A vice president (vice-president in British English) is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of' [1]. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president. A common colloquial term for the office is veep, deriving from a phonetic interpretation of the abbreviation VP.
In government, a vice president is a person whose primary responsibility is to replace the president on the event of his or her death, resignation or incapacity. Vice presidents are either elected jointly with the president as his or her running mate, elected separately, or appointed independently after the president's election.
Most, but not all, governments with vice presidents have only one person in this role at any time. If the president is not present, dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to fulfill his or her duties, the vice president will generally serve as 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. Several vice presidents in the Americas held the position of President of the Senate; this is the case, for example, in Argentina, the United States, and Uruguay. The vice president sometimes assumes some of the ceremonial duties of the president, such as attending 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.
In business, "vice president" refers to a rank in management. A trade union may also elect a vice president. Most companies that use this title generally have large numbers of people with the title of vice president with different categories (e.g. vice president for finance); their closest analogy within the US federal government structure is therefore not the Vice President as such, but a Cabinet Secretary. A vice president in business usually reports directly to the President or CEO of the company. When there are several vice presidents in a company they are sometimes ranked by naming the highest ranking Executive Vice President which is next to President, the second highest ranking Senior Vice President, and the remainder of the management team just VP. The title of Assistant Vice President or occasionally Assistant President is typically used in large organizations as a subordinate rank to Vice President. The title of Second Vice President or Assistant President may be used in associations to designate an individual with rank directly below that of the Vice President.
In large brokerage firms and investment banks, there are usually several VPs in each local branch office, the title being more of a marketing approach for customers, than denoting an actual managerial position within the company.
A corporate vice president is rarely "second in line" to succeed the corporate president following death or resignation. Such decisions are usually left up to the board of directors.