Vice President of the United States

The Vice President of the United States is the second-highest executive official of the United States government, the person who is, in the words of Adlai Stevenson, "a heartbeat from the presidency." As first in the presidential line of succession, the Vice President becomes the new President of the United States upon the death, resignation, or removal by impeachment and subsequent conviction of the President. Eight Vice Presidents have assumed the Presidency upon the death of the President, and one upon the President's resignation.

Role of the Vice President

Growth of the office

For much of its existence, the office of Vice President was seen as a little more than a minor position. John Adams, the first Vice President, described it as "the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived." Even 150 years later, 32nd Vice President John Nance Garner famously described the office as "not worth a pitcher of warm piss" (at the time reported with the bowdlerization "spit"). Thomas R. Marshall, the 28th Vice President, lamented: "Once there were two brothers. One went away to sea; the other was elected Vice President of the United States. And nothing was heard of either of them again." The natural stepping stone to the Presidency was long considered to be the office of Secretary of State. It has only been fairly recently that this notion has reversed; indeed, the notion was still very much alive when Harry S. Truman became the Vice President for Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Related Topics:
John Adams - John Nance Garner - Piss - Bowdlerization - Thomas R. Marshall - Secretary of State - Harry S. Truman - Franklin D. Roosevelt

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For many years, the Vice President was given few responsibilities. After John Adams attended a meeting of the President's Cabinet in 1791, no Vice President did so again until Thomas Marshall stood in for President Woodrow Wilson while he travelled to Europe in 1918 and 1919. Marshall's successor, Calvin Coolidge, was invited to meetings by President Warren G. Harding. The next Vice President, Charles G. Dawes, was not invited after declaring that "the precedent might prove injurious to the country." Vice President Charles Curtis was also precluded from attending by President Herbert Hoover.

Related Topics:
Cabinet - Woodrow Wilson - Calvin Coolidge - Warren G. Harding - Charles G. Dawes - Herbert Hoover

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In 1933, Roosevelt raised the stature of the office by renewing the practice of inviting the Vice President to cabinet meetings, which has been maintained by every President since. Still, Roosevelt kept his last Vice President Harry S. Truman uninformed on some national security issues. As a result, Truman was unaware of the top-secret Manhattan Project to develop nuclear weapons when he succeeded to the Presidency upon Roosevelt's death in 1945 while World War II was still raging. The necessity of keeping Vice Presidents informed on national security issues became clear, and Congress made the Vice President one of four statutory members of the National Security Council in 1949.

Related Topics:
Harry S. Truman - Manhattan Project - Nuclear weapon - World War II - National Security Council

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In October 1952, Presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson sought to magnify the importance of the number two position in the executive branch when he said, "The Republican Vice Presidential Candidate ... asks you to place him a heartbeat from the Presidency," referring to Dwight D. Eisenhower's vice presidential running mate, Richard Nixon.

Related Topics:
1952 - Adlai Stevenson - Dwight D. Eisenhower - Richard Nixon

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Once elected, President Eisenhower raised the stature of the Vice Presidency further when he ordered Vice President Nixon to preside at Cabinet meetings in his absence.

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Modern role

The formal powers and role of the Vice President are limited to the Presidency of the Senate, including a casting vote in the event of a deadlock. This was important in the first half of 2001, as the Senators were divided 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats and thus Dick Cheney's tiebreaking vote gave the Republicans the Senate majority.

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Their other functions are as a drafter and spokesperson for the administration's policy, as an adviser to the President, and as a symbol of American concern or support. Their influence in this role depends almost entirely on the characteristics of the particular administration. Cheney, for instance, is widely regarded as one of George W. Bush's closest confidantes. Al Gore was an important advisor to President Bill Clinton on matters of foreign policy and the envrionment. Often, Vice Presidents will take harder-line stands on issues to ensure the support of the party's base while deflecting partisan criticism away from the President. They often meet heads of state or attend state funerals in other countries, at times when the administration wishes to demonstrate concern or support without having to actually send the President to do so.

Related Topics:
Al Gore - Bill Clinton

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Normally, candidates for President will name a candidate for Vice President when they are assured of the party's nomination. Since the Presidential candidate is now generally known before the party convention, this announcement is now typically made in the first day or so of the party convention. Generally, the choice of running mate is ultimately made by the Presidential candidate alone (although with considerable counsel from advisors) and often is done to create balance on a ticket. It is common for the Vice Presidential candidate to come from a different region of the country than the President or appeal to a slightly different ideological wing of the party. The 12th Amendment discourages the Vice President from legally residing in the same state as the President, as Electors must vote for at least one candidate not in the same state as themselves. However, the ease of changing one's state of residence (as Richard Cheney did in 2000) minimizes the effect of this provision.

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In recent years, the Vice Presidency has frequently been used to launch bids for the Presidency. Of the 13 presidential elections from 1956 to 2004, 9 featured the incumbent President; the other 4 (1960, 1968, 1988, 2000) all featured the incumbent Vice President. Former Vice Presidents also ran, in 1984 (Walter Mondale), and in 1968 (Richard Nixon, against the incumbent Vice President Hubert Humphrey).

Related Topics:
1960 - 1968 - 1988 - 2000 - 1984 - Walter Mondale - Richard Nixon - Hubert Humphrey

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