Liz Truss' Shortest-Ever U.K. PM Tenure Only Longer Than One U.S. President

British Prime Minister Liz Truss announced her resignation on Thursday after her short tenure in the position went hand-in-hand with weeks of economic and political turmoil.

As of Thursday, Truss has only held the role for 44 days, making her the shortest-serving prime minister so far in British history. Her tenure has only surpassed that of one U.S. president, William Henry Harrison.

Harrison was the ninth U.S. president and the oldest to hold the office at the time, according to the White House, though President Joe Biden now holds the title. Inaugurated in 1841, Harrison died on his 32nd day in office, making him the shortest-serving president in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president ever to die while in office.

In her resignation speech, Truss said that she would remain prime minister until a successor has been chosen, noting that a leadership election will take place in the next week. Truss' final days in office will not be enough to allow her to outlive the second-shortest serving U.K. prime minister. Former Prime Minister George Canning died after five months in office in 1827, according to Sky HISTORY.

Previously serving as the secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs, Truss was appointed prime minister on September 6. She succeeded former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who faced several scandals while in office and announced his resignation in July after being pressured to leave office over his handling of sexual assault allegations against a member of the ruling Conservative Party.

Truss also began facing pressure over her mini-budget announced on September 23, which introduced massive unfunded tax cuts that resulted in the value of the pound dropping to its lowest ever value against the dollar and sent financial markets into turmoil. Truss announced last week that she had fired Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng over the mini-budget fallout, just a little more than a month after she appointed him.

This chart, provided by Statista, shows UK prime ministers taking office after 1945 with the shortest tenures (as of Oct 20, 2022).

A Find Out Now survey for Channel 4 News last week found that 64 percent of U.K. adults believed Truss should resign.

"I came into office at a time of great economic and international instability," Truss said in her resignation statement. "Families and businesses were worried about how to pay their bills. Putin's illegal war in Ukraine threatens the security of our whole continent. And our country had been held back for too long by low economic growth. I was elected by the Conservative party with a mandate to change this.

"I recognize, though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative party," she continued. "I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative party."

Michael Butler, associate professor of political science at Clark University, said in a statement shared with Newsweek that Truss' resignation "was seen as inevitable."

"Her resignation could be viewed as a small victory for competence—or, at least, an indication that there still remains a low bar of incompetence that political leaders need to clear," he said. "But that small victory is a hollow one from the standpoint of the nation.

Butler added Britain's economic, social and political problems, "which Truss not only failed to address, but somehow in a hot minute compounded" have not gone away. He also warned that the Labour Party, as well as the U.K., will be in "dire straits" if it can't "take back the reins of government now, and attempt some sort of course correction."

Newsweek reached out to Truss for further comment.

Updated 10/20/22, 12:45 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with comments from Michael Butler.