List of vice presidents of the United States

List of vice presidents of the United States is a list of the people who have served as the Vice President of the United States, the second-highest executive office in the federal government of the United States. The vice president is elected alongside the President of the United States and serves as the president of the United States Senate.

The office of vice president was established by the United States Constitution and began operating in 1789. The first person to hold the office was John Adams, who served under President George Washington. Since then, the vice presidency has been held by individuals from different political parties and from many different regions and political backgrounds.

The vice president's constitutional responsibilities include presiding over the Senate and casting a vote when the Senate is equally divided. The vice president also has an important role in the presidential succession system. If the president dies, resigns, or is removed from office, the vice president becomes president.

The importance and responsibilities of the vice presidency have changed throughout the history of the United States. During the early years of the republic, vice presidents generally had limited responsibilities outside the Senate. In the modern era, vice presidents commonly serve as senior advisers to the president, participate in policy discussions, represent the administration at public events, and undertake diplomatic and international responsibilities.

The original system for electing the president and vice president was established in Article Two of the United States Constitution. Under the original system, presidential electors voted for two candidates. The candidate receiving the greatest number of votes became president, while the candidate receiving the second-highest number became vice president.

This system produced several difficulties as political parties developed. The United States presidential election of 1800 resulted in a tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, with the election ultimately being decided by the United States House of Representatives.

The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1804, changed the electoral system. Electors thereafter cast separate votes for president and vice president. This system remains the basis for modern presidential and vice-presidential elections.

The vice president has several responsibilities established by the Constitution. The most prominent is serving as president of the Senate. The vice president normally does not participate in Senate debates or vote on ordinary legislation, but can cast the deciding vote when the Senate is evenly divided.

The vice president is also part of the United States presidential line of succession. Under the current system, the vice president is first in line to succeed the president.

The Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1967, further defined the vice president's role in presidential succession and presidential disability. It also established a procedure for filling a vacancy in the vice presidency.

For much of American history, there was no constitutional procedure for filling a vacant vice presidency. If a vice president died, resigned, or became president, the office remained vacant until the next presidential election.

This changed with the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. Under the amendment, when there is a vacancy in the vice presidency, the president nominates a replacement who must be confirmed by a majority vote of both houses of Congress.

The first vice president to be appointed under this procedure was Gerald Ford, who became vice president in 1973 after the resignation of Spiro Agnew. Ford later became president after the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974.

Nelson Rockefeller subsequently became the second vice president to enter the office through the Twenty-Fifth Amendment's vacancy procedure.

Several vice presidents have become president because the elected president died, resigned, or otherwise left office. This has occurred throughout American history and has made the vice presidency an important component of presidential succession.

Vice presidents who succeeded to the presidency following the death or resignation of a president include:

John Tyler, who succeeded William Henry Harrison. Millard Fillmore, who succeeded Zachary Taylor. Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Abraham Lincoln. Chester A. Arthur, who succeeded James A. Garfield. Theodore Roosevelt, who succeeded William McKinley. Calvin Coolidge, who succeeded Warren G. Harding. Harry S. Truman, who succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt. Lyndon B. Johnson, who succeeded John F. Kennedy. Gerald Ford, who became president after Richard Nixon resigned.

In each of these cases, the vice president assumed the powers and duties of the presidency. The Twenty-Fifth Amendment later clarified that the vice president becomes president when a president dies, resigns, or is removed from office.

The following table lists the vice presidents of the United States in chronological order. It includes their terms of office and the president or presidents under whom they served.