Vice President

Conducting a case study of historical approaches to constitutional interpretation through the model of the evolving vice presidency.

Looking to historical practice since the Founding Era to determine the proper role of the Vice President and concluding that the Vice President’s status within the American constitutional system fluctuates according to circumstances.

Looking to the constitutional text and structure, as well as the views of the Framers, to determine the proper role of the Vice President and concluding that the Vice President’s status within the American constitutional system fluctuates according to circumstances.

Chronicling how the Crisis of 1800 led the Republicans to amend Article II to more directly link the President and the Vice President to the people through the electoral process.

Presenting the history of the Vice Presidency as an example of how constitutional institutions can change over time, sometimes in ways “quite different from what various theories of originalism” would suggest.

Documenting how the American vice presidency has transformed since its inception at the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

Documenting the Framers’ purpose in creating the office of the vice presidency and chronicling problems that arose with the vice presidency in early American presidential administrations.

Noting how the state constitutions of New York, South Carolina, and Massachusetts provided for the concurrent selection of the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor, providing a model for the Framers to follow for the election of the President and Vice President.

Reviewing the constitutional and political origins of the office of the Vice President, including the compromises and concessions that led to the creation of the office.

Chronicling the Framers’ debates over the creation of the office of the Vice President, particularly the Vice President’s role in presidential elections.

Documenting how the electoral college as originally conceived did not provide for a separate ballot for President and Vice President and how the Vice President’s role in the presidential election was primarily to counter the “favorite son” problem.

Describing the circumstances and debates surrounding the creation of the electoral college, chronicling the complications of early presidential elections, and recording the subsequent development of the Twelfth Amendment.

Examining the constitutional origins of the vice presidency and arguing that the Twenty-Fifth Amendment’s conception of the role is a sharp departure from the limited office the Framers intended.

Documenting three Founding Era needs that seemed to have influenced the Framers to create the office of the Vice President: 1) the need for an impartial President of the Senate; 2) the need to fill presidential vacancies; and 3) the need to counter the “favorite son” problem in presidential elections.