a heartbeat away from being

a heartbeat away from being (something)

Cliché set to be the next ruler upon the final heartbeat of the current ruler. (The decisive heartbeat would be the current ruler's last heartbeat.) The vice president is just a heartbeat away from being president. The prince was only a heartbeat away from being king.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Bertrando	-	Italian
Dias	['di:əs]
Duff	[dʌf]
Yiftach	-	Biblical Hebrew
DonÁT	-	Hungarian
Felipa	fe-LEE-pah	Spanish