Is the Vice Presidency now a terminal job?

[liberalpragmatist]

Both Bush and now Obama have picked running mates that show no intention of running for president down the road. This is interesting to me because it shows how the vice presidency might be evolving.

For most of the past two centuries, the VP was just some local favorite son the party put on the ticket to appease an interest group or a geographic region. They were often old and often mediocre and few of them ran or were considered for the presidency themselves.

By the middle of the 20th century, however, the VP came to have some genuine political cache, even if it's policy significance remained small. Since 1948, nearly all running mates have been prominent people within the party who aspired to the presidency themselves. And nearly all vice presidents since Truman actually became president or were nominated for president -- the only exceptions were Spiro Agnew (who planned to run in '76 and might well have been the nominee had it not been for his indictment and resignation due to bribery charges) and Dan Quayle (famously dim). Truman, Johnson, Nixon, Ford and George H.W. Bush all became president. Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale and Al Gore were all nominated.

If it turns out that both Bush and Obama's VP's don't run, this hints at a new model: presidents picking vice presidents to be close members of their administration, loyal and capable of being a full participant in the government. Electoral concerns become secondary and perhaps far fewer VP's will actually run for president, since many of them may come to more closely resemble high-level cabinet picks -- people with expertise but often without presidential ambitions.

[supernova]

1. Bush's incompetence notwithstanding,

I think it shows that the act of governing the country is now more than one person can reasonably handle. And the presidency itself is a bit of a problem in that you've got a ceremonial role and a governing role all poured into one position. Most of our peer countries have those two things split in two.

[Growler]

2. excellent post!

I love your analysis!

[KharmaTrain]

3. This Is A Pragmatic Pick

The job ahead is daunting...so many messes to clean up and who knows how many landmines will be planted. In essence this will be a two person job where ambition is not an asset. Biden fits the role very, very well. He's got a lot of "street cred"...especially with the Senate, and if the Democrats win larger majorities in both, he can be like Lyndon Johnson was to JFK...helping move a lot of legislation through that will hopefully clean up some of the biggest messes.

I see his role also as a "rover"...able to handle special issues and situations like Al Gore did...freeing Obama to work on the big ticket items...getting out of Iraq, healthcare and education reform, restoration of civil rights and liberties...the list is long. Also, he can play "point guard" in handling the media as he's always gotten along with the villagers...and can keep them away from the gates.

The job of President has gotten more than one person can handle. We've seen how it's been screwed up that has enabled crashcart to gain unprecedented powers...Biden respects both the Constitution and the balance of powers. Again, it's a very smart, solid selection.

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. Well written, thoughtful post,

only:

Cash = money
Cache = a gathering of items in one place
Cachet = a stamp of approval or authenticity

(sorry about that, but that's been a sore spot with me ever since the invasion of Iraq when they kept talking about the "cashays" (cachets) instead of "caches" (cashes) of weapons they were (not) finding.)

[Ex Lurker]

5. The VP is like a backup NFL QB

sometimes he's the young guy they're bringing along to eventually replace the starter. More often he's just for emergencies until they can pick somebody better up off waivers.