Of what value is the vice presidency?

Sandy Levinson

If one were designing a new constitution, whether for the U.S., a state, or a foreign country, what would commend including the office of the vice-presidency or its equivalent, such as lieutenant governor with no independent responsibilities? The quick answer--it solves the succession problem--is true, but trivial. One could solve the succession problem through a legislative succession-in-office act, as we currently do beyond the VP, or, if one likes rigid solutions, one could put the line of succession in the Constitution itself, but, all importantly, not give the designated successor a fixed term. As Jonathan Chausovsky has suggested to me, although we obviously had VPs from the beginning, the only two who became presidents were Adams and Jefferson (by election, of course). Otherwise, for many years the president in effect used the office of Secretary of State to announce his designated successor. This, indeed, makes a lot of sense. As almost everyone recognizes, there's nothing particularly useful for a VP to do other than to wait around for the President to die. Although the Lieutenant Governor of Texas is a major political figure who in effect runs the Texas Senate, that's certainly not the role played by the President of the United States Senate. Moreover, service as Secretary of State is extremely useful in demonstrating the putative president's capacity for judgment (not to mention ability to manage a bureaucracy and an education in foreign policy). If he/she fails the test, then the president can axe him/her and find someone more suited to inhabit the Oval Office should it prove necessary.

People far more cautious than I, including Professor David Currie in his invaluable study of the Constitution in Congress, have wondered what commends the vice presidency. Perhaps the office made sense in 1787. As I've said so many times before, I have no interest in either praising or bashing the Framers. The question has to be whether we should feel locked into their solution in 2007. Why in the world should we. It's a miserable office with a high rate of unsuitable picks (since World War II: Alben Barkley, Richard Nixon, Bill Miller, Spiro Agnew, Dan Quayle, Admiral Stockdale, and, arguably, Joe Lieberman and John Edwards. Dick Cheney is in a class by himself: I.e., someone who, like James Buchanan, has a superb resume that easily qualified him on paper, but who, like Buchanan when he became president, has absolutely miserable judgment and temperament that has taken the country to the brink (at least) of disaster.

If we were anthropologists studying a foreign tribe called "The United States of America," we would marvel at its baroque institutions and irrational faith in the wisdom of long-dead elders. Though there are many examples, the vice-presidency certainly would be one of them.

Oh, by the way, there are705 days remaining in the Bush-Cheney Administration, thanks to our defective Constitution.
Posted 11:46 PM by Sandy Levinson [link]