A Glimpse at the History of the Vice Presidency

(This article first appeared in the American Spectator)

The vice presidency is the U.S. Constitution’s oddity. Aside from presiding over the U.S. Senate and casting a vote when there is a tie, there are few official duties associated with the office. Unless delegated a policy portfolio the vice president basically sits around awaiting the earthly demise of the president.

John Nance Garner, the Texan who served two terms as Franklin D. Roosevelt’s vice president, is reputed to have said “the vice presidency is not worth a bucket of warm spit,” although some accounts suggest he used a more colorful term. Had Garner stuck around until Roosevelt’s fourth term he may have had a different view of the office.

If At First You Don’t Succeed

At the dawn of the republic the Constitution provided that each member of the Electoral College would cast two electoral votes but no distinction was made between the offices of president and vice president.

Read the entire article HERE: https://spectator.org/a-glimpse-at-the-history-of-the-vice-presidency/