Vice Presidents – What Do They Do
On Jan. 20, Kamala Harris will become vice president of the United States – the first woman, the first person of South Asian descent, and the first African American to do so. Harris will also become the first vice president to have graduated from a historically black college or university.
Each of these achievements is significant in its own right. However, the vice presidency itself has traditionally been a relatively insignificant position, though the office has become more influential in recent years.
John Adams, the nation’s first vice president, called the job ‘the most insignificant Office.’ Gilbert Stuart, National Gallery of Art via Wikimedia Commons
The ‘most insignificant’ office?
The role of vice president is only mentioned in the U.S. Constitution a handful of times. Article I...