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Why is the Vice President of the United States elected?

marcus903

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I just got a curious question.

Why is the Vice President of the United States elected? Why can't the Presidential Nominee just select his vice president and have him approved by the United States Senate? The President still wouldn't be able to fire him, but it will ensure that the presidential nominee didn't waist his time choosing him should the Vice President fail to be elected by the electors.

I just turnd 18 this year and I still have yet to register to vote for the President and Vice President. I just want to know if their is any reason the Vice President has to be elected.
 
I just got a curious question.

Why is the Vice President of the United States elected? Why can't the Presidential Nominee just select his vice president and have him approved by the United States Senate? The President still wouldn't be able to fire him, but it will ensure that the presidential nominee didn't waist his time choosing him should the Vice President fail to be elected by the electors.

I just turnd 18 this year and I still have yet to register to vote for the President and Vice President. I just want to know if their is any reason the Vice President has to be elected.

The VP is literally a heartbeat away from being the POTUS. The Senate majority may not be of the same party as the POTUS.
 
It was always an elected position, but our original system where the runner up became VP ended up with a lot of internal strife. I think that the voters knowing who the intended VP is during the election is a good thing. But if the VP quits or dies or otherwise can't serve, I think the replacement is appointed, rather than elected.
 
It was always an elected position, but our original system where the runner up became VP ended up with a lot of internal strife. I think that the voters knowing who the intended VP is during the election is a good thing. But if the VP quits or dies or otherwise can't serve, I think the replacement is appointed, rather than elected.

You're correct. He/she would be nominated by the President and then confirmed by Congress. The 25th Amendment is where the procedure is codified.
 
You're correct. He/she would be nominated by the President and then confirmed by Congress. The 25th Amendment is where the procedure is codified.

Well if he chose to even nominate someone. Johnson finished Kennedy's term without a VP I think and Nixon only nominated Ford because he was going down and Ford would become POTUS anyway as the presumptive Speaker at that point and Nixon was hoping to get a deal. I did not realize that Ford even had a VP until the OP asked this question and I went googling. Never hear about Rockefeller as the VP
 
Well if he chose to even nominate someone. Johnson finished Kennedy's term without a VP I think and Nixon only nominated Ford because he was going down and Ford would become POTUS anyway as the presumptive Speaker at that point and Nixon was hoping to get a deal. I did not realize that Ford even had a VP until the OP asked this question and I went googling. Never hear about Rockefeller as the VP

All true, and almost amazing. But the 25th takes care of that, as you stated regarding Ford as the defacto Speaker.

Rockefeller didn't really want to be VP, and did so out of duty to country. He was nominated by Ford to try and bring the country together because of his being a liberal and progressive long time member of multiple Democrat Administrations, although he was a registered Republican.
 
Well if he chose to even nominate someone. Johnson finished Kennedy's term without a VP I think and Nixon only nominated Ford because he was going down and Ford would become POTUS anyway as the presumptive Speaker at that point and Nixon was hoping to get a deal. I did not realize that Ford even had a VP until the OP asked this question and I went googling. Never hear about Rockefeller as the VP

The 25th amendment was ratified in 1967. Nixon had to nominate someone and Ford was a well regarded minority leader in the House. Rockefeller was a relatively harmless VP who supposedly died during sex with a woman other than his wife.
 
All true, and almost amazing. But the 25th takes care of that, as you stated regarding Ford as the defacto Speaker.

Rockefeller didn't really want to be VP, and did so out of duty to country. He was nominated by Ford to try and bring the country together because of his being a liberal and progressive long time member of multiple Democrat Administrations, although he was a registered Republican.

I met Jay a few times. That is the tallest politician I ever met. He did not strike me as someone who was that into his job--more like an obligation to him as well me thinks.

The 25th amendment was ratified in 1967. Nixon had to nominate someone and Ford was a well regarded minority leader in the House. Rockefeller was a relatively harmless VP who supposedly died during sex with a woman other than his wife.

Wow. I would think that would be something the media would bring up at every opportunity.
 
Well if he chose to even nominate someone. Johnson finished Kennedy's term without a VP I think and Nixon only nominated Ford because he was going down and Ford would become POTUS anyway as the presumptive Speaker at that point and Nixon was hoping to get a deal. I did not realize that Ford even had a VP until the OP asked this question and I went googling. Never hear about Rockefeller as the VP

The 25th Amendment came after Johnson and before Ford. Before the 25th, there was no VP succession so there was no process by which to get a new VP until the election. If they became President, they had no VP and if the VP died in office, there was no VP for the remainder of the term. Ford was the first, and so far only, VP to take the office in that manner.
 
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