Gates will be succession safeguard

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the lone cabinet holdover from the Bush to Obama administrations, will be the designated no-show at Tuesday's inauguration.

According to media reports, Gates will be at an undisclosed location while others in the immediate line of presidential succession -- vice president, speaker of the House, president pro tempore of the senate, secretary of state, and treasury secretary -- are at the Capitol for Obama's swearing-in.

The safeguard was put in place by then-President Harry Truman in 1947 to make sure the US government could continue if there is a nuclear attack or some other event that killed most top elected officials.

"In order to ensure continuity of government, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been designated by the outgoing administration, with the concurrence of the incoming administration, to serve as the designated successor during Inauguration Day," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in an e-mailed statement, Bloomberg reported.