Nelson Rockefeller was already a household name and a figure of some stature when Gerald Ford asked Congress to approve him as Vice President. True to form, he attempted to make the Vice Presidency a big office. 

A one-term Vice President known for being liberal on issues and associated with Hubert Humphrey, Carter's Vice President Walter Mondale changed the office more than anyone else. He moved it from the Senate to the White House, where it has been since. He also ran for President twice, and ended up with a 49-state blowout.  Yet, he never doubted what he did was right.

Those that know the full story of Chester Arthur know he became President and instituted controls on replacing workers in the civil service.  That's largely because a tragic shooting made him President and he, in a statesman-like way, implemented his sucessor's programs.

But as Vice President, Arthur was all Stalwart. The Stalwarts, Half-Breeds and Independents fought each other as much as today's Republicans and Demcorats. He was opposed to Half-Breed Garfield's appointments and spent his vice-presidency fighting his own President and supporting his President's political enemy.

But once Garfield was shot, VP Arthur signaled a change in his ways. By deliberately not coming to Washington. We tell the story.

Large in his time, mostly passed over in history, George Clinton's ascention to the vice presidency would not have surprised contemporaries. If anything, he was a contender for the top office. He was a giant in New York State, and in the democratic-republican movement in the nation.  But his stand against The Constitution, his opposition to the new state of Vermont, and a parade of well-spoken competitors in ambition limited him. Thus he rose to VP, an office that he warned against creating.  Clinton's warnings about the system of American government, likely written under an alias (Cato) may have earned him few friends among historians or in his time, but we read some of them as they could contain wisdom. 

Elbridge Gerry was never a speaker with "thunder in his voice," per one contemporary description, and he was hard to pin down in terms of his politics, yet that may have made him persuasive. A compromiser and a critic, a pro-government and pro-liberty who hated both mobs and dictatorship.  His experience may have been 

War Hero, Congressman, State Leader, and Senator.  Kentucky's Richard Mentor Johnson was considered for the Presidency and might have obtained it in the case of his friend Andrew Jackson not seeking a second term. But timing is everything: Jackson did seek a second term, and in that term, politics changed.  Johnson did become Vice President in the shuffle, and like most 19th Century Vice Presidents, spoke very little to Martin Van Buren, the President he served. 

Johnson is known for a few things.  One is, many said of him that he killed the Indian warrior Tecumseh.  He never made the claim directly, but it was said of him.  The second, was that he took a wife among one of this slaves. While this was not uncommon as a secret practice, Johnson made it public and took care of his wife's daughters.  For this, he earned the distinction of being the only Vice President not receiving enough electoral college votes, and needing the Senate to sign off on his Vice Presidency.  Johnson also spoke for debt relief and set up an academy for Indian children.  We discuss all these facts in this episode.  

Henry Wilson's experience as a workingman would have a double benefit in his political career.  Not only could he identify with average people, but he could demonstrate that unlike his slaveholding oppponents, he worked his way up in a country that allowed him to do so.  His very presence from actual rags to some riches (at least for a time) compelled Republicans to place him on the ticket with Grant as his second vice-president.  Not a bad run for man who had to flee from a poor family and change his name.  We tell his story.

If he wasn't ever Lyndon Johnson's Vice President, HHH might have been remembered as a pretty good Senator.  And a well-regarded mayor.  But Hubert wanted more.  We take a look at the man who was almost President, his bumpy relationship with the President he served under, and the choice he was forced to make in the waning days of the election.  We also look at a mayor who took on crime and a Senator who passed many things we take for granted today. 

Dan Quayle's name conjures up images of late-night comedian jokes and verbal gaffes, but he may have offered a little-known service to the President he served.  In this episode, we discuss George H.W. Bush's vice president, including his ups and downs, and even his recent role in advising Mike Pence during the Jan 6, 2021 events.  

Though Richard Nixon's presidency would get most of the attention of history, his time as Vice President was formative.  He was one of several veeps that helped modernize the office.  He was more active on foreign trips than his predecessors.  He even came under attack and was heralded for his calm nerves.  He acted as floor leader for the GOP on civil rights legislation, up agains Lyndon Johnson.  And in a late night session, there was that time he broke the gavel.