What Does the American Vice President Do?

What does a Vice President of the United States do? Is he a sidekick to the elected President? Is he simply the #2 man? Is he just the first in line should something happen to the President? The answer to those questions is yes, but there is a little more to the role of Vice President than the aforementioned.

When the President nominee selects someone to be his vice presidential running mate, both names go on the ballot for election. Surprisingly, this wasn't always the case. Until 1940, the nominating party selected who the Vice Presidential nominee was going to be. The nominee also has to have the same minimum requirements as the President: natural-born citizen, at least 35 years of age, and a resident of the country for at least 14 years.

Once the President and Vice President (or VP) is elected, the VP doesn't just get to kick his feet up and wait for the President to become "unable to serve". One of his most important jobs is to act as Presiding Officer of the Senate. In that role, the VP actually holds the tie-breaker vote if the Senate is in a 50-50 deadlock. The VP doesn't necessarily need to be there for every Senate vote or meeting. In fact, they usually pick someone else to preside over those votes. Typically, the longest-running senator serves as the President Pro-Tempore.

The Presiding Officer of the Senate also has to count the Electoral Votes in an election. This gets weird when a VP is running for President because he could actually announce his own defeat, as Al Gore did in 2000.

Yes, the VP is the #2 person. Should the President resign, be removed, or become disabled, the VP is first in line as a replacement. However, should a President be impeached, the Chief Justice becomes the Presiding Officer of the Senate until the trial is over.

The VP also handles a lot of dignitary functions for the President. The VP is often selected as a representative for other country ceremonies and speaks on behalf of the president when visiting places across the United States.

Another interesting role for the Vice President is his affiliation with space and ocean exploration. The VP serves as Chairman of the Board for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Yes, the VP has a role in whether we explore Mars or explore the Pacific Ocean. In fact, the official residence of the VP is at the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. The VP also serves as a board member of the Smithsonian Institute.

Although the Vice President is typically considered a primary advisor to the President on all matters, the role as a military advisor wasn't clear until after 1949. Until then, the President technically didn't have to advise the VP on what his military decisions were going to be. The Senate eventually saw this fault and officially creating a law stating that the VP is a member of the National Security Council, which also includes the Secretary of State, Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of Defense and National Security Advisor.

That's a lot of work that you would think deserved a lot of pay. But the reality is that the Vice President only makes a little over $220,000 a year! So when you elect a President, don't think of his running mate as just the "# 2" guy. The Vice President has a lot to do for your country as well.