Preface Introduction: The American Vice Presidency Reconsidered Afterthought? The Pre-Modern Vice Presidency Where They've Been and What They've Done: The Background and Experience of VIce Presidential Candidates Securing the Second Slot: The Vice Presidential Nomination The Road to Number One Observatory Circle: The Campaign What Do They Do? Vice Presidents in Office What Next? Life After Near-Greatness Endnotes Selected Bibliography
"The vice presidency has long since ceased being the fifth wheel of the American wagon. Jody Baumgartner does a brilliant job of tracing and analyzing the transformation of this critical role which can only become more vital over time." -- Larry J. Sabato, University of Virginia "The vice presidency is one of the few examples of an institution where the amount of good scholarship has decreased as the importance of the institution has increased. The American Vice Presidency Reconsidered by Jody Baumgartner represents a fortuitous deviation from that unfortunate trend. Baumgartner captures both the changing nature of an ever-evolving office and the nuances of the modern vice presidency. His comprehensive scope covers not only the selection process and the workings of the institution, but also examines what happened to the office holders after their terms expired. It is one of those rare books that is both a pleasant reading experience while contributing to an important area of the scholarly literature." -- Andrew Dowdle, Universtiy of Arkansas
Jody C. Baumgartner is Assistant Professor of Political Science at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.
In an era in which Dick Cheney's political prominence in the
executive branch has led some political wags to refer to the
policies and actions of the Cheney administration, it is perhaps
not surprising to find a text that seeks to reassess the role of
the vice presidency in American politics. Baumgartner begins with a
characterization of the evolution of the office, focusing for the
rest of the work only on the modern era (1956 to the present). He
then offers chapters discussing the pre- office attributes and
qualifications of vice presidential candidates, the reasons
candidates are selected, and the role they play in presidential
political campaigns. Next, he analyzes the formal constitutional,
statutory, and appointive roles of the vice presidency and its
informal ceremonial, diplomatic, political, and advisory roles. The
final chapter discusses what happens to vice presidential
candidates after they have left office or lost their campaigns.
*Reference & Research Book News*
[T]races the rise in the power and esteem of the office and of
those elected to it.
*The Chronicle of Higher Education*
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