by Eric Wood
Share
The Constitution gives the Vice President almost nothing to do by default - preside over the Senate and cast tie-breaking votes there, and be ready to become President if needed. Nearly everything else the modern office actually does is a product of custom and individual presidential choice, not constitutional requirement.
What the Constitution actually says
Article I makes the Vice President President of the Senate, empowered to break tie votes there but otherwise without a regular vote. The Twelfth Amendment established that the President and Vice President run on the same ticket, elected together, after the original system - in which the runner-up in the presidential race simply became Vice President - produced an administration in 1797 with a President and Vice President from opposing political camps. Beyond presiding over the Senate and standing ready to succeed the President, the Constitution assigns the office no other formal duties at all.
How the modern role grew far beyond that
For much of American history, the vice presidency was widely viewed as a politically marginal position - John Adams, the first Vice President, reportedly called it “the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived.” That began changing significantly in the twentieth century, as Presidents increasingly gave their Vice Presidents real policy portfolios, national security briefings, and a substantive role in the administration’s decision-making - a shift driven entirely by individual presidential choice, not any constitutional change to the office’s formal powers.
Worth knowing
Fourteen Vice Presidents have gone on to become President, though through several different paths: some through succession after a President’s death or resignation, others by winning election to the presidency in their own right after serving as Vice President.
Why it still matters
The Vice President’s formal Senate tie-breaking power has real practical significance in a closely divided Senate, and the office’s modern policy influence, though entirely optional and dependent on the President’s own choices, has become significant enough that a running mate’s selection is treated as a genuinely consequential political decision in every presidential campaign.
Leave A Comment
The certiorari process, the Rule of Four, and why a circuit split is one of the most common reasons the Supreme Court agrees to take a case at all.
-
The power to strike down unconstitutional laws isn't in the Constitution's text at all - how Marbury v. Madison established it, and how far it's expanded since.
-
Presidential nomination, Senate confirmation, and lifetime tenure - why Hamilton argued judicial independence required insulating judges from political pressure.
-
District courts try cases, circuit courts review for legal error, and the Supreme Court hears only a small fraction of what's appealed to it - the three tiers and what each one actually does.
