The Vice-Presidency

• Date: 01 September 1948
• DOI: 10.1177/106591294800100313
• Author: G. Homer Durham
• Published date: 01 September 1948
• Subject Matter: Articles

311

THE

VICE-PRESIDENCY

by

G.

HOMER

DURHAM

University

of

Utah

The

nomination,

in

June,

1948,

of

Governor

Earl

Warren

of

California

by

the

Republican

National

Convention

for

the

Vice-Presidency

of

the

United

States

has

provoked

the

renewal

of

an

old

discussion

concerning

the

burden

of

presidential

office

and

the

lack

of

either

administrative

responsi-

bility

or

political

power

attaching

to

the

office

of

Vice-President.1

Governor

Thomas

E.

Dewey,

in

securing

Governor

Warren

as

his

presidential

running

mate,

is

reported

to

have

promised

the

latter

an

active

role

in

the

adminis-

tration

after

January

20,

1949.

What

this

role

might

be

has

stirred

current

discussion.2

2

Tentative

efforts

to

draw

the

Vice-President

into

the

adminis-

tration

have

been

made

in

the

past.

Since

1921

it

has

become

customary

for

the

Vice-President

to

sit

with

the

cabinet.3

3

In

this

way

he

may

become

familiar

with

aspects

of

government

business,

and,

in

the

event

of

succession

to

the

Presidency,

may

enter

executive

duty

equipped

with

some

acquaint-

ance

with

public

affairs.

The

experience

of

Vice-President

Henry

A.

Wal-

lace,

under

Franklin

D.

Roosevelt,

is

another

example

of

utilizing

a

Vice-

President

in

an

administrative

capacity.4

4

This

same

experience,

however,

disclosed

political

difficulties

which

appear

to

be

inherent

in

the

plan.5

The

following

suggestions

are

frequently

heard

regarding

the

role

of

a

Vice-President

in

American

government

in

the

mid-twentieth

century:

(1)

It

would

be

possible

to

use

him

as

the

head

of

an

agency,

as

with

Mr.

Wallace,

who

headed

the

Board

of

Economic

Warfare,

1941-43.

(2)

It

has

also

been

proposed

that

the

Vice-President

be

made

an

&dquo;executive

manager,&dquo;

something

akin

to

the

&dquo;assistant

president&dquo;

role

occupied

by

James

F.

Byrnes

1

The

basic

work

on

the

Vice-Presidency

is

Louis

Clinton

Hatch,

A

History

of

the

Vice-Presidency

of

the

United

States,

revised

and

edited

by

Earl

L.

Shoup

(New

York:

American

Historical

Society,

1934).

2See

for

example,

"Plans

to

Remodel

Vice-Presidency,"

in

U.

S.

News

&

World

Report,

July

9,

1948,

pp.

19-20.

This

report

diagrams

"Strain

on

the

White

House,"

showing

1,130

operating

units

in

the

executive

departments,

1,020

operating

units

in

independent

and

emergency

agencies,

and

17

operating

units

in

the

Executive

Office

of

the

President.

In

contrast,

the

article

declares

that

"historically,

the

Vice-Presidency

has

been

considered

a

blind

alley

for

any

active

and

ambitious

man."

3

"...

a

change

which

bids

fair

to

increase

the

dignity

of

the

office

and

compensate

it

for

its

loss of

prestige

in

the

Senate."

Hatch,

op.

cit.,

p.

419.

The

loss of

Vice-Presidential

prestige

in

the

Senate,

according

to

Hatch,

dates

from

the

tenure

of

John

C.

Calhoun.

Charles

G.

Dawes

(1925-29)

did

not

avail

himself

of

Calvin

Coolidge’s

invitation

to

sit

with

the

cabinet.

J.

M.

Matthews

and

C.

A.

Berdahl,

Documents

and

Readings

in

American

Government

(New

York:

Macmillan,

1940),

reproduce

an

interview

in

the

Chicago

Tribune,

November

27,

1924,

on

the

reasons

for

this,

pp.

330-331.

4

U.

S.

News

&

World

Report,

loc.

cit

.;

Frederic

A.

Ogg

and

P.

Orman

Ray,

Introduction

to

American

Government,

(8th

ed. ;

New

York:

Appleton-Century,

1948),

p.

343.

5

Ogg

and

Ray,

op.

cit.,

p.

343

n.

2;

344;

Earl

L.

Shoup,

Government

of

the

American

People

(Bos-

ton :

Ginn

and

Co.,

1946),

p.

584.