Vice Presidential Vacancies

Questions for Reflection:

1) One of President Richard Nixon's criteria for a vice presidential replacement was for the nominee to share Nixon's foreign policy views. If you were president and tasked with selecting a vice president, which area of policy would you deem most important?

2) The two roles of the vice president, as listed in the Constitution, are as follows: 1) To be first in line of presidential succession 2) To be president of the Senate. John Adams, America's first vice president said about the role, “my Country has in its Wisdom contrived for me, the most insignificant Office that ever the Invention of Man contrived or his Imagination conceived: ... I can do neither good nor Evil.” In the 20th century, the role evolved to become much more influential and involved working with the president to make decisions to govern the nation. Do you think it is a positive or negative development that vice presidents have more power and influence now than originally delineated in the Constitution? Why?

3) Under the U.S. Constitution, the candidate with the most electoral college votes becomes president, and the candidate with the next most votes becomes vice president. The president and vice president were therefore often from opposing political parties. The twelfth amendment, ratified in 1804, made the vice presidency a directly elected role. Presidential and vice presidential candidates began to run together on the same ticket as running mates. What are the pros and cons of vice presidents now being of the same political party as presidents?

4) Transfer of Power Theme Question: The United States has an impressive history of peaceful transfer of power that is rare in history and among the nations of the world. How has the twenty-fifth amendment contributed to America's tradition of peaceful transfer of power? 

Chart of Vice Presidential Vacancies Prior to Spiro Agnew's Resignation

Sixteen times between the United States' founding in 1789 and 1967, the vice presidency was vacant, roughly once per decade on average. Of these: 

• Eight times the Vice President replaced a President who had died
• Seven times Vice President died in office; and in one case
• One time the incumbent Vice President resigned.