Vice President

:VP also stands for Verb phrase.

Vice presidents in government

In politics, a vice president is a politician whose primary function is to replace the president on the event of his or her death or resignation.

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Vice Presidents are often elected jointly with the president as his or her running mate, elected separately, or appointed independently after the president's election.

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Governments with vice presidents generally have only one person holding this role and generally if the president is not present, dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to fulfill his job, the vice president will serve as a president. In many presidential systems, the vice president does not wield much day to day political power, but is still considered an important member of the cabinet. Many Vice Presidents in the Americas hold the symbolic position of President of the Senate.

Related Topics:
Presidential system - Cabinet - Americas - President of the Senate

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The vice president can sometimes assume some of the symbolic and less important functions of president, such as some ceremonial functions and events that the actual president may be too busy to attend; the Vice President of the United States, for example often attends funerals of world leaders on behalf of the president. In this capacity the vice president may thus assume the role of a de facto symbolic head of state, a position which is lacking in a system of government where the powers of head of state and government are fused.

Related Topics:
Vice President of the United States - De facto - Head of state

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In parliamentary systems, most states do not have a vice president but instead name another office-holder, often the chairperson or president of the upper house of parliament or even the prime minister to act as effective vice president. In the Republic of Ireland, a collective vice presidency exists called the Presidential Commission, made up of chairmen of both houses of the Oireachtas (parliament), along with the Irish Chief Justice. In Germany, the de facto vice president is the President of the Bundesrat (upper house) and in France it is the speaker of the Senate.

Related Topics:
Parliamentary system - Prime minister - Republic of Ireland - Presidential Commission - Oireachtas - Germany - President of the Bundesrat - France - Senate

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Some notable or influential Vice Presidents from history have included:

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• Vice President Li Tsung-jen of the Republic of China
• Vice President Harry Truman of the United States
• Vice President Dick Cheney of the United States
• Vice President Saddam Hussein of Iraq
• Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan of Iraq
• Vice President Mario Sandoval Alarcón of Guatemala
• Vice President Luis María Argaña of Paraguay
• Vice President Juan Lechín Oquendo of Bolivia
• Vice President Noli de Castro of the Philippines
• Vice President Krishan Kant of India
• Vice President Seretse Ian Khama of Botswana
• Vice President Simon Muzenda of Zimbabwe
• Deputy President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa