- presiding over the Senate
- opening and counting electoral votes after presidential election
- serving as President should the President become incapacitated
Throughout American history, the role of the Vice President has changed. Early on, it merely entailed performing those tasks laid out above and waiting around in case the President may die. After the ratification of the 12th Amendment (requiring electors to cast one vote for President and one vote for Vice President), political parties started to pair the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate together on 'the ticket'. This pairing of candidates led politically minded leaders to start trying to balance their ticket to make the candidacy of 'the ticket' more attractive to more voters. The Vice Presidency itself however, was still not seen as a job opportunity one would desire. The role of the Vice President has grown since the 70s into a position that serves as an extension of the President himself. The Vice President is often consulted regularly on policy decisions and will be tasked with executing certain duties (being point-man / head executive) on behalf of the President.
The Best of Joe Biden
And don't forget former Vice President Dick Cheney
Advisory: Censored word (based on exchange between VP Dick Cheney & Sen Patrick Leahey)
The Cabinet
- consists of the heads (Secretary) of each of the executive departments (State, Defense, Treasury, etc)
- serves as advisory council to the President
- Secretary is nominated by President ( and ......)
- 16 official Cabinet positions, incl Vice President
- advice sought but not relied upon
- "kitchen cabinets"
- Cabinet Secretaries often more loyal to their department than the President
