardless of how long it lasted. It's mentioned in the same conversation that there was a Century of the Three Hundred Headmasters, with a portrait of a past Headmaster noting that a Richard Masters held the record of shortest time as Headmaster of Hogwarts at only six ''hours''.

* In the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6254783/35/Rise-of-the-Wizards Rise Of The Wizards]]'', Harry somehow becomes Headmaster of Hogwarts, but becomes so dissatisfied with the role that he resigns from the position in Chapter 35, having held the role for only three months. He refuses to even acknowledge that he was Headmaster at all until [=McGonagall=] and the past Headmaster portraits remind him that holding the position still made him '''a''' Headmaster regardless of how long it lasted. It's mentioned in the same conversation that there was a Century of the Three Hundred Headmasters, with a portrait of a past Headmaster noting that a Richard Masters held the record of shortest time as Headmaster of Hogwarts at only six ''hours''.