Published: August 31, 2008 01:03 am            

New faces for Number 2

“Once there were two brothers. One ran away to sea; the other was elected vice president of the United States. And nothing was heard of either of them again.”

— Thomas Marshall,

vice president under Woodrow Wilson



Have vice presidential picks ever been as exciting as those we saw last week? It's too bad they don't really matter.

Now, of course vice presidents matter, once they're elected, but people don't vote for "Number 2," that's what the polls tell us, that's what THE authority on vice presidents, Dan Coen, has to say about it, too.

Although VEEPs help the image of their presidential nominees, and in each administration play more of an active role in shaping policies, the consensus is that the shine of the chosen ones wears off about a month after they are picked. I think the greatest part of the excitement is that we finally get to see a fresh face in the midst of all this campaigning.

Vice presidential candidates have only been debating each other for a little more than 30 years. I watched the first vice presidential debate in 1976. It pitted U.S. Sen. Walter Mondale (Democrat) against U.S. Sen. Bob Dole (Republican).

The VP debates since then have left us with some pretty cool memories. I don't think anyone was ever so slammed as was Dan Quayle, the Republican candidate, in 1988, as he debated Democratic candidate Lloyd Bentson.

If you're too young to remember it, I'm sure you've seen footage:

Quayle: “I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency.”

Bentson: “Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”

Quayle and presidential candidate George Bush went on to win the White House anyway. But I think Bentson's point was well made. Experience does amount to anything unless you have leadership to go along with it and an ability to inspire others to do great things.

James Stockdale, the vice presidential candidate who ran with Reform Party nominee Ross Perot in 1992, was an unforgettable character, turning his hearing aid off while the major party VEEP candidates spoke during the debate. Although Perot received about 19 percent of the vote in the 1992 presidential election, there's really nothing to suggest Stockdale helped or hurt him.

I especially like how our two most recent VEEP possibilities resemble celebrities. U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for vice president, looks a lot like comedian Jeff Dunham's puppet partner, Walter, to me. And when I first saw Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president, as she walked out to a cheering crowd in Ohio last week I said: "It's Tina Fey from Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock!"

There's lots of interesting interviews and articles about VEEPs in Dan Coen's Web magazine, vicepresidents.com. If you want to read his book on the Vice Presidency, it's called "Second String" and it is available through his Web site.

Now for the fun part, a short quiz. The answers are in small type below:

1.) There have been 46 vice presidents. A total of 14 VEEPs have become president. Who were they? (here's a hint, 9 succeeded to the presidency upon the death or resignation of a president; 4 sitting vice presidents have been elected president; And 1 former vice president has been elected president.

2.) What two people have shot another person while serving as vice president?

3.) Al Gore is not the first person to both serve as vice president and win the Nobel Peace Prize. What two other VEEPs have accomplished this?



Steve Gillespie is managing editor of The Meridian Star. Contact him at sgillespie@themeridianstar.com.



Answers



1. The 14 vice presidents that succeeded to the presidency were:

John Tyler; Millard Fillmore; Andrew Johnson; Chester A. Arthur; Theodore Roosevelt; Calvin Coolidge; Harry S. Truman; Lyndon B. Johnson; and Gerald Ford.

The four sitting vice presidents who were elected president were: John Adams; Thomas Jefferson; Martin Van Buren; and George H. W. Bush.

The one former vice president was elected president later was Richard Nixon.

2. Both Vice Presidents Aaron Burr and Dick Cheney shot people while serving in the Number 2 spot. Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804. Cheney accidentally shot his friend in the face while hunting in 2006.

3. Theodore Roosevelt, a former vice president, won the prize while serving as president in 1906, and Charles Dawes, Calvin Coolidge's vice president received the award in 1925.

        

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