Wednesday, June 11, 2008
About the Vice President
Our founding fathers, who wrote the original constitution in 1787, created an elective office, the President, to replace an hereditary chief of state, known as the King. They also created a second elected office, the Vice President, to replace another hereditary official, the Crown Prince, or whatever that person was called in various European countries. The only function of a Crown Prince in a monarchy is to succeed a King when he dies or is deposed by an angry public. The Crown Prince has no obvious influence on government policy as long as the King is in charge. When the King is gone, the Crown Prince becomes the new King and sets his own policy. He may or may not follow the policies of his predecessor.
In the same way, the founding fathers supposed that the Vice President would be simply a "president in waiting." If a President dies, resigns, is impeached, or otherwise leaves office before the end of his term, the Vice President takes over. The existence of the Vice President saves the country the cost and bother of a mid-term Presidential election. In 1787 national elections were costly and difficult to carry out.
Until 1993, Vice Presidents had next to nothing to do about national policy. The President ran the government, selected the cabinet officials, appointed judges, signed or vetoed laws, and all the other things that Presidents do. Vice Presidents were found to be useful at election time. To augment the coalition supporting a particular person as President, a Vice President who was supported by a different coalition was chosen to be the running mate. Examples are Kennedy and Johnson, Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, Truman and Barclay, and Roosevelt and Truman. In each case the Vice President appealed to a segment of the population that was not drawn to the President.
In 1993, Bill Clinton became President with his choice for Vice President, Al Gore. Both Clinton and Gore were from the South. Both men were charter members of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), a group of conservative Democrats who were eager to avoid the mistake of 1972 when the Party chose the "liberal" George McGovern to run against an incumbent Richard Nixon who was running for reelection. As Vice President Gore was given many responsibilities that previous Vice Presidents had not had. Gore was chosen not to balance the ticket but to continue Clinton's policies if Clinton were to leave office prematurely.
George W. Bush continued Clinton's scheme for a Vice President. His Vice President, Dick Cheney, has had more influence on policy and more power than any previous Vice President, including Al Gore. In fact, some writers allege that Cheney is the real leader in the Bush administration and that George Bush is just a spokesman.
I think it is an unfortunate precedent that Bill Clinton established in choosing a Vice President who would take on an important part of his administration. A Vice President should, instead, be ready to make changes and to follow a different policy from that of his predecessor. Everyone makes mistakes, Presidents included. A Vice President can, without embarassment, admit and correct the mistakes of his predecessor as long as he or she was not involved in making the mistakes.
In the same way, the founding fathers supposed that the Vice President would be simply a "president in waiting." If a President dies, resigns, is impeached, or otherwise leaves office before the end of his term, the Vice President takes over. The existence of the Vice President saves the country the cost and bother of a mid-term Presidential election. In 1787 national elections were costly and difficult to carry out.
Until 1993, Vice Presidents had next to nothing to do about national policy. The President ran the government, selected the cabinet officials, appointed judges, signed or vetoed laws, and all the other things that Presidents do. Vice Presidents were found to be useful at election time. To augment the coalition supporting a particular person as President, a Vice President who was supported by a different coalition was chosen to be the running mate. Examples are Kennedy and Johnson, Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, Truman and Barclay, and Roosevelt and Truman. In each case the Vice President appealed to a segment of the population that was not drawn to the President.
In 1993, Bill Clinton became President with his choice for Vice President, Al Gore. Both Clinton and Gore were from the South. Both men were charter members of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), a group of conservative Democrats who were eager to avoid the mistake of 1972 when the Party chose the "liberal" George McGovern to run against an incumbent Richard Nixon who was running for reelection. As Vice President Gore was given many responsibilities that previous Vice Presidents had not had. Gore was chosen not to balance the ticket but to continue Clinton's policies if Clinton were to leave office prematurely.
George W. Bush continued Clinton's scheme for a Vice President. His Vice President, Dick Cheney, has had more influence on policy and more power than any previous Vice President, including Al Gore. In fact, some writers allege that Cheney is the real leader in the Bush administration and that George Bush is just a spokesman.
I think it is an unfortunate precedent that Bill Clinton established in choosing a Vice President who would take on an important part of his administration. A Vice President should, instead, be ready to make changes and to follow a different policy from that of his predecessor. Everyone makes mistakes, Presidents included. A Vice President can, without embarassment, admit and correct the mistakes of his predecessor as long as he or she was not involved in making the mistakes.
Labels: balancing the ticket, examples of vice-presidents, History of the office of vice-president, Vice-Presidency
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Ruminations about Senator Clinton and the Vice Presidency
It looks likely that the Democratic ticket will be Obama and Clinton. Since she can't now get the Presidential nomination, Mrs. Clinton will fight as hard as ever for second place. Someone today pointed out the Kennedy-Johnson ticket in 1960. Something like that may be needed this year to keep disgruntled Clinton supporters with the ticket and discourage them from staying at home on election day or voting for John McCain.
I ask myself, does it matter to me? No. Since there are no longer any Republicans like Earl Warren or Wayne Morse or even Everett Dirksen in position to achieve the Republican nomination, I will never, never, ever vote for a Republican for President. If the Democrats manage to choose someone that I really can't stand, I will vote for the Green, Peace and Freedom, or Libertarian candidate.
Do I have a preference? Yes; my first choice was John Edwards. Barack Obama is a second or third choice. I think he will be a good President. At least, he will be much, much, much better than George W. Bush.
Do I like Mrs. Clinton? No. I don't strongly dislike her. I would vote for her and campaign for her if she had won the nomination. However, there's something about her that I don't like. She rubs me the wrong way. Many politicians of both parties have rubbed me the wrong way.
Do I dislike her because she is a woman and I don't think a woman should be president? I don't think so. However, what I dislike about her is her abrasiveness. Perhaps she learned long ago that, as a woman, she has to be abrasive and assertive to have other people in politics, mostly men, treat her as an equal and take her seriously. In that case, the characteristic that I don't like is, or may be, her response to being a woman.
Does it bother me that if she becomes the Vice President her husband Bill will have an important influence on government policy? Not at all. I think Bill Clinton was one of the best Presidents in my lifetime and certainly the smartest and best educated. He would be a welcome influence in an Obama administration. In fact, I would like to have Obama appoint him to an important cabinet position, such as Secretary of State.
There are, of course, voters who are enthusiastic about Barack Obama but who can't stand Hillary Clinton. These voters might not vote for an Obama-Clinton ticket and might even vote for McCain. Senator Obama has to weigh the possible loss of these voters against the possible loss of enthusiastic Clinton supporters in deciding whether to offer the Vice Presidency to Senator Clinton. I hope he makes a good decision. I don't want four more years of ultra-conservative appointments to the Supreme Court.
I ask myself, does it matter to me? No. Since there are no longer any Republicans like Earl Warren or Wayne Morse or even Everett Dirksen in position to achieve the Republican nomination, I will never, never, ever vote for a Republican for President. If the Democrats manage to choose someone that I really can't stand, I will vote for the Green, Peace and Freedom, or Libertarian candidate.
Do I have a preference? Yes; my first choice was John Edwards. Barack Obama is a second or third choice. I think he will be a good President. At least, he will be much, much, much better than George W. Bush.
Do I like Mrs. Clinton? No. I don't strongly dislike her. I would vote for her and campaign for her if she had won the nomination. However, there's something about her that I don't like. She rubs me the wrong way. Many politicians of both parties have rubbed me the wrong way.
Do I dislike her because she is a woman and I don't think a woman should be president? I don't think so. However, what I dislike about her is her abrasiveness. Perhaps she learned long ago that, as a woman, she has to be abrasive and assertive to have other people in politics, mostly men, treat her as an equal and take her seriously. In that case, the characteristic that I don't like is, or may be, her response to being a woman.
Does it bother me that if she becomes the Vice President her husband Bill will have an important influence on government policy? Not at all. I think Bill Clinton was one of the best Presidents in my lifetime and certainly the smartest and best educated. He would be a welcome influence in an Obama administration. In fact, I would like to have Obama appoint him to an important cabinet position, such as Secretary of State.
There are, of course, voters who are enthusiastic about Barack Obama but who can't stand Hillary Clinton. These voters might not vote for an Obama-Clinton ticket and might even vote for McCain. Senator Obama has to weigh the possible loss of these voters against the possible loss of enthusiastic Clinton supporters in deciding whether to offer the Vice Presidency to Senator Clinton. I hope he makes a good decision. I don't want four more years of ultra-conservative appointments to the Supreme Court.
Labels: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Kennedy-Johnson ticket, Prejudice against women, Vice-Presidency
