Vice-presidency

13 Pages 3225 Words

ces an individual who wasn’t otherwise elected for the office by the people under the helm of President of the United States. In addition, anti-VPs maintain that the Vice-presidency is a useless position with no real function. Moreover, the horror that is alleged by anti-VPs is the possible successor to the head of our executive branch is often mediocre and more often chosen to placate certain interest groups or to represent a facet of the nation, than to assume the Presidency.
HISTORY OF VP ROLE AND ELECTION
To begin with, as was acknowledged above, the forefront of grounds to eradicate the Vice presidency is that his succession goes against the will of the people. To clarify this assertion some background information is required. Originally the Constitution had no provisions for the Vice Presidency and didn’t even require the office have its own vote. The intention of the founding fathers was that the VP would keep to the credentials and qualifications of the Presidency and be voted for as though it were for the Presidency. Electors voted in the following manner. Each was obligated to choose and write the names of his two choices for President. Usually, the electors made their selections by opting for “a local luminary, a favorite son of the district or state he represented,” as their first choice and a character from outside their native state, “presumably, therefore, ‘a continental character,’” as their second pick. Thus, the Vice President was selected to office--not by a separate vote--but by the second greatest number of electoral votes for the Presidency. In the unfortunate case that the President might fall ill or die, the vice-president similarly qualified and the second choice of the people, would resume the role and spare the country a new election. The original construction of the VP brings up an important point that I will refer back to repeatedly as I continue to hone my case. ...