Vice President of the United States

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The Vice President of the United States is the first in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death, resignation, or removal of the President. As designated by the Constitution of the United States, the vice president also serves as the President of the Senate, and may break tie votes in that chamber. The current Vice President of the United States is Dick Cheney.

Contents 1 Eligibility 2 Oath 3 Election 4 Role of the Vice President 4.1 President of the Senate 4.2 Growth of the office 4.3 Duties 5 Succession and the 25th Amendment 6 Vice Presidents of the United States of America 6.1 Notes 7 Vice Presidential facts 8 Orthographic style 9 See also 10 External links 11 Further reading

[edit] Eligibility

The vice president must be a natural-born citizen of the United States, at least 35 years of age, and a resident of the U.S. for 14 years. Contrarily, Article II only states that these requirements are for eligibility for the president and not necessarily the vice-president. The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution requires the vice president to meet the same eligibility requirements as the president, and the Twenty-second Amendment limits the president to only two terms in office. (Any period of service in the office of president for two years or more counts as one term). Thus, the maximum number of years a person may serve as president is ten years (two four-year terms and one two-year term having succeeded to the presidency). Once a person is ineligible to the office of president, he is ineligible to the office of vice president. However, a person who has never served six or more years as president (one four-year elected term and one term less than two years having succeeded to the presidency) is eligible for an unlimited number of terms as vice president.

[edit] Oath

Unlike the president, the Constitution does not specify an oath of office for the vice president. Several variants of the oath have been used since 1789; the current form, which is also recited by Senators, Representatives and other government officers, has been used since 1884:

“

I do solemnly swear [or affirm] that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

”

The phrase "so help me God" is optional, as it is in any oath of office in the United States of America, but is so common that no case is known where a vice president did not include it in the oath.

[edit] Election

Under the original terms of the Constitution, the members of the U.S. Electoral College voted only for office of president rather than for both president and vice president. Each elector was allowed to vote for two people for president. The person receiving the greatest number of votes (provided that such a number was a majority of electors) would be president, while the individual who was in second place became vice president. If no one received a majority of votes, then the U.S. House of Representatives would choose between the five highest vote-getters, with each state getting one vote. In such a case, the person who received the highest number of votes but was not chosen president would become vice president. If there was ever a tie for second, then the U.S. Senate would choose the vice president.

The original plan, however, did not foresee the development of political parties. In the election of 1796, for instance, Federalist John Adams came in first, and Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson came second. Thus, the president and vice president were from different parties. An even greater problem occurred in the election of 1800, when Democratic-Republicans Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied the vote. While it was intended that Jefferson was the presidential contender and Burr was the Vice presidential one, the electors did not and could not differentiate between the two under the system of the time (Article Two, Clause 3). The plan had been for one elector to vote for Jefferson but not Burr, thus giving Burr one less vote. This plan broke down for reasons that are disputed. After 35 unsuccessful votes in the U.S. House of Representatives, Thomas Jefferson finally won on the 36th ballot and Burr became vice president.

The tumultuous affair led to the adoption of the Twelfth amendment in 1804, which directed the electors to use separate ballots to vote for the president and vice president. While this solved the problem at hand, it ultimately had the effect of lowering the prestige of the vice presidency, as the vice president was no longer the second choice for president.

The Constitution also prohibits electors from voting for both a presidential and vice presidential candidate from the same state as themselves. In theory, this might deny a vice presidential candidate with the most electoral votes the absolute majority required to secure election, even if the presidential candidate is elected, and place the vice presidential election in the hands of the Senate. In practice, this requirement is easily circumvented by having the candidate for vice president change the state of residency as was done by Dick Cheney, who changed his legal residency from Texas to Wyoming, his original home state, in order to run for election as vice president alongside George W. Bush, who was then the governor of Texas.

Formally, the vice presidential candidate is nominated by the party convention. However, it has long been the custom that the vice presidential candidate has been effectively named by the presidential nominee. Often, the presidential nominee will name a vice presidential candidate who will bring geographic or ideological balance to the ticket or to appeal to a particular constituency. The vice presidential candidate might also be chosen on the basis of adding foreign or domestic policy experience to the ticket, or on the basis of a particular vice presidential candidate's name recognition. The last presidential candidate to not name his vice presidential choice was Democrat Adlai Stevenson in 1956. Stevenson left the choice up to the convention, which chose Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver over Massachusetts Senator (and later president) John F. Kennedy.

[edit] Role of the Vice President

[edit] President of the Senate

Main article: President of the Senate

As President of the Senate (Article I, Section 3), the vice president oversees procedural matters and may cast a tie-breaking vote. There is a strong convention within the U.S. Senate that the vice president not use his position as President of the Senate to influence the passage of legislation or act in a partisan manner, except in the case of breaking tie votes. As President of the Senate, John Adams cast twenty-nine tie-breaking votes—a record that no successor has ever threatened. His votes protected the president's sole authority over the removal of appointees, influenced the location of the national capital, and prevented war with Great Britain. On at least one occasion he persuaded senators to vote against legislation that he opposed, and he frequently lectured the Senate on procedural and policy matters. Adams' political views and his active role in the Senate made him a natural target for critics of the Washington administration. Toward the end of his first term, as a result of a threatened resolution that would have silenced him except for procedural and policy matters, he began to exercise more restraint in the hope of realizing the goal shared by many of his successors: election in his own right as president of the United States of America.

In modern times, the vice president rarely presides over day-to-day matters in the Senate; in his place, the Senate chooses a President pro tempore (or "president for a time") to preside in the Vice President's absence, and the Senate maintains a Duty Roster for the post, normally selecting the longest serving senator in the majority party.

When the President is impeached, the Chief Justice of the United States of America presides over the Senate during the impeachment trial. Otherwise, the Vice President, in his capacity as President of the Senate, or the President pro tempore of the Senate presides. This may include the impeachment of the Vice President him- or herself, although legal theories suggest that allowing a person to be the judge in the case where she or he was the defendant wouldn't be permitted. If the Vice President did not preside over an impeachment, the duties would fall to the President Pro Tempore.

One duty required of President of the Senate is presiding over the counting and presentation of the votes of the U.S. Electoral College. This process occurs in the presence of both houses of Congress, on January 6 of the year following a U.S. presidential election. In this capacity, only four Vice Presidents have been able to announce their own election to the presidency: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Van Buren, and George H. W. Bush. At the beginning of 1961, it fell to Richard Nixon to preside over this process, which officially announced the election of his 1960 opponent, John F. Kennedy, and in 2001, Al Gore announced the election of his opponent, George W. Bush. Nixon found himself in the opposite position in 1969, when Vice President Hubert Humphrey announced he had lost to Nixon.

Vice President John C. Calhoun became the first vice president to resign the office. He believed he would have more power as a senator. He had been dropped from the ticket by President Andrew Jackson in favor of Martin Van Buren. Already a lame-duck vice president, he was elected to the Senate by the South Carolina state legislature and resigned the vice presidency early to begin his Senate term.

[edit] Growth of the office

For much of its existence, the office of Vice President was seen as 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. And nothing was heard of either of them again." When the Whig Party was looking for a vice president on Zachary Taylor's ticket, they approached Daniel Webster, who said of the offer "I do not intend to be buried until I am dead." 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 Truman became the vice president for Franklin Roosevelt.

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 traveled 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.

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. Roosevelt's first vice president, John Nance Garner, broke with him at the start of the second term, on the Court-packing issue, and became Roosevelt's leading political enemy. Garner's successor, Henry Wallace, was given major responsibilities during the war, but moved further to the left than the Democratic Party and the rest of the Roosevelt administration, and was relieved of actual power. Roosevelt kept his last vice president, Harry Truman, uninformed on all war and postwar issues, such as the atomic bomb, leading Truman to wryly remark that the job of the vice president is to "go to weddings and funerals." The need to keep 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.

Richard Nixon reinvented the office of vice president. Although he had no formal power, he had the attention of the media and the Republican party. Eisenhower ordered him to preside at Cabinet meetings in his absence. Nixon demonstrated for the first time that the office could be a springboard to the White House; most vice presidents since have followed his lead and sought the presidency. (Nelson Rockefeller, despite his earlier seeking the Republican presidential nomination, did not, and it is widely believed that Dick Cheney will not). Nixon was the first vice president to actually step in to run the government temporarily when Eisenhower suffered a heart attack on September 24, 1955; ileitis in June 1956; and a stroke in November 1957.

President Jimmy Carter was the first president to formally give the vice president an office in the West Wing of the White House.

[edit] Duties

The formal powers and role of the vice president are limited to the Presidency of the Senate; the two primary such duties have proven to be to cast a vote in the event of a Senate deadlock and to preside over and certify the official vote count of the U.S. Electoral College (see above). As a recent example, in the first half of 2001, the Senators were divided 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats and Dick Cheney's tie-breaking vote gave the Republicans the Senate majority. (See 107th United States Congress.)

Their other functions are as a drafter and spokesperson for the administration's policy, as an adviser to the president, as Chairman of the Board of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as a Member of the board of the Smithsonian Institution, 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 environment. 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. As under the American system the president is both head of state and head of government, the ceremonial duties of the former position are often delegated to the Vice President. He or she may meet with other heads of state or attend state funerals in other countries, at times when the administration wishes to demonstrate concern or support but cannot send the President himself.

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 Dick Cheney did in 2000) minimizes the effect of this provision.

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).

Since 1974, the official residence of the vice president and his family has been Number One Observatory Circle, on the grounds of the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, DC.

[edit] Succession and the 25th Amendment

The U.S. Constitution provides that should the president die or become disabled while in office, the "powers and duties" of the office are transferred to the vice president. It remained unclear whether the vice president actually became the new president or merely acting president. This was first tested in 1841 with the death of President William Harrison. Harrison's Vice President, John Tyler, asserted that he should gain the full presidential office, powers, and title. Despite some strong calls against it, Tyler took the oath of office, becoming the tenth president. Tyler's claim was not challenged legally, and so the precedent of full succession was established.

The Constitution left several questions unanswered, however. If the vice president died in office, resigned, or succeeded to the presidency, there was no process for selecting a replacement, so the office of vice president remained vacant until the inauguration of the next presidential & vice presidential terms. Additionally, the assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963 provoked the question of who has the power to declare that an incapacitated president is unable to discharge his duties. This question prompted the adoption of Amendment XXV to the U.S. Constitution in 1967.

Section 2 of the 25th Amendment provides that "Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress." Gerald Ford was the first Vice President selected by this method, after the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew in 1973; after succeeding to the Presidency, Ford nominated Nelson Rockefeller as vice president.

Sections 3 and 4 of the amendment provide means for the vice president to become Acting President upon the temporary disability of the president. Section 3 deals with self declared incapacity of the president, and section 4 deals with incapacity declared by the joint action of the Vice President and of a majority of the Cabinet. While section 4 has never been invoked, section 3 has been invoked twice: on July 13, 1985 when Ronald Reagan underwent surgery to remove cancerous polyps from his colon, and again on June 29, 2002 when George W. Bush underwent a colonoscopy procedure requiring sedation. Prior to this amendment, Vice President Richard Nixon informally replaced President Dwight Eisenhower for a period of weeks on each of three occasions when Eisenhower was ill.

[edit] Vice Presidents of the United States of America

Prior to ratification of the 25th Amendment in 1967, no provision existed for filling a vacancy in the office of vice president. As a result, the vice presidency was left vacant 16 times (sometimes for nearly four years) until the next ensuing election and inauguration -- 8 times due to the death of the sitting president, resulting in the vice president becoming president; 7 times due to the death of the sitting vice president, and once due to the resignation of VP John Calhoun to become a senator. Since the adoption of the 25th Amendment, the office has been vacant twice while awaiting confirmation of the new vice president by both houses of Congress.

#	Image	Name	Home State	Took Office	Left Office	Party	President(s)
1		John Adams	Massachusetts	April 21, 17891	March 4, 1797	Federalist	Washington
2		Thomas Jefferson	Virginia	March 4, 1797	March 4, 1801	Democratic-Republican	J. Adams
3		Aaron Burr	New York	March 4, 1801	March 4, 1805	Democratic-Republican	Jefferson
4		George Clinton	New York	March 4, 1805	April 20, 18122	Democratic-Republican	Jefferson/ Madison
Vacant			April 20, 1812	March 4, 1813			Madison
5		Elbridge Gerry	Massachusetts	March 4, 1813	November 23, 18142	Democratic-Republican	Madison
Vacant			November 23, 1814	March 4, 1817			Madison
6		Daniel D. Tompkins	New York	March 4, 1817	March 4, 1825	Democratic-Republican	Monroe
7		John C. Calhoun	South Carolina	March 4, 1825	December 28, 18323	Democratic-Republican/ Democratic	J. Q. Adams/ Jackson
Vacant			December 28, 1832	March 4, 1833			Jackson
8		Martin Van Buren	New York	March 4, 1833	March 4, 1837	Democratic	Jackson
9		Richard M. Johnson	Kentucky	March 4, 1837	March 4, 1841	Democratic	Van Buren
10		John Tyler	Virginia	March 4, 1841	April 4, 18414	Whig	W. Harrison
Vacant			April 4, 1841	March 4, 1845			Tyler
11		George Dallas	Pennsylvania	March 4, 1845	March 4, 1849	Democratic	Polk
12		Millard Fillmore	New York	March 4, 1849	July 9, 18504	Whig	Taylor
Vacant			July 9, 1850	March 4, 1853			Fillmore
13		William R. King	Alabama	March 4, 18535	April 18, 18532	Democratic	Pierce
Vacant			April 18, 1853	March 4, 1857			Pierce
14		John C. Breckinridge	Kentucky	March 4, 1857	March 4, 1861	Democratic	Buchanan
15		Hannibal Hamlin	Maine	March 4, 1861	March 4, 1865	Republican	Lincoln
16		Andrew Johnson	Tennessee	March 4, 1865	April 15, 18654	Democratic	Lincoln
Vacant			April 15, 1865	March 4, 1869			A. Johnson
17		Schuyler Colfax	Indiana	March 4, 1869	March 4, 1873	Republican	Grant
18		Henry Wilson	Massachusetts	March 4, 1873	November 22, 18752	Republican	Grant
Vacant			November 22, 1875	March 4, 1877			Grant
19		William A. Wheeler	New York	March 4, 1877	March 4, 1881	Republican	Hayes
20		Chester A. Arthur	New York	March 4, 1881	September 19, 18814	Republican	Garfield
Vacant			September 19, 1881	March 4, 1885			Arthur
21		Thomas Hendricks	Indiana	March 4, 1885	November 25, 18852	Democratic	Cleveland
Vacant			November 25, 1885	March 4, 1889			Cleveland
22		Levi P. Morton	New York	March 4, 1889	March 4, 1893	Republican	B. Harrison
23		Adlai E. Stevenson	Illinois	March 4, 1893	March 4, 1897	Democratic	Cleveland
24		Garret Hobart	New Jersey	March 4, 1897	November 21, 18992	Republican	McKinley
Vacant			November 21, 1899	March 4, 1901			McKinley
25		Theodore Roosevelt	New York	March 4, 1901	September 14, 19014	Republican	McKinley
Vacant			September 14, 1901	March 4, 1905			T. Roosevelt
26		Charles W. Fairbanks	Indiana	March 4, 1905	March 4, 1909	Republican	T. Roosevelt
27		James S. Sherman	New York	March 4, 1909	October 30, 19122	Republican	Taft
Vacant			October 30, 1912	March 4, 1913			Taft
28		Thomas R. Marshall	Indiana	March 4, 1913	March 4, 1921	Democratic	Wilson
29		Calvin Coolidge	Massachusetts	March 4, 1921	August 3, 19234	Republican	Harding
Vacant			August 3, 1923	March 4, 1925			Coolidge
30		Charles G. Dawes	Illinois	March 4, 1925	March 4, 1929	Republican	Coolidge
31		Charles Curtis	Kansas	March 4, 1929	March 4, 1933	Republican	Hoover
32		John Nance Garner	Texas	March 4, 1933	January 20, 1941	Democratic	F. Roosevelt
33		Henry A. Wallace	Iowa	January 20, 1941	January 20, 1945	Democratic	F. Roosevelt
34		Harry S. Truman	Missouri	January 20, 1945	April 12, 19454	Democratic	F. Roosevelt
Vacant			April 12, 1945	January 20, 1949			Truman
35		Alben W. Barkley	Kentucky	January 20, 1949	January 20, 1953	Democratic	Truman
36		Richard M. Nixon	California	January 20, 1953	January 20, 1961	Republican	Eisenhower
37		Lyndon B. Johnson	Texas	January 20, 1961	November 22, 19634	Democratic	Kennedy
Vacant			November 22, 1963	January 20, 1965			L. Johnson
38		Hubert H. Humphrey II	Minnesota	January 20, 1965	January 20, 1969	Democratic	L. Johnson
39		Spiro T. Agnew	Maryland	January 20, 1969	October 10, 19733	Republican	Nixon
Vacant			October 10, 1973	December 6, 1973			Nixon
40		Gerald R. Ford Jr.	Michigan	December 6, 19736	August 9, 19744	Republican	Nixon
Vacant			August 9, 1974	December 19, 1974			Ford
41		Nelson A. Rockefeller	New York	December 19, 19746	January 20, 1977	Republican	Ford
42		Walter F. Mondale	Minnesota	January 20, 1977	January 20, 1981	Democratic	Carter
43		George H. W. Bush	Texas	January 20, 19817	January 20, 1989	Republican	Reagan
44		J. Danforth Quayle	Indiana	January 20, 1989	January 20, 1993	Republican	G. H. W. Bush
45		Albert A. Gore Jr.	Tennessee	January 20, 1993	January 20, 2001	Democratic	Clinton
46		Richard B. Cheney	Wyoming	January 20, 20017	Incumbent	Republican	G. W. Bush

[edit] Notes

¹ Arriving in New York City before President-elect George Washington, Adams was sworn as Vice President nine days before the President.
² Died in office
³ Resigned from office
⁴ Succeeded to Presidency upon death or resignation of President
⁵ The only Vice President to be sworn in outside of the United States of America (in Havana, Cuba), with special dispensation from Congress.
⁶ Became Vice President under provisions of 25th Amendment
⁷ Acted as President under provisions of 25th Amendment

[edit] Vice Presidential facts

Longevity

• John Nance Garner was two weeks shy of his 99th birthday when he died.
• Levi Morton died on his 96th birthday.
• Gerald Ford died at the age of 93.
• John Adams died at the age of 90.

Age while in office

• John C. Breckinridge, the youngest ever to serve, was 36 when he became vice president in 1857.
• Alben W. Barkley, the oldest ever to serve, was 75 when he left the vice presidency in 1953.

Two served under two different Presidents

• George Clinton under Thomas Jefferson and James Madison
• John C. Calhoun under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson

Seven died in office

• George Clinton in 1812
• Elbridge Gerry in 1814
• William Rufus de Vane King in 1853
• Henry Wilson in 1875
• Thomas Hendricks in 1885
• Garret Hobart in 1899
• James Sherman in 1912

Two resigned

• John C. Calhoun resigned on December 28, 1832 to take a seat in the Senate, having been chosen to fill a vacancy.
• Spiro Agnew resigned on October 10, 1973 upon pleading no contest to charges of accepting bribes while governor of Maryland.

Three were the apparent target of an assassination attempt (both unsuccessful)

• Andrew Johnson was a target of the same conspiracy which murdered President Abraham Lincoln and attempted to murder Secretary of State William H. Seward
• Thomas R. Marshall was a target of letter bomb in 1915
• Dick Cheney was in the vicinity of a bomb meant for him.

Two shot a man while serving as Vice President

• Aaron Burr shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel on July 11, 1804; see Burr-Hamilton duel.
• Dick Cheney accidentally shot Harry Whittington while hunting quail on February 11, 2006; see Dick Cheney hunting incident.

Two were never elected to the office

• Gerald Ford was nominated to office upon the resignation of Spiro Agnew in 1973.
• Nelson Rockefeller was nominated to office upon the succession of Gerald Ford to the Presidency in 1974.

Nine succeeded to the Presidency

1. John Tyler became President when William Harrison died. Chose not to seek full term.
2. Millard Fillmore became President when Zachary Taylor died. Sought the Whig nomination in 1852, but lost to Winfield Scott. Four years later, ran and lost as the candidate of the American and Whig Parties.
3. Andrew Johnson became President when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Sought the Democratic nomination in 1868, but was unsuccessful.
4. Chester A. Arthur became President when James Garfield was assassinated. Sought a full term, but was not re-nominated.
5. Theodore Roosevelt became President when William McKinley was assassinated; then was elected to full term. Didn't seek re-election. Four years after leaving office, ran again and lost.
6. Calvin Coolidge became President when Warren Harding died; then was elected to full term. Did not seek re-election.
7. Harry Truman became President when Franklin Roosevelt died; then was elected to full term. Did not seek re-election.
8. Lyndon Johnson became President when John Kennedy was assassinated; then was elected to full term. Did not seek re-election.
9. Gerald Ford became President when Richard Nixon resigned; then lost election to full term.

Four sitting Vice Presidents were elected President

1. John Adams (1789-1797) was elected President in 1796.
2. Thomas Jefferson (1797-1801) was elected President in 1800.
3. Martin Van Buren (1833-1837) was elected President in 1836.
4. George H. W. Bush (1981-1989) was elected President in 1988.

One non-sitting former Vice President was elected President Richard Nixon was elected President in 1968. He had been Vice President to Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961.

Nixon is also the only person to be elected as Vice President for two terms and President for two terms (although he did not complete his second term as President). Nixon being unable to serve a second full term means that as yet no one has ever served two full terms both as Vice President and then as President.

Two have been Acting President

1. George H. W. Bush acted as President for Ronald Reagan on July 13, 1985.
2. Dick Cheney acted as President for George W. Bush on June 29, 2002.

They officially acted as President due to presidential incapacity under the 25th Amendment.

Living former Vice Presidents

1. Walter Mondale
2. George H. W. Bush
3. Dan Quayle
4. Al Gore

Of these, Bush was later elected President. Mondale and Gore were nominated by their parties, and ran for President unsuccessfully, while Quayle was unable to get the necessary support in order to do so.

Three were named Johnson

1. Richard Mentor Johnson
2. Andrew Johnson
3. Lyndon Johnson

Three were born on August 27

1. Hannibal Hamlin (1809)
2. Charles Dawes (1865)
3. Lyndon Johnson (1908)

Seven served two full terms

1. John Adams
2. Daniel Tompkins
3. Thomas R. Marshall
4. John Garner
5. Richard Nixon
6. George H.W. Bush
7. Al Gore

[edit] Orthographic style

Vice President may also be written Vice-President or Vice president or Vice-president. Because the modern usage is Vice President, it has been used here for consistency.

[edit] See also

• Vice Presidential Service Badge
• Second Lady of the United States- "Second Lady" is the unofficial title given to the Vice President's wife.

[edit] External links

• Official White House website for the Vice President
• Vice Presidents.com
• A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825
• Amendment25.com

[edit] Further reading

• Tally, Steve (1992). Bland Ambition: From Adams to Quayle--The Cranks, Criminals, Tax Cheats, and Golfers Who Made It to Vice President. Harcourt. ISBN 0-15-613140-4. 

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