Gixing Fovernment - President Pro ELDERLY

The office of the President Pro Temp or Pro Tempore has been around since the beginning. Essentially the vice president, or deputy, to the President of the Senate, aka the Vice President of the United States.

The President Pro Temp, or PPT, is even part of the presidential line of succession. It's switched positions many times with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Cabinet Secretaries, but since 1947 it has remained 3rd in line behind the VPOTUS and the Speaker and just before the Secretary of State.

Starting in 1890 the Senate started electing the senior senator of the majority party to the office and since 1949 has stuck to that tradition. It's a strange tradition to reenforce when the presidential line of succession was just rewritten two years prior and it was the early years of the Cold War. It would take an assassination and a vacancy in the vice presidency where a Constitutional Amendment would be needed and so came the 25th Amendment in 1967. One of the four sections of the Amendment state that the president must appoint a vice president if the office were vacant. The line of succession during the height of the Cold War in the 1960s was something of importance in maintaining the continuity of government.

The United States faced similar situations 2002 when the government was reorganized again with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. However while the line of succession was always considered during the early years of the "War on Terror", the Senate didn't break with tradition when it came to electing their leadership and thus third person in line for the presidency was an old man who's age was showing.

Yes, the line of succession has never gone beyond the vice president but since it is there it should be taken seriously. The President Pro Tempore should become the Senate's power equivalent to that of the Speaker. (And yes, the Speaker is equal to the President of the Senate as leaders of the 2 houses). The PPT should earn the pay check and have more of a role...even though they already don't do anything. The VPOTUS and the PPT hardly ever preside over Senate session. That's what freshmen are for...at any institution. The Senate leadership of President Pro Temp, Majority Leader and Majority Whip (aka Assistant Majority Leader) should mirror the leadership of the House with the Speaker, Majority Leader and so on.

The current PPT is Patrick Leahy of Vermont and at 73 years old doesn't look his age like his most recent predecessors like Daniel Inouye of HI, Robert Byrd of WV, Ted Stevens of AK, and Strom Thurmond of SC. Now some perspective, when Senator Byrd took the office of PPT for the first time in 1989 he was 72 and as the power shifted back-and-forth between Republicans and Democrats so did the occupant of the Office of the President Pro Tempore, so by 2010 (the year Byrd passed away) he was 93 years old when he last held the office. As our recent PPT have shown, humans are living longer and without term limits (not that GIXING FOVERNMENT is going to to mention term limits as something that will remedy the system...but it will be touched on), Senator Leahy will be the PPT each time the Democrats are in power. If Leahy continues to serve, then 20 years later (2034), we'll see an older version of Leahy as the PPT.

If a man looked as old as any of Leahy's most recent predecessors, no American would vote for him (or her). Age at some point becomes a factor in the consideration for the presidency. So far, Ronald Reagan is the oldest POTUS at 69. For 8 years he served and we did not question his ability to serve, even though 5 years after leaving office he revealed he had Alzheimer's. Vice President Alben Barkley was advised not to run for president in 1952 because, at 74, his age would be a factor. In 2014, 74 doesn't look the same to Americans as it did in the mid-20th Century. Currently, the average age of a POTUS is 54 years old, or rounding up, 55. So, the age of the occupant of the Office of the President Pro Temp should be reasonable and not seem like they are challenging the limits of humanity.

While this smacks of ageism, we already Constitutionally limit the office holder of the presidency to 35 and above, as well as being a native born citizen. Those younger than 35 are deemed unqualified for the office. If there is a non-native born member of the Cabinet, they would be skipped in the line of succession because they don't meet the qualifications for the office. A Constitutional Amendment is not needed for limiting the age of the PPT, but rather the Senate simply reverting to the pre-1890 practices of simply voting for the officer. If the Senate treats the selection of the PPT like that of the Speaker, then the result will more than likely be a politician in their political prime...and yes that might be an aging person but not likely. So let's stop giving a line of succession job to longest serving member of a party, just create a special office for that person and leave the Constitutional office to those that could serve all Americans if need be.

Pointless Presidential Pfacts #46 - "Sherman's Death 101"

The first time a vice president died in office was in the year 1812 and the last time a vice president died in office was in 1912.

James S. Sherman of New York, 27th VPOTUS.

In the 1912 presidential election, the Republicans renominated President William Howard Taft and Vice President James S. Sherman that summer. It was the first time in 84 years that a vice president was being considered for reelection.

That moment 84 years ago was Vice President John C. Calhoun's reelection in 1828 with Andrew Jackson. Four years prior to the 1828 election Calhoun was the running mate for both Jackson and John Quincy Adams. While neither of those candidates secured a majority in the Electoral College, Calhoun did. JQA won the election in the House of Representatives and was defeated in '28. So, Calhoun's reelection was with a different president.

Daniel Tompkins of New York, 6th VPOTUS.

The last time a vice president was reelected with the same president was in 1820 when James Monroe and Daniel Tompkins cruised to victory in the Electoral College without much competition.

Death and the vice presidency seems more rampant than in the presidency. Not including assassinations, there have been 4 presidents that have died of natural cause: William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Warren Harding and Franklin Roosevelt. In the vice presidency there have been 7 deaths. The first death in the vice presidency was when the 4th VPOTUS, George Clinton died on April 20, 1812. Vice President Clinton, no relation to the presidential Clinton, was the first to be elected and serve with 2 different presidents, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Clinton's successor won election with President Madison in the fall of 1812, but like Clinton Vice President Elbridge Gerry, the 5th VPOTUS, would not live out the term becoming the second vice president to die in office. Madison and his dying vice presidents.

William R. King of Alabama, 13th VPOTUS.
The next VPOTUS to die in office would be in 1853 with the lucky 13th vice president, William R. King. Vice President King was the first and only VPOTUS to be sworn in on foreign soil, Cuba. King won election in 1852 with Franklin Pierce. Pierce's presidency started with the death of his son on the train ride from New Hampshire to Washington, while just a little over a month in to the new administration and Vice President King died.

President Ulysses S. Grant's second vice president, Henry Wilson, the 18th VPOTUS, would join the list in 1875. Ten years later in 1885, Thomas A. Hendricks, the 21st VPOTUS, died less than a year into the first term of the new administration headed by Grover Cleveland. Before the 19th Century ended in 1899, one more VPOTUS passed away. President William McKinley's first vice president, Garret Hobart, the 24th VPOTUS, died leaving the office vacant until Theodore Roosevelt was nominated in 1900 to shut him up.

TR would of course get the nomination and be sworn in as the 25th VPOTUS in March of 1901, however he would become the 26th POTUS six months later. It's during the 1912 election that a former President Roosevelt is seeking a third, non-consecutive, term. With the Republican Party split between Progressives and Conservatives, the Democratic ticket with Woodrow Wilson at the top of it won the election. Roosevelt 26's Progressive Party, or Bull Moose Party, did what no 3rd Party has done before or since, placing 2nd in the popular and electoral votes. So the ticket of Taft/Sherman placed 3rd, but had they won the Republican Party designated Nicholas M. Butler to receive the electoral votes that would've gone to Sherman. In the end the office remained vacant until Thomas Marshall was sworn-in on March 4, 1913. Vice President Marshall would become the first VPOTUS to win reelection with the same POTUS, Wilson, since Monroe/Tompkins.

Thomas Marshall of Indiana, 28th VPOTUS.

As the 20th Century moved on there would be no more deaths in the vice presidency. There would be more renominations of vice presidents and the occasional moving on (FDR in 1940, 1944 and Gerald Ford in 1976). While the office remained vacant whenever there was a death, in either the presidency or the vice presidency, it wouldn't be until 1967 when the Constitution provided a way to fill the vacancy. The sign now outside the Vice President's office reads: "101 Years Without a Death".

Joe Biden of Delaware, 47th VPOTUS.

POTUS QUOTUS - "He's Talking About Breckinridge"

There's a VPOTUS Named...Elbridge

Elbridge Gerry.
5th VPOTUS.
March 4, 1813-November 23, 1814.
Massachusetts.
Democratic-Republican.

POTUS:Madison(4)

Gerry was President Madison's second vice president and like his first he died in office. So Gerry is also the second to be vice presidentially dead Gerry's 200th deathaversary is next year so politicians will be celebrating by making sure districts are redrawn so they stay in power. Gerry is less remembered for being the young nation's 5th vice president but more so for the political term from high school Government class textbook's "gerrymandering".

Pointless Presidential Pfacts #36 - "Clinton, the Politician not the Musician and the VPOTUS not the POTUS"

George Clinton, not the American singer and songwriter of the late-20th and early-21st Centuries, but the American soldier and politician of the late-18th and early-19th Centuries. He is in no way related to the 42nd President of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton. This Clinton is originally from New York and became the State's first governor in 1777 and serving for 18 years. He served another 3 years as New York Governor from 1801 to 1804. He was elected vice president twice, once in 1804 with President Thomas Jefferson and again with Secretary of State James Madison in 1808. Vice President Clinton's reelection in 1808 was the first reelection of a vice president since Vice President John Adams came in second to President George Washington a second time in 1792 and the first for a Democratic-Republican. But 1804 wasn't the first time he'd have votes cast for him in the Electoral College.

George Clinton. 4th VPOTUS. Democratic-Republican. New Yorker.

Clinton received Electoral College votes in the Presidential Elections of 1792 and 1796. In 1792 he was competing for the second place finish to a unanimously reelected George Washington in the pre-12th Amendment days. The person with the second most number of votes, but still a majority, would be the vice president of the United States. John Adams was reelected vice president in that election.

In the 1796 election President Washington made it clear he would not seek or accept the nomination for a third term as president of the United States. Factions within the federal government were forming. It was the first partisan election for the presidency. While Washington had no party affiliation, by the end of his time as head of the Executive Branch the Federalists (a strong federal government) were dominant in the administration, his supporters lined up behind two-term Vice President Adams. South Carolinian Thomas Pinckney was the Federalist's next most favored member and hoped Pinckney would be Adams' vice president. The opposition party, the anti-Federalists that became Thomas Jefferson's Republican Party, or sometimes known as the Democratic-Republican Party, and they liked Clinton fourth out of a bunch of white males. But the ones that matter, first place was Jefferson and second place was fellow New Yorker Aaron Burr, the Democratic-Republicans' desired presidential ticket. Well in pre-12th Amendment America there are no tickets. The man with a majority of Electoral College votes was Vice President Adams and when he counted the votes in a Joint-Session of Congress, he got to announce his own win. The man with the second most number of votes became the vice president and it wasn't the Federalist's pick in Pinckney but rather their main opponent since the Federalists came into existence but Jefferson himself.

The term from 1797 to 1801 will be the first of two times the POTUS and VPOTUS are of different parties and ideologies. The next time would be the Union Party ticket of Republican President Abraham Lincoln and Democratic Military Governor of Tennessee Andrew Johnson in 1864 which would only last from March 4, 1865 to April 15, 1865. But back in the election of 1800, a rematch of the 1796 election, but no Clinton even considered. Thomas Pinckney was out and in his place was his older brother Charles as the Federalists desired choice for the second place finisher to what would hopefully be President Adams' reelection, but it was not. Jefferson tied for first place Burr, the Democratic-Republican's choice to finish second to Jefferson. The electors of the Electoral College don't distinguish between president and vice president until after the passage of the 12th Amendment in 1804. So since there is a tie, the House of Representatives must decide and on the 36th ballot settle on the more popular personality of Jefferson over President Aaron Burr.

For President Jefferson's reelection in 1804, the party decided not to renominate the answer to this next question, which vice president of the United States shot Alexander Hamilton? And he shot him during an election year. Interesting that a question can be phrased "which vice president of the United States shot...?" and there's more than one question so there's more than one VPOTUS that shot someone and be the 200th Anniversary vice presidential winner to Burr's 1800 win. Whereas the Federalists nominated their failed hopeful-vice president choice elder brother Pinckney for the presidency on the Federalist Party's first Presidential ticket in the first presidential election post-12th Amendment. New Yorker Rufus King the party's first vice presidential nominee. Jefferson wins reelection and Clinton finally gets enough votes to be the 4th VPOTUS and the first to replace a sitting vice president.

The duel. 1804.

President Jefferson after 8 years as POTUS follows in the footsteps of two-term President Washington and does not seek another four year term, or rather a third term. The Democratic-Republicans choose Secretary of State James Madison to be their party's nominee and renominate Clinton as vice president. In fact, Secretary Madison is the only new face in the 1808 election. The Federalist's renominate that losing ticket of Pinckney and King. However there were six New York electors that went against the State and flipped their votes in opposition to Madison. Even then 3 votes went to Madison for Clinton's vice president and the remaining 3 voters couldn't even vote Madison vice president and instead chose James Monroe. While New York's other 13 electors cast for the Madison/Clinton ticket and easy win for the Democratic-Republican Party.

Clinton became the first vice president to serve with two different presidents. So far there has only been one other twice elected VPOTUS and that's John C. Calhoun, President John Quincy Adams' only and President Andrew Jackson's first of two. Calhoun would also be the first to resign the vice presidency and, so far, that only other fellow wouldn't resign until 1973. Calhoun resigned to serve in the Senate and not as that legislative body's head, whereas Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned for criminal charges from his days as Maryland's governor.

And back two hundred and one years ago, Clinton's firsts didn't stop there. In 1812 on April 20th, Clinton died becoming the first vice president to die while in office. Ever since then, New Yorkers have celebrated his death by lighting up the marijuana. Although that may only be a rumor, but a reason to enjoy 4/20 this year. While this Clinton's name wouldn't appear on the 1812 ballot, his nephew's would. DeWitt Clinton would be nominated by a small portion of Democratic-Republicans in opposition to President Madison. The Federalist Party supported Clinton's nomination. But President Madison won reelection and the man who's name is associated with Gerrymandering (Congressional redistricting to favor political parties), Elbridge Gerry from Massachusetts became the 5th VPOTUS and by 1814 the second to die in office.

1812 political cartoon on Gerrymandering. Which has nothing to do with Clinton...really (v)pointless (vice)presidential (v)pfact.

Five more vice presidents would follow Clinton and Gerry and die in office. William King would be the first to be sworn-in on foreign soil in present day U.S.-isn't-supposed-to-like-Cuba but returned and died on April 18, 1853. The shortest vice presidential term after John Tyler and Andrew Johnson. He served as Franklin Pierce's number 2, but was rumored to be romantically connected to future president and former Secretary of State James Buchanan, first bachelor presidential candidate and until Grover Cleveland's marriage to Francis Folsom in his first term, the only bachelor president. I have no idea if they're gay, I have a hard time figuring out if present day males are gay. But good for them if they were. President Ulysses S. Grant's second vice president, Henry Wilson would die in 1875. Cleveland's first vice president, Thomas Hendricks died in the first year of the administration. William McKinley's first term vice president, Garret Hobart would die in 1899 and the vacant spot on the bottom of the GOP ticket would be the best place for the popular and do-gooding New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt. The vice presidency would shut him up they said. Mark Hanna knew better. And the last vice president to die in office was back 101 years ago, 100 years after Clinton's death in office. Fellow New Yorker James S. Sherman, the nation's 27th VPOTUS and Taft's only vice president, Sherman was the first vice president to be renominated and win since Calhoun in 1824 and 1828. Sherman died a few days before election day in 1912 but Nicholas Butler received the vice presidential votes the Taft/Sherman ticket won, which was third place to Progressive Democrat Woodrow Wilson and in second place, formerly part of the Republican Party, the Progressive Party's Theodore Roosevelt came in second.

James (my middle name could sell books) Schoolcraft Sherman. 27th VPOTUS. Republican. New Yorker.

There's a VPOTUS Named...Clinton

George Clinton.
4th VPOTUS.
MARCH 4, 1805-APRIL 20, 1812.
New York.
Democratic-Republican.

POTUS:JEFFERSON(3), MADISON(4)

No relation to William Jefferson Clinton, the 42nd POTUS and future leader of the world.

Pointless Presidential Pfacts #31 - "Let's Clear Things Up with the Vice Presidency"

The following words were added to the Constitution with the 25th Amendment after its ratification on February 10, 1967:

In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

Before that it was unclear if the vice president of the United States became the president or an acting president. After the first death of a president in office, William Henry Harrison, on April 4, 1841, John Tyler stepped up and took the oath of office. The Tyler Precedent was followed by Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman, and Lyndon Johnson.

The amendment's second section clarified what to do if there is a vacancy in the vice presidency. Whenever a vice president became president, like those listed above, or died in office or resigned, the vice presidency remained unoccupied. Six years after the passage of the amendment, Spiro Agnew became the second vice president to resign from office and Richard Nixon used the new amendment to fill the office. Gerald Ford became the first vice president appointed to the office, after approval by both Houses of Congress. Less than a year into the office, Nixon became the first president to resign the presidency making Ford the first president of the United States never elected to either office. Once president, Ford appointed Nelson Rockefeller to the vacant office of the vice presidency. So from 1974-1977, the POTUS and VPOTUS were appointed office holders.

The third section of the amendment also allows the president to transfer power to the vice president, if the president is unable to perform the duties of the office. President Ronald Reagan did so with Vice President George Bush and President George W. Bush did it twice with Vice President Richard Cheney. Previously this should've happened with Presidents James Garfield, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, Woodrow Wilson, and Dwight D. Eisenhower, but there was no amendment then, of course. To transfer power, the president must write a declaration of of the transfer to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, both relinquishing the powers of the office to the vice president and then resuming the duties of the office.

The final section of the amendment has never been put in to effect. President George H.W. Bush calls it a legal coup since it requires the vice president and a majority of the cabinet to declare the president unfit for office. The movie Air Force One shows the vice president and cabinet with section 4 of the amendment as a backup plan while the president is held hostage by terrorists, but the plan is never used.

Pointless Presidential Pfacts #27 - "Second Billing"

Traditionally the vice president of the United States takes the oath office prior to the president on Inauguration Day. John Adams was sworn in as the first VPOTUS on April 21, 1789, 9 days before George Washington took the oath of office as the first president of the United States. Four years later when they took the oath of office for a second term, Adams took it first and then Washington.

When inaugurations became common place in the new capital city of Washington on the steps of the capitol, vice president-elects took their oath inside followed by a speech. The most well remembered vice presidential inaugural address was by Andrew Johnson on March 4, 1865. It is more remembered for the belief that Johnson 17 was drunk. He had been suffering a cold and took some whiskey to remedy himself, which led to his speech being slurred. Once outside for the presidential oath, president-elects would first give their address and then take the oath of office. With the passage of the 20th Amendment, things began to change.

Inauguration Day 1969, the outgoing and incoming administrations were comprised of former and present vice presidents. FROM L to R (the brief Johnson/Agnew administration): President Lyndon Johnson (36th POTUS and 37th VPOTUS), President-elect Richard Nixon (37th POTUS and 36th VPOTUS), Vice President Spiro Agnew (39th VPOTUS), and former Vice President Hubert Humphrey (38th VPOTUS)

Once January 20th became Inauguration Day in 1937, vice president-elects took their oath of office outside a few minutes prior to the presidential oath...but minus the address. Since then vice presidents take their oath and enjoy the day. The tradition of not having a set official to swear them in remained. Sometimes the Chief Justice swore in both men (still only men as of 2013), or the vice president chose an associate justice of their liking, or the out going vice president, or the president pro tempore or even the speaker of the House of Representatives administered the oath. The vice president even gets his own song after being sworn in, "Hail Columbia".

Henry Wallace being sworn in as vice president in 1941 by out going two term FDR vice president, John Nance Garner.

On January 21, 2013, the Chief Justice of the United States will once again swear-in the POTUS. Vice President Joe Biden will be sworn in by Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the last female to swear-in a vice president, and that was Al Gore for a second term in 1997. Prior to that, Sandra Day O'Connor was the first woman to administer the Constitutional oath to a vice president, James Danforth Quayle in 1989. Sarah T. Hughes, a federal district judge in Texas, became the first to give the presidential oath in 1963 to Lyndon Johnson in Dallas.

Electing the Vice President...2

The first Vice President of the United States (VPOTUS) wasn't sharing a ticket with the first President of the United States (POTUS), George Washington, but the second choice for president in the group of white men able and nominated for the job. The men that placed second in the presidential race became the vice president...this occurred between 1789 and the election of 1800.

During that election an attempt at a ticket was made (i.e. Thomas Jefferson/Aaron Burr and John Adams/Charles Pinckney) but without clarifying which candidate was running for which office. The Jefferson/Burr "ticket" tied. Jefferson and Burr had the same number of votes, but not saying who was president and who was vice president. The Constitution said in 1800, that the person, white male, with the second most votes will be the vice president, and if there is no clear majority the two individuals with the top votes will be voted on in the Senate. In 1800 there was an electoral tie. The House didn't want Burr, so Jefferson won the presidency after 36 ballots and Burr became the vice president. This confusion created the system that exists today. The electors would place votes for president and vice president separately. The 12th Amendment took effect in 1804, just in time for the November presidential election, a presidential ticket wins a State, the electors place one vote for president and one vote for vice president. These electors do not have to be faithful, meaning they can cast a vote however they want. Joe Biden for president and Barack Obama for vice president! The last time a faithless elector didn't follow the popular vote of their home State was in '04 when a Democratic elector voted John Edwards for POTUS and John Kerry for VPOTUS. The 12th Amendment really changed the vice presidency, before the amendment the 3 vice presidents of the United States were two future presidents, Adams and Jefferson, and a potential western empire founding father, aka Burr. Since then they have been ticket-balancing both geographically and ideologically, but all white males, of course.

The first 100 years of the post-12th Amendment vice presidents gave us the first to resign and near rebellious John C. Calhou and Martin Van Buren, the first since the amendment's passage to be elected POTUS as an incumbent v-p. Both served President Andrew Jackson as VPOTUS. But there was also Andrew Johnson, the ultimate balancing act for a ticket with Abraham Lincoln on the Union Party ticket in 1864...keeping the North and South together politically. Theodore Roosevelt, the political super-star ends the first 100 years under the Amendment. Both Johnson 17 and Roosevelt 26 became presidents, like Van Buren, but only one of these former vice presidents turned presidents won four more years.

Richard Nixon helped the vice presidency become less of a joke with his tenure. I'm sure he was the butt of the joke plenty of times as vice president...it's part of the job. President Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ike) couldn't think of an important idea Vice President Nixon contributed to the administration during the 1960 election or as he put it: "If you give me a week, I might think of one." But by Walter Mondale's vice presidency in 1977 the office had entered modernity and a home to call its own. In 1988, the incumbent VPOTUS, George Bush, was elected POTUS, something not achieved since 1836 with Van Buren. The next opportunity for a sitting VPOTUS to run was in 2000 and he got the majority of the popular votes...but not the electoral votes. Vice President Al Gore, in 2000, was the most powerful vice president in history. His successor's power would eclipse his.

In 2000 when Texas Governor George W. Bush asked his father's former Secretary of Defense, Richard B. Cheney to head a committee to find the best candidate for the bottom of the ticket. Cheney reported back to Bush (would-be-43) that he, Cheney, was the best to be the v-p. And as the 2000 election goes, Bush/Cheney won the electoral votes of Florida and thus the presidency.

In the 2004 Democratic primary the first place winner, John Kerry, selected the man with the second most votes, John Edwards. Sound constitutional logic found in our own founding documents. But that ticket "lost"...Ohio is another story. 2008 provided the first non-incumbency since 1952 (President Harry Truman dropped out during the early primaries) and 1928 (future President Herbert Hoover was a member of President Calvin Coolidge's cabinet as secretary of commerce). Since Cheney wasn't running, both parties were trying to figure ou the top spot on the '08 tickets. The bottom ones come later.

On the Democratic side two individuals fought for the top of the ticket and voters dream of the second place finisher on the bottom. But it wasn't going to happen. Tradition of the president choosing his v-p trumped the obvious voter desire. But all is well with a President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But that dream ticket of the '08 Democratic primary season is still a dream in 2012. But it's fading as Vice President punches up his campaigning duties.

The Republicans in 2008 got to break ground with the party's first female on the ticket: Sarah Palin of Alaska.

Presidential candidates, non-incumbents, make their first presidential decision when they choose their vice presidential candidate. The reason it's a big decision is because this man or woman might be the president if something happens to the president. Palin shouldn't have been chosen. Hillary should not have been passed over (understandable from her perspective), and Cheney obviously gave himself too much power way before the GOP nominating convention in 2000.

Let the voters have a say in their choice for leadership. If a pre-12th Amendment primary election system is developed those that want a voice can be heard with their candidate and that candidate can be fighting for the top spot on the ticket and lose but become THE person to fill the spot on the bottom of the ticket because the people say so.

Madame Vice President

In 1984, Geraldine Ferraro of New York was the first female on a national ticket. 64 years after gaining the right to vote, a female was on the ticket for the vice presidency. She lost. That presidential ticket lost, to quote a vice president...big time.

There wouldn't be a female on the ticket again until 2008. The Democrats never opined the idea again after 1984, with the exception of the brief flirtation with a female at the top of ticket during the heated 2008 Democratic Party Primary when it was clear Senator Hillary Clinton, of New York by the way, was not going to be the presidential nominee. It took the Grand Old Party 152 years, but they broke the white-males-only ticket streak, with the selection, by Senator John McCain of Arizona, of Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska.

Once again the ticket with the female on it did not win. Women voters voted for the ticket without the female on it both in 1984 and 2008. If McCain had his way he'd have former-Democratic-but-still-siding-with-said-party-now-Independent Joe Lieberman. But in 2008 that would not happen. Clinton's major defeat during the primaries, which came with "18 million" or 48% of the primary vote a few hundred thousand more than the man that won the nomination. Her near victory was a great way to attract voters (i.e. woman voters) that were hoping for a female on the ticket. So selecting the young (opposite of McCain), attractive (same as before), and executive branch experienced (about as much "experience" as then-Senator Barack Obama). Choosing Palin, McCain went with the way to get votes and not the person that would work best with him to governor if he won. No offense to the other female politicians or non-politicians in the GOP circa 2008. Remember Alaska doesn't bring the Electoral votes. It's already in the GOP column.

The third time can happen in 2012...and with the GOP too. Recently the GOP has had difficulties with women, just like a Star Trek fan at any age. The GOP can save themselves with the women vote by putting a female on the ticket. They of course have to go with the opposite of Palin. The woman does not have to be old, unattractive, that would be an insult to the would be candidate. But the party can find a vp candidate in the governor mansions, Congress, in the judiciary, and the non-political world. They just need to be opposite of Mitt Romney ideologically...whatever that is or the election he's running in. So the general election by the time it's important.

Now while the GOP have the opportunity to put a female on the ticket and a political reason, the Democrats have probably until the end of August/start of September to nominate their candidates. If the GOP put a female on the ticket and the benefit, there's nothing stopping the Democrats from doing the same. Vice President Joe Biden will be 73 in 2016, the same age President Ronald Reagan was when he ran for reelection in 1984...the election Ferraro lost as vp. Biden will be 74 a few weeks after the election in 2016. Not really presidential age. The loyal and foreign-policy-minded Biden could be persuaded to step down from the ticket with a new post at the head of the State Department, Hillary Clinton's current job. The dream ticket of 2008, thought of during the heat of the primary battle, can be a reality in 2012. If it happens, 2012 and the third time a female is on the ticket (2nd time for both parties) could be the charm.

The Vice Presidency - The American Prince

Long ago, in a time far away the loser of the U.S. presidential election won something. The Vice Presidency.

Back in the day at the start of our nation's second government under our current Constitution, the person, or man at the time, with the second most number of electoral votes became the vice president. This meant that men of exceptional caliber who sought the presidency, if they lost, would end up in the vice presidency.

In the first and second contests, the Electoral College unanimously elected George Washington president and in both contests John Adams received the second most number of votes. However in our nation's third contest, John Adams ran for president and Thomas Jefferson ran against him. While Adams claimed not to be a part of the Federalist party, Jefferson ran against him as the anti-Federalist. Our nation's first partisan election. The end result was Adams as president and Jefferson as vice president. The first of two times where the president was of one party and the vice president was of another.

Vice President John Adams

By our nation's fourth election which for the only time pitted the incumbent president versus the incumbent vice president, the idea of having same-political party president and vice president was taking hold. Teaming up with politically minded allies was to avoid the results of the 1796 election, however this idea quickly backfired. Jefferson ran to be president with Aaron Burr as his vice president. The two tied in the Electoral College.

The Constitution kicked in and the House of Representatives determined the outcome of the election 36 ballots later with Jefferson the winner of the presidency and Burr his vice president. So as to avoid this confusion as to which candidate was running for which office the 12th Amendment to the Constitution was passed in 1804 before that year's election. It established that the electors would vote separately for both the president and vice president, thus diminishing the office and the caliber of those who sought the office.

Our nation went from vice presidents like Adams and Jefferson to men who never achieved their status or reputation. There were controversial vice presidents like John C. Calhoun, our second vice president to serve two different presidents and the first to resign from office. While Adams and Jefferson may have been of two different political philosophies during the third presidential term starting in 1797, Andrew Jackson certainly dealt with an unruly Vice President Calhoun who preached succession over the right to nullify laws of the federal government.

Vice President John C. Calhoun

Calhoun's successor, Martin Van Buren, would be that last heir apparent vice president to go on to become president until the late 20th century. Van Buren's own vice president, Richard M. Johnson, would become the first and only vice president elected through the senate because of an affair with a slave. Johnson's successor to the vice presidency, John Tyler would go on to establish precedent which would later take the form of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, that is becoming president of the United States upon the death, removal, or resignation of the office holder.

Men would be nominated and elected to the office of such importance that never compared to that of our first two vice presidents. Some were put in the office to balance the political party's ticket geographically, ideologically, or politically. One was even put in the nomination of vice presidency to shut him up politically, Theodore Roosevelt was the man.

William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt

No vice president who succeeded to the presidency through the death of the president went on to election in his own right, until Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was put in the vice presidency as a way to control him, but once he ascended to the presidency all that changed. In 1904 he ran for election in his own right and won. So did the other vice presidents turned presidents through death of the 20th century, Coolidge, Truman and Johnson; with Ford, succeeded through a resignation, losing in a very close election.

The importance of the vice presidency was becoming apparent. It obviously wasn't realized until the passage of the 25th Amendment, but the nominees were becoming more than a balancing act. Richard Nixon was the vice president to Dwight Eisenhower and began to take on more responsibilities than his predecessors. His presence was well known by the time he joined the ticket. He rose up fast from representative to senator to vice presidential candidate. The Cold War was in its infancy by the time Nixon made it to Washington in 1953. Fear of war struck the American people and the health and safety of the man with the trigger for the nuclear bomb was of greater importance than ever before. OMG! Russia has a bomb! When Eisenhower suffered a heart attack, Nixon comforted the nation and letting the country and the world know that everything was under control in the United States. Once Eisenhower returned from respite, Nixon continued to be a face of American leadership. The line of succession showed its importance more than ever.

The president following Eisenhower would be the first president assassinated in the United States since 1901, and is also the first president lost under Secret Service protection. John F. Kennedy's death on November 22, 1963, would be the last president assassinated while in office and elevate Vice President Lyndon Johnson to the presidency. JFK's death and a vacancy in the vice presidency during the Cold War would reveal the dire need for the office of the vice president to never be vacant.

On February 10, 1967, the 25th Amendment to the Constitution passed the number of States necessary for approval. It confirmed the Tyler Precedent which John, whom the precedent is named after, established after President William Henry Harrison became the first president to die in office. No longer could there be a vacancy in the second most powerful office in the country. This section would kick into gear rather quickly.

When for the second time in our nation's history, the vice president of the United States resigns, it is also the first time the 25th Amendment begins. Spiro Agnew stepped down for reasons not connected to Watergate, Nixon's problem, on October 10, 1973. By October 12th, Nixon nominates Republican Minority Leader of the House Gerald Ford. After the Senate and then the House voting in the majority, Ford was sworn in as vice president on December 6 of that year. He was the first vice president never to campaign for votes of the American people.

The new second couple on the cover of Time magazine, December 17, 1973.

Then on August 9, 1974, after Richard Nixon became the first president to resign, Ford became the first president never elected to either the vice presidency or presidency. Soon after swearing-in, his top priority was filling the vacancy of his prior office. Nelson Rockefeller became the second man to be appointed vice president.

The importance of the office was becoming apparent. By 1974 Congress finally got the vice president a permanent Washington home with the Naval Observatory. Ford, set on moving in, became president before the family could move in. Rockefeller only used it to entertain, the man's a Rockefeller, he's already got a mansion. Walter Mondale became the first Second Family to live in the Vice President's Residence. Mondale also showed the importance of the vice president as a leader in the Executive Branch.

The Vice President's Residence

Jimmy Carter ran as a Washington outsider, showing he was from anything and everything but Watergate. He was governor of the state of Georgia and he defeated an incumbent president, albeit dealing with the legacy of the Vietnam War and Watergate. Carter needed someone with knowledge of the game, and he chose a well known senator from Minnesota.

The role of the vice president was becoming important as politicians sought, or unsought, the nomination. Candidates who they themselves sought the higher spot on the ticket were being considered as number two. Lyndon Johnson was one in 1960 and George Bush in 1980. Reagan, like JFK, chose a rival for the top spot to fill the other half of the ticket. Bush had a larger foreign policy resume than the western governor. Bush like Nixon, would assume the role of an acting-president. This idea, similar to Nixon in the 1950s when an acting president was needed due to the health of the incumbent president, also become a section of the 25th Amendment. It has only been used twice since George Bush. Richard Cheney would act as president twice when George W. Bush went in for surgery in 2002 and 2007.

The other section of the 25th Amendment, involuntary withdrawal, has yet to be used. Although it came close in the 1997 film Air Force One, it hasn't happened in the real world.

With the exception of James Danforth Quayle and the nomination of Sarah Palin, the seriousness of the office has been taken into consideration when seeking a candidate for the second spot. The nation's 45th vice president in 1993 showed an increase in importance and responsibility for the nation's number two. It certainly increased beyond any expectations when the 46th VPOTUS, Cheney, succeeded Al Gore in 2001.

Aside from the increase in power from Gore to Cheney, there was another difference between the two vice presidents. Since the days of Nixon the incumbent vice president was seeking the top of the ticket when it was his time. Hubert Humphrey tried it in 1968 and just like Nixon in 1960 and John C. Breckinridge in 1860, they all lost. Incumbent Vice President Bush won the top job, the first sitting VP since Martin Van Buren in 1936, and the last. Gore tried to do what Bush did and run for president. While Gore received more popular votes than George W. Bush, he did not win the Electoral College which determine the winner.

Gore had that desire to run for president. Prior to being nominated for the vice presidency in 1992, he made a run for the Democratic nomination in 1988. He lost. But a youthful man and vice president he was. He had the ambition, desire, and opportunity to run for the nomination in 2000, just as Bush in 1988, Humphrey in 1968, and Nixon in 1960. However the idea of the VP thinking about his own political future rather than the vision of the president reeked of possible situations no different than the Adams/Jefferson administration of 1797. People with different agendas. A divided government within the Executive Branch.

Cheney's selection of himself as George W. Bush's vice president put a new light on the role of the vice president. This man was not looking for anything in his political future. The vice president would help, or simply, run the show. Cheney did not want to be president and was not planning on running at the end of the administration. His decision created the first time no incumbent POTUS or VPOTUS ran for a party's nomination since 1928. Sure Herbert Hoover was part of the incumbent administration as the Secretary of Commerce, but far from the elected posts of president and vice president in 1928.

Whether or not the person seeking the nomination or becomes vice president, they remind the public they never want the job. When they get the vice presidency and then succeed to higher office, they were put there because we the American people believe that they will make a good steward of our country. Since it has taken us so long to realize the importance of the vice presidency, perhaps it is time to reevaluate the way we nominate him or her. Should the people have say or should the people allow one individual near dictatorial powers of appointing his or her choice? In 2008, half of the Democrats and independents, as well as Republicans, did not have their voice heard on the national ticket. Instead the number two spot went to someone who received a fraction of the primary and caucus votes. No matter what, Joe Biden, has the political resume to be a leader, and is a fine selection in this era of presidential-candidate's-appointing vice presidents. The Republicans allowed one man to select a woman with no real credentials for the job but whose only selection was because she was a woman. The conventions are only there to approve the anointment of the possible president, which is what the vice president truly is.

Maybe it's time for the second place person in the primary season become the vice presidential nominee, or allow for separate balloting of the presidential and vice presidential candidates. Maybe even friends running as a ticket in a primary season, but avoiding all the pitfalls that came of a similar scenario in 1800. The vice presidency always seems to be evolving, just like our great nation.

Presidential History Free Write: Part 1 - The Founding Fathers

In 1789 the electoral college voted twice, George Washington won unanimously their first vote, while John Adams placed second in a landslide. Adams was sworn in as the nation's first vice president in April 1789, and Washington was sworn in on April 30th in New York City. After taking the oath, the president started the first tradition following the oath by adding "so help me God."

Washington once again unanimously won reelection in 1792, as did Adams for the vice presidency. Washington then made another tradition by not seeking a third term as president. The election of 1796 would pit Vice President Adams, politically aligned with the Federalist Party's ideology, against the former secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson, part of the anti-Federalist faction. Adams defeated Jefferson. For the first time the nation had a president of one party and a vice president of another.

The election of 1800 was worse than four years before. It was the first and only time a sitting president ran against a sitting vice president. Not wanting to have the same scenario of 1796 play out again but reversed caused a Constitutional crisis. Jefferson ran for president with Aaron Burr as the vice president for the Democratic-Republican party. While Adams and his vice presidential candidate ran for their respected offices for the Federalists. However the Electoral College did not specify a vote for president and a vote for vice president. The person with a majority of electoral votes becomes president-elect and the person with next highest amount becomes vice president-elect. If there is no majority the top three choices go to the House of Representatives and if there is no majority the top two for the second place position it go to the Senate. Each state has only one vote.

Jefferson and Burr tied in the Electoral College, throwing the election to the House of Representatives. Jefferson was always the intended choice for president and Burr for vice. I believe it took thirty-six ballots to come to the final result of Jefferson for president, placing Burr in second. Burr would go on to shoot former secretary of the treasury, the guy on the ten dollar bill, Alexander Hamilton in a duel made famous in a "got milk?" commercial in the 1990s. Burr after fleeing was rumored to be making deals with the Spanish to become ruler of country west of the United State's new borders thanks to the Louisiana Purchase.

After the election of 1800 the way the Electoral College vote for president and vice president were to change. This change came in the form of the the 12th Amendment passed in 1804 taking effect in that presidential election. The 12th Amendment lowered the status of the vice presidency. Our nation's first two vice presidents under the original system were men vital to the political process that gave birth to our nation, just as Washington's role militarily was a vital part to the birth of our nation. Burr, even though elected under the original system, is really a first in a line of lame vice presidents, the unknown vice presidents. The men placed on the bottom of ticket were usually put there to balance the ticket geographically. I.E. the top guy is from the North, and the bottom guy is from the South.

The 12th Amendment states that the electors must vote once for a presidential candidate and one other vote for a vice presidential candidate. If there is a tie among the presidential candidates, the top three go to the House. If there is a tie among the vice presidential candidates, the top two go to the Senate. Each State has one vote.

Jefferson won the election of 1804 after having made the Louisiana Purchase the previous year. He ran with New Yorker George Clinton, the man who always wanted the vice presidency.

Jefferson's secretary of state, James Madison won the election of 1808. Clinton was reelected to a second, and the first to be elected with another president. Madison faced the War of 1812, our Second Battle for Independence. The British invaded, after Madison asked for a declaration of war when the British weren't respecting American ships. Madison was the last commander-in-chief to truly be that in the battle field. He had the northeastern Federalists as the major opposition to his war with the British. The northeast even threatened succeeding from the Union.

Madison eventually had to abandon the capital city of Washington. Dolley Madison was preparing dinner when she was told to evacuate. She ordered the portrait of George Washington to be taken down and taken with them. She saved other important documents. She escaped before the British arrived. Before they set the presidential mansion on fire, they enjoyed the meal left by the first lady. The Capitol and the Executive Mansion were set on fire, as was the Library of Congress.

The weather turned horrible creating a rain storm that put out the fire at the mansion preserving the limestone shell wall. The mansion would be rebuilt and the Madisons moved back in by 1818. Nicely painted white, the painters left a section of the burn marks from the fire.

The War of 1812 ended with no clear victor, but two weeks after the signing of the treaty, unknown because the communication of the time, General Andrew Jackson successfully defends New Orleans against the British.

Madison won the election of 1812 and passed on the presidency to his secretary of state James Monroe. In 1816, Monroe defeated the last candidate for president by the Federalist Party. Monroe, with the help of his secretary of state John Quincy Adams, in his annual message to Congress, establish what would become known as the Monroe Doctrine. Making sure the Old World kept out of the New World.

Monroe was president during an era of good feelings politically, so in the election of 1820 Monroe ran opposed. Instead of giving him unanimous vote in the Electoral College like George Washington, one elector cast a vote for John Quincy Adams.

Missing Bush

The year I turned 18 was the first time I voted for president of the United States. The year was 1996.

My love of presidential history started years early. I was born when a peanut farmer lived in the White House. As a child of the 1980s, I only knew of Ronald Reagan as the president and thought it natural that the man that was his vice president would go on to become president.

William Jefferson Clinton came into my life as a high school student and I thought he should remain president through my college years.

The 2000 election was the first election that I truly paid close attention to and I cast my vote for the incumbent vice president. And like most Americans I thought he should be the commander-in-chief. The governor of Texas showed he wasn't anything special other than a son of a president. In the end, Vice President Al Gore gave an amazing concession speech on December 13, 2000 ending the race and the post-election race. I remember Bush's acceptance speech, or more specifically where it was delivered and nothing more. But Gore's I remember so much more: "While we yet hold and do not yield our opposing beliefs, there is a higher duty than the one we owe to political party. This is America and we put country before party. We will stand together behind our new president." Why didn't this Gore win? The Gore the country would really come to love was just beginning I guess.

And so our country moved forward. We had a new president. For the second time in our history a son of a president became president. And for the first few months of his presidency I believed history would repeat itself and George W. Bush would be just like that other son of a president, John Quincy Adams, a one term president. Then came September 11, 2001.

By September 12, 2001, I knew that George W. Bush would break history and become a two term president. By breaking history I mean the only one of the father-son combo of presidents and minority presidents, that is to win the Electoral College and lose the popular vote, to go on and win a second term. A national tragedy had occurred and as Gore had told his supporters ten months prior, we had to rally behind our new president. And I did.

Bush amazed me with his address in the National Cathedral on September 14 and then before a joint session of Congress on September 20. He was going after those that attacked us and they would be punished.

Then at the start of 2002, the drum beats of war began and the unified country returned to its election 2000 divisiveness. The war of choice was on and his reelection was still certain. While his poll numbers plummeted from the highs of September 11, 2001 straight down toward the election of 2004, I still knew no one would be able to defeat him.

Bush survived to serve another term. He received 51% of the popular vote, the only president since his father in 1988 to break the 50% barrier. The president had the audacity to claim a mandate. But his second term proved he had no such thing and like other second term presidents his was nothing to brag about. From a failed attempt at revamping social security to mishandling the response to Hurricane Katrina, Bush's second term was not something Americans should be proud of.

What it did provide was fodder for late night comedians. Our troubles of living under another four years of the Bush administration provided many laughs and inspiration for comedy writers.

At the start of 2001 when the Clinton administration came to an end I remember hearing the late night hosts saddened by the loss of material as the Clinton administration left office. They knew they were getting something special in Bush, seeing him on the campaign trail the previous year. Little did they know that the next eight years would provide more material that would out match the eight years of Clinton.

The scare tactics, fear mongering, incompetence, and arrogance will not be missed.

The year I turned 30 was the fourth time I voted for president of the United States. The year was 2008.

We'll see how things turned out.

The Appointed Vice President

Gerald Ford is not the first appointed vice president.

Okay technically, or constitutionally, he is. The 25th Amendment fixed the ever vacant vice presidency problem which had been going on every now and then since 1841. That's what section 2 of the amendment did: president nominates and a majority of both chambers of Congress confirms.

We know politicians seek the office of vice president even if they won't admit it. James Polk was trying for the vp nomination before he stumbled on to the bigger nomination back in 1844. Those that don't seek the office usually accept the nomination, kind of taking one for the team. Theodore Roosevelt was that way. The extremely popular New York Governor, recent war hero from the Spanish-American War, was banished to the vp slot to keep in check by party leaders. Who would think the vice presidency could put TR in some kind of position of power? Oh, right Mark Hanna.

Presidential candidates eventually took on what party bosses were doing and selected their own vice presidential candidates. John Kennedy offered the vice presidency to Lyndon Johnson after their rivalry for the top nomination in 1960. The Kennedy brothers didn't think LBJ would accept, but he did.

Sure the national conventions have been confirming the vice presidential candidates via delegate votes. In the days of uncertain convention outcomes, it took more than one ballot to find a party's nominee for the bottom of the ticket. And yes when the people go to the ballot boxes in November they are electing a slate of electors to vote for their ticket of choice, each ticket containing a top (president) and a bottom (vice president). Thank you 12th Amendment. The vice president is the only other national office elected by the entire country. But we're usually just thinking of the person running for that other national office when we vote.

The vice presidential candidate historically was someone who balanced the ticket geographically or ideologically. The candidate usually filled out something that was missing on the other end of the ticket. In 1976 Jimmy Carter was the true Washington outsider and Walter Mondale was the exact opposite, perfect match. William Jefferson Clinton of Arkansas broke the mold on balancing geography in 1992 by selecting his home state's neighbor state's son, Al Gore of Tennessee.

We the voter accept the presidential candidate's choice pick as his or her's first real presidential decision pre-election. The presidential candidate believes that the person he or she selects will be able to do the job of president. The presidential candidate fought long and hard for the nomination, to get the people's vote, and the vp candidate is chosen not by the people but by the person who survived a test by the people.

We've accepted this way of selecting the nation's second highest office. And yet nine times in our history has the vice president ascended to the presidency. In 1841 when John Tyler became the first vp to become president upon the death of William Henry Harrion just 30 days into the new administration, the Constitution did not specify the ascendancy. The 25th Amendment's section one clarified all that by saying "In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President." It took so long to realize the importance of the office and transition of power.

Perhaps we have accepted the practice of selecting vice presidential candidates for too long. We may have had some good picks like Robert Dole, Walter Mondale, George Bush, Al Gore, and Jack Kemp. We've also had some which we question and did not turn out so good.

In 2008 the tradition of an undemocratically chosen vice presidential candidate continues with the selection of Senator Joe Biden of Delware for the Democrats and Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska for the Republicans.

Barack Obama makes his first presidential decision by selecting a running mate. An African-American male on a presidential ticket is a new thing. The country can handle change but not such a dramatic change as not having a white male somewhere on the ticket. So Obama chooses Biden, over the person who in the Democratic nominating contest received the second most number of votes to the nominee. Almost half of those that voted in the Democratic primary/caucus elections. Very undemocratic.

John McCain makes his first presidential decision after Obama. Ah, it's all politics. Well McCain can't pick another white male for his ticket when he's going up against the history making ticket of Obama/Biden. Breaking one hundred fifty-two years of an all white male ticket, the Republican vice presidential pick is recently elected governor Palin. McCain's attempts at politics (i.e. women's vote, he's a maverick, etc.) instead of selecting someone who is qualified for the presidency shows the seriousness of why the vice presidency needs to be in the hands of the people.

The qualifications of the vice presidency are exactly those of the presidency. The people should have a say in who that potential leader is. Some say the president needs to be able to work with his or her vice president and so the candidate must make the pick. No. The vice president needs to be selected because they are the second best qualified to be president after the presidential candidate.

In 1988, Dan Quayle was not the second best qualified person to be president after George Bush. Quayle was a senator farther right than Bush ideologically and youthful when compared to Bush and the oldest president Ronald Reagan, then the incumbent. Sarah Palin is not the second most qualified within the Republican Party to be president. She's not from Washington. She represents change as a female. That's what mattered to McCain.

The vice presidential candidate should be selected by the voter just as the presidential candidate is. The general election would remain the same, but it's how those people end up on the ticket which should be changed. One way would be for the primary voter to have a ballot labeled "president" and one labeled "vice president," all candidates in the running would be on both ballots and could only be voted for once. The person with the most number of votes for president becomes the candidate for president and the person with the most number of votes for vice president becomes vice president.

Another way can be similar to the process of electing the president and vice president pre-12th Amendment. Before the passage of the 12th Amendment in 1804, the man with a majority of votes became the president and the man with the second most number of votes became vice president. This is why our first two vice presidents are highly qualified men and both went on to be elected president in their own right. After the amendment passed and changed how we voted, the office of the vice president was no longer filled by men of similar caliber to that of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

So in a primary, the person who comes in second to the person with the most votes becomes the vice presidential running mate. In 2004 after John Kerry toyed with the idea of a bipartisan ticket with McCain, Kerry selected John Edwards, the man who received the second most number of primary votes. Yes, in 2008 this did not happen. Hillary Clinton was not considered even though she had the second most number of votes to Obama. Worrying about the role of a former president in a new administration was too much to worry about. Yes why would Obama not want one of the smartest men to occupy the White House as the spouse of the vice president? Avoiding that question and the person who received the next most number of votes, Obama went in another direction with his selection in Biden.

We must prevent this undemocratic process from continuing. We need to make sure that the people's voices are heard. We need to prevent daring political moves at the expense of potentially dangerous and inexperienced possible-presidents from coming to power. We need to return the appointed presidency back to men like Gerald Ford.

McCain/Another White Guy '08

It's McCain/Palin all the way in 2008!

The 2008 election was going to make history from the start. That's from the start of the Democratic contest for the nomination, not the Republican's contest. The Democrats had an African-American male, a Latino, and a woman who was just not any woman, but the former first lady of the United States. When the contest came down to just the African-American male and the woman, it was very clear that history was being made and there was possible more history making to come.

While the Democrats put up five white males alongside the other three, the Grand Old Party totaled ten white males all vying for the top of the ticket.

For the first time in twenty-four the Democratic Party was going to bring some diversity to their national ticket. Once the people had spoken and put Barack Obama, an African-American, at the top of the ticket, some wondered if an unprecedented ticket was to be formed. Instead going the more democratic approach of choosing the person to receive the second most highest number of votes cast, Obama selected a safe choice in a running mate. The ticketed did not need to be balanced ideologically or geographically, but it was balanced with Joe Biden someone that balance outs any of Obama's flaws.

The other national party didn't seem to have the possibility of making some history in this election. Those that ran for the nomination were all white males. McCain could've chosen Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee, the next two highest vote getters. But he didn't. McCain secured his party's nomination via the primaries and caucuses earlier than Obama. That was February and it wouldn't be until the first week of September when McCain would officially be the Republican nominee. And yet he still waited until the week before to make his selection.

By this point Obama was history in the making and with Biden the Democrats chose to make history one step at a time. McCain's choices of running mates were Romney of Massachusetts, Governor Charlie Crist of Florida, Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Secretary and former governor Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania, and Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. His choices were nothing extraordinary for the Republican, save maybe Lieberman. Senator Lieberman would be a historical choice for a number of reasons: the first Jewish vice presidential candidate for the Republican ticket (he was also the first Jewish vice presidential candidate for the Democrats in 2000, which would've made his simply the first Jewish vice presidential candidate in U.S. history), and he would've been a Democrat turned Independent Democrat to run as vice president on the Republican ticket. Not since the election of 1864 had there been such a bipartisan ticket.

But that was not to be. McCain couldn't settle on the white males he was debating over. The Democratic party was about to have for the second time in twenty-four years a ticket with just one white male on it. It looked like McCain's Republican ticket would be no different than GOP tickets of the past.

One name did keep appearing on McCain's short list. The name on that list would eventually be the name added to the ticket and break the Republican party's one hundred fifty-two year streak of an all white male ticket.

Sarah Palin was the choice. She's a governor of a state, just like the other men McCain was considering, once again, except Lieberman. But her resume is somewhat shorter than the others on the short list. There are other qualified and more recognizable Republican woman: Senators Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas and Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, a former candidate for the Republican nomination back in 2000 and wife of the GOP's 1996 nominee; former governor Christine Todd Whitman; business woman Carly Fiorina; and second lady Lynne Cheney. If a first lady can gain experience watch a president, I'm sure the same can be said of the second lady watch her vice president husband execute the duties of his office.

Sarah Palin was the choice. She was the choice because it went with McCain's maverick or outsider approach to politics. Sure the second lady would be an out there choice, but that would be like selecting another GOP woman rumored to be considered by McCain: secretary of state Condoleezza Rice. Rice would've been an historic nomination, but enough of an outsider or change to compete with McCain's opponent idea of change.

Sarah Palin was the choice. Her selection fits with McCain and the options he faced. With Sarah Palin, McCain added much heat and interest into a campaign that without Palin would've been no different the first GOP ticket of John C. Fremont and William L. Dayton.

Electing the Vice President

Since the passage of the 12th Amendment in 1804 the vice presidency has become the least sought after office. Prior to 1804 the person who received the second most electoral votes became the vice president. That meant that someone who went after the presidency was really worth the office, just look at the only two men who were elected to the office pre-12th Amendment: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. (Aaron Burr was elected on a backfired attempt at the first ever president/vice president ticket which is a story unto itself). Up until the 1950s the 12th Amendment made the vice presidency a balancing act to a presidential election, rather than a qualified office holder for the higher office. There were some exceptions between 1804 to the 1950s of great men in the vice presidency, but truly with Richard Nixon the vice presidency became an office to be reckoned with. As the 20th Century came to an end the importance of the vice presidency became ever apparent especially with the passage of the 25th Amendment which finally stated in the Constitution that "the Vice President shall become President" upon death, resignation, or removal from office.

Recently it has been said that Senator John McCain should reveal who is on his short list for vice president, since the search for his v.p. is going on behind closed doors. And why not? Go back eight years when then-Governor George W. Bush of Texas selected former Secretary of Defense Richard B. Cheney to head up his vice president selection committee. In the end, Secretary Cheney chose himself as the best candidate for vice president. After eight years of Cheney as vice president, who has become indisputably the most powerful vice president in United States history, the citizens of the United States should have more say as to who their vice president is.

Long ago the presidential nominating conventions lost the right to pick the vice presidential candidate for either party. The presidential candidates have been the ones to choose their respective running mates. Some were once bitter rivals during the primary campaign season and then became a presidential ticket, like Senator John F. Kennedy and Senator Lyndon Johnson in 1960, former Governor Ronald Reagan and former Director of the CIA George Herbert Walker Bush in 1980, and Senator John Kerry and Senator John Edwards in 2004. The time has come for the voters to decide the vice president.

A perfect example is the 2008 Democratic primary race for president. Neither Senator Barack Obama or Senator Hillary Clinton have enough votes to obtain the Democratic nomination. The party is almost split on the decision. It has come to the point where the two need to be on the same ticket to appease supporters of both candidates whether it is Obama/Clinton or Clinton/Obama. Also with the request of McCain to reveal his "short list" of v.p. candidates, it seems ever apparent that electing a vice president instead of having the presidential candidate making his or her first presidential decision pre-presidency is what the electorate wants. During the primary election each state should not only vote for their choice for president but their choice for vice president, on a separate ballot just like in the general election.

This separate ballot primary election will once again return the stature that was taken away by the 12th Amendment and return some electoral glory to the office as well as prevent the long drawn out primary or closed door selection as seen in the 2008 presidential/vice presidential selection.