A DEAD END JOB: MADISON'S VICE PRESIDENTS© John S. Cooper
Mar 30, 2001
Only one President had two Vice Presidents die during his time in office. James Madison served two terms as President, and both times the man elected as his Vice President died shortly after the beginning of the term.
Before the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, each elector had two votes for President. The person receiving the largest number of electoral votes, as long as it was a majority, became President. The runner-up became Vice President. The idea was to provide a Vice President who was the second best choice for President, in case something happened to the person elected to the top office. In 1800, Aaron Burr, his party’s choice for the second spot, tied with Thomas Jefferson. The result was a long fight in the House of Representatives (which chooses the President if no candidate gets a majority of the electoral vote). Burr saw his chance to win the White House, and turned on his running mate. Jefferson won, but the result of this lesson was the 12th Amendment. Under the provisions of the 12th Amendment, each elector now has one vote for President. The runner-up wins no office. The electors vote separately for Vice President, the winner being the person winning a majority of the electoral votes in that race. Jefferson was the first President elected after the 12thAmendment, and in choosing his second Vice President, he did not want another powerful, ambitious politician. So he began a tradition of selecting a running mate who was older, experienced, and without a national political base. In short, he wanted a person who could not oppose him. Jefferson chose for this newly designed Vice Presidency George Clinton of New York. Clinton (no relation to our recent President) had been elected governor of New York seven times, serving from 1777-1795, and had the advantage of being a very popular Democratic-Republican in an important and usually Federalist state. Also important, he was too old and too lacking in national support to be any threat to Jefferson. By the time Clinton was elected Vice President, he was 65 years old. He was prematurely aged physically and his health was failing. As the presiding officer of the U.S. Senate, he was something of an embarrassment. His memory often failed him; he sometimes announced the passage or defeat of a bill before it had been voted on. One senator wrote “a worse choice than Mr. Clinton could scarcely have been made.” Another wrote of Clinton, “He is old, feeble, and altogether incapable of the duty of presiding in the Senate.”
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In response to message posted by FortBrooke1824:
I agree entirely! Tell all your friends about the site. {G}
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I did not know that about Vice-President Gerry. As always i learned something new. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and time in writing these articles, Mug. It's too bad that this site is not m
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-- posted by FortBrooke1824
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Good question. I can't imagine George Clinton becoming PResident. Let's be thankful that Madison recovered. As to whether Congress would have impeached Clinton is a question that Bucky (Alternative
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Hi John,Another fascinating article! One shudders to think of what might have happened if one of these VPs had become president, especially Clinton. Do you suppose they would have impeached him?
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