vice president

(noun)

A deputy to a president, often empowered to assume the position of president on his death or absence

Related Terms

Examples of vice president in the following topics:

  • The Vice Presidency

    • The current vice president is former U.S.
    • Under the Constitution, the vice president is President of the United States Senate.
    • Gerald Ford was the first vice president selected by this method, after the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew in 1973; after succeeding to the Presidency, Ford nominated Nelson Rockefeller as vice president.
    • Four Vice Presidents: L-R, outgoing Pres.
    • Johnson (the 37th vice president); incoming Pres.

  • The 25th Amendment

    • The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution deals with succession to the Presidency and establishes procedures both for filling a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, as well as responding to Presidential disabilities.
    • In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
    • Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
    • Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
    • Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

  • The 23rd Amendment

    • The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution permits citizens in the District of Columbia to vote for Electors for President and Vice President.
    • A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.

  • The Executive Branch

    • The executive power in the government is vested in the President and Vice-President of the United States, the Cabinet and federal agencies.
    • The vice president is the second-highest ranked executive official of the government.
    • Under the Constitution, the Vice President is President of the Senate.
    • The current Vice President is Joseph Biden .
    • Official portrait of Vice President of the United States Joe Biden.

  • The 12th Amendment

    • The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides the procedure for electing the President and Vice President.
    • The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and all persons voted for as Vice-President and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate.
    • The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice.
    • But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.
    • Describe the changes the Twelfth Amendment brought to the procedure for electing the President and Vice-President

  • The 20th Amendment

    • It also deals with scenarios in which there is no President-elect.
    • The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
    • If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President.
    • If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.
    • The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.

  • The Election of 1796

    • The election of 1796 was the first contested American presidential election and the only one in which a president and vice president were elected from opposing tickets.
    • There was no way for the electors to cast one vote for president and one for vice president—the electors simply voted for two different people, and the candidate with the most votes became president while the candidate with the second-highest number became vice president.
    • Though there was no way for electors to differentiate between candidates for president and vice president, both parties informally designated a presidential nominee.
    • This system of balloting was not changed until the Twelfth Amendment (1804), which allowed for the notion of a running mate by stipulating separate balloting for president and vice president.
    • The following four years, however, would be the only time that the president and vice president of the United States were from different parties.

  • Article II

    • Article Two of the United States Constitution creates the executive branch of the government, consisting of the President, the Vice President, and other executive officers chosen by the President.
    • He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected, as follows:
    • In every case, after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the Vice President.
    • But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice President.
    • In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

  • The Electoral College

    • The Electoral College is the 538 person body that elects the President and the Vice President of the United States.
    • The Electoral College consists of 538 electors who officially elect the President and Vice President of the United States.
    • Although ballots list the names of the presidential candidates, voters within the 50 states and Washington, D.C. actually choose electors for their state when they vote for President and Vice President.
    • Even though the aggregate national popular vote is calculated by state officials and media organizations, the national popular vote is not the basis for electing a President or Vice President.
    • Critics argue that the Electoral College is inherently undemocratic and gives swing states disproportionate influence in electing the President and Vice President.

  • The Ford Inauguration

    • When President Richard Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974 over the controversy of the Watergate scandal, Vice President Gerald Ford assumed the presidency; this made him the only person to assume the presidency without having been previously voted into either the presidential or vice presidential office.
    • Ford was appointed Vice President after Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973.
    • The federal budget ran a deficit every year Ford was President.
    • Full pardon, however, did not come about until the Jimmy Carter Presidency.
    • Gerald and Betty Ford with the President and First Lady Pat Nixon after President Nixon nominated Ford to be Vice President, October 13, 1973.