What is the role of US Vice Presidents

Photo: Facebook / The White House

Vice Presidents play a big role in the US government. Their most important function is to immediately replace and assume full authority in the event of the death of the president.

According to the government website Share americA, in the history of the USA, there were 8 cases. Once again, the vice president assumed presidency when the current president resigned. The vice presidents themselves ran for president, and five of them won the election. A total of 14 vice presidents, or nearly 30%, subsequently moved to the presidential Oval Office.

At the same time, the functions of the vice-president are broader than simply being ready. He is a trustee and advisor to the president, explains his policies to Congress and the American public, and also often travels abroad.

So, in April, Vice President Mike Pence visited the Asia-Pacific region for talks with key US allies. In February, he met with world leaders in Germany.

Photo: Facebook / The White House

According to the constitution, the vice president is the chairman of the Senate, which includes 100 members. This role is mainly ceremonial, although with an equal number of votes “for” and “against” his voice becomes decisive.

Other powers of the vice president are not clearly defined. Joel Goldstein, a professor of law at St. Louis University, notes: “Over time, this post has become one of the central elements of presidential power. The vice president advises the president on a wide range of issues and deals with various problems. ”

Dick Cheney, who held this post in the administration of George W. Bush, participated in the planning of military operations in response to the September 11 attacks. Al Gore, vice president under Bill Clinton, has drawn public attention to the environment.

Former President Obama spoke highly of his Vice President, Joe Biden: “He can tell me something that someone else cannot say.”

In the early years of the American Republic, the candidate who received the most votes became the president, and the runner-up vice president. Since 1804, the electoral college has voted separately for the president and vice president. Today, the presidential candidate is running along with his chosen vice presidential candidate.

Be ready

John Tyler was the first vice-president who replaced the president, William Henry Harrison, who caught a cold on his inauguration day in 1841 and soon died. Congress refused to recognize full authority for Tyler, and detractors even called Tyler “His Accident”. However, Tyler showed firmness and created a precedent that could never be challenged in the future.

The 25-I Amendment to the Constitution, ratified after the assassination of John Kennedy in 1963, established a procedure for the transfer of power and allowed the appointment of a new vice president in Congress. Prior to this, in the event of the death of the president, the post of vice president remained vacant until the next presidential election.

The two most famous US presidents were first vice presidents. This is Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt. Other vice presidents became presidents, including John Adams, Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and George W. Bush.

The residence of the vice president is located a few miles from the White House. He flies a US Air Force plane.

Many vice presidents love to poke fun at themselves. Pence sarcastically remarks: “Trump and I are a little different people. I'm a country boy, he's from a big city. And he is a bright large-scale person, with charm and charisma ... ”.

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