![]() ![]() Saul Loeb/Pool/AFP via Getty Images The ‘last voice in the room’įollowing Mondale’s model, when Joe Biden agreed to be Barack Obama’s running mate, he said that he wanted to be the “ last man in the room” whenever important decisions where being made so he could give Obama his unfiltered opinion. One key job of the vice president involves presiding over the process of counting Electoral College votes. Pence ultimately avoided taking such action. 6 insurrection, Democrats and even a few Republicans called on Pence to remove Trump from office by invoking the 25th Amendment. In contrast, Mike Pence has proved to be a loyal ally to a president who has a track record of being unwilling to listen to dissent. Bush and Dick Cheney disagreed, at times, over Iraq, as well as the use and nonuse of presidential pardons. Bill Clinton and Al Gore, for instance, disagreed over the amount of power and influence entrusted to first lady Hillary Clinton they also disagreed over the handling of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Many vice presidents since Mondale have often offered points of view that didn’t align with that of the president. In a memo sent to Carter after winning the election, Mondale argued that “he biggest single problem of our recent administrations has been the failure of the President to be exposed to independent analysis not conditioned by what it is thought he wants to hear or often what others want him to hear.” Mondale’s vision for the role of vice president was “to offer impartial advice” so that Carter wouldn’t be “shielded from points of view that should hear.” Carter agreed and subsequently made Mondale an integral part of his inner circle. In 1976, Jimmy Carter picked Walter Mondale as his running mate. Vice President Walter Mondale, right, was an active part of President Jimmy Carter’s administration. Eisenhower: “Can you think of a major contribution that Nixon has made to your administration?” Eisenhower replied: “ Well, if you give me a week I might think of one.” Nixon lost that election. At one point during the campaign, reporters asked then-President Dwight D. Truman, who didn’t find out about it until Roosevelt’s death.įor the 1960 presidential election, two-term Vice President Richard Nixon faced off against John F. Roosevelt, for instance, kept the atomic bomb a secret from Vice President Harry S. “My experience in the Cabinet,” Coolidge later recalled, “was of supreme value to me when I became President.”Īfter Harding and Coolidge, many later presidents reverted back to the tradition of keeping vice presidents an arm’s length away, even on key matters. In 1923, Harding died of a likely heart attack, and Coolidge succeeded him as president. Coolidge later became the first vice president in history to attend Cabinet meetings on a regular basis. He thought that “ the vice president should be more than a mere substitute in waiting,” and he wished for his vice president, Calvin Coolidge, “to be a helpful part” of his administration. Wilson’s successor as president, Warren Harding, had unconventional views about the importance of the role of the vice president. FPG/Keystone View Company/Archive Photos/Getty Images The evolution of the vice presidency Warren Harding, center, wanted his vice president, Calvin Coolidge, at right, to play an active role in governing. The end of that section states that presidential power “ shall devolve on the Vice President” in the event of the president’s “Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office.” Finally, Article II, Section 4 states that vice presidents – like presidents – can be “ removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” The beginning of Article II, Section 1 explains how vice presidents are elected, which was later revised by the 12th Amendment. Normally, ties are rare, but the vice president’s power to break them will likely become relevant to Harris as Democrats, and independents who caucus with Democrats, are expected to control only 50 of the 100 Senate seats. Article I, Section 3 says that the vice president “ shall be President of the Senate but shall have no Vote” except in the event of a tie. The role of vice president is only mentioned in the U.S. John Adams, the nation’s first vice president, called the job ‘the most insignificant Office.’ Gilbert Stuart, National Gallery of Art via Wikimedia Commons The ‘most insignificant’ office? ![]()
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