History is messy. Honestly, when people talk about the American executive branch, they treat it like a well-oiled machine where the president with a vice president works in some sort of perfect, synchronized harmony. That’s almost never the case. From the very beginning, the relationship was built on a foundation of awkwardness and, quite frankly, a fair bit of ego. Think about it. You’re putting the two most ambitious people in the country in a room and telling one of them to wait for the other to die or get fired. It’s weird.
Take the early days. Before the 12th Amendment, the runner-up in the election just became the VP. Imagine if every election today ended with the loser becoming the winner's shadow. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson basically spent four years hating each other’s guts because they had completely different visions for what the United States should even be. Jefferson, as the president with a vice president he didn't even want, ended up leading the opposition party while technically serving in the administration. It was a disaster. It’s no wonder they changed the rules.
The Evolution of the "Vep"
For about 150 years, the job was a joke. John Adams famously called it "the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived." He wasn't exaggerating much. For a long time, the president with a vice president relationship was more about regional balancing during the campaign than actual governing. You’d pick a guy from the North if you were from the South just to get the votes, then you’d ignore him for four years.
Harry Truman is the best example of how dangerous this neglect could be. When Franklin D. Roosevelt died in 1945, Truman had been VP for only 82 days. He’d met with FDR maybe twice. He didn't even know the Manhattan Project existed. Imagine being told you're now in charge of the world's most powerful nation and discovering a secret nuclear bomb program on your first day at the office. That’s a massive failure of the "team" concept.
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The Shift to Power
Everything changed with Walter Mondale. When Jimmy Carter took office, they redefined what it meant to be a president with a vice president. Mondale got an office in the West Wing—which was a huge deal at the time—and full access to the President's daily brief. This created the modern "partnership" model we see today. Whether it was Dick Cheney’s massive influence on foreign policy under George W. Bush or Joe Biden’s "last man in the room" role for Barack Obama, the office isn't just a placeholder anymore.
Why the Relationship Sours
Power is a zero-sum game in D.C. Even when the president with a vice president start off as best friends, the staff usually ruins it. The President’s staffers want to protect their boss’s legacy. The Vice President’s staffers are already looking at the next election. This creates these weird silos of information. You see it in the memoirs. Every single one of them.
Look at LBJ and JFK. Lyndon Johnson was a titan of the Senate, a man who knew where every body was buried in Washington. Then he became Vice President and was suddenly relegated to cutting ribbons and going to funerals in countries he couldn't find on a map. He felt humiliated. Bobby Kennedy, the President’s brother, reportedly despised Johnson, making the internal dynamics of that administration a nightmare of paranoia and resentment.
The Problem of Succession
There is a fundamental tension here. A president with a vice president is always aware of the "spare" nature of the role. If the President is doing great, the VP is invisible. If the President is doing poorly, the VP has to decide whether to go down with the ship or distance themselves to save their own political future. It's a tightrope. Hubert Humphrey had to deal with this during the Vietnam War. He privately disagreed with LBJ’s escalation but couldn't say it publicly without being seen as a traitor. It destroyed his own presidential chances in 1968.
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The Modern Dynamic and Public Perception
We live in an era of "The Ticket." Now, a president with a vice president has to look like a unified front on social media and 24-hour news cycles. But the cracks always show. Whether it's Mike Pence navigating the chaotic final days of the Trump administration or Kamala Harris being handed the most difficult, "no-win" assignments like the border or voting rights, the VP is often the lightning rod for the President's unpopularity.
It’s also about the "portfolio." A President will give the VP specific tasks. Sometimes these are real chances to lead, like Al Gore’s "reinventing government" initiative. Other times, they are political traps. If the task is too easy, the VP gets no credit. If it's too hard, they get all the blame.
Realities of the 25th Amendment
We have to talk about the 25th Amendment because it changed the stakes. It formalized how a president with a vice president handles a transition of power if the President becomes "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office." This isn't just about death; it's about surgery, strokes, or mental health. It turned the VP into a literal standby-President with a legal mechanism to take over. That adds a layer of "heir apparent" weight to every single interaction they have.
Key Takeaways for History Buffs and Voters
If you're looking at how an administration actually functions, stop watching the press conferences. Look at the "who's who" of the staff meetings.
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- The Office Location Matters: If the VP isn't in the West Wing, they aren't in the loop. Physical proximity to the Oval Office is the only currency that matters in the White House.
- Check the Lunch Schedule: Most successful president with a vice president duos (like Obama/Biden or Bush/Cheney) had a standing weekly lunch. If those stop happening, the relationship is dead.
- The "Vetting" is Never Perfect: Campaigns pick VPs for votes, not for governing. That’s why so many of these pairs end up being total strangers who have to learn to work together under the highest pressure imaginable.
- Watch the Assignments: Is the VP being sent to a war zone or a state funeral? One shows trust; the other shows they’re being kept out of the way.
The next time you see a president with a vice president smiling on a stage together, remember the history. Remember the snubs, the secret memos, and the inherent awkwardness of the "spare" role. It’s a partnership built on a paradox: the more successful the President is, the less the Vice President actually matters.
To truly understand how an administration is performing, research the specific "Policy Portfolios" assigned to the Vice President. Cross-reference these assignments with the President’s top three legislative priorities. If the VP’s tasks don't align with those priorities, you are looking at a decorative vice presidency rather than a functional partnership. Check the official White House schedules—available via the Freedom of Information Act or public archives—to see how often the duo actually meets without staff present. This is the only true barometer of executive trust.