Vice President of the United States

Definition and stakes

Portrait of John Marshall John Marshall The Life of George Washington, Vol…

From the duties attached to his office, the Vice President of the United States, and President of the senate, though not a member of the legislature, was classed, in the public mind, with that department not less than with the executive. Elected by the whole people of America in common with the President, he could not fail to be taken from the most distinguished citizens, and to add to the dignity of the body over which he presided.
Source: Gutenberg

A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents…

No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
Source: Gutenberg

1911 Encyclopædia Britannica (1911)

It was very commonly believed at the time that this nomination for the vice-presidency was participated in and heartily approved of by the machine politicians or “bosses” of the State of New York in their belief that it would result in his elimination from active political life. The office of vice-president of the United States had so far in the history of the country been almost purely a perfunctory one, and has rarely, if ever, led to political promotion.
Source: Wikisource

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