Time to abolish an antiquated institution created by the Constitution

If anything, eight of those 15 had been failures in seeking the presidential nomination prior to getting the No. 2 nod. Incumbent vice presidents have not done well in being elected president. Of the nation’s 49 vice presidents, 15 tried to graduate to the top job at the end of their vice-presidential term. Only four succeeded. Bush Sr., in 1988; Martin Van Buren, in 1836; as well as two (John Adams and Thomas Jefferson) who did so when the Constitution made the first defeated presidential candidate the vice president before the 12th Amendment reformed the system in 1804 to the current one.

Running mates are picked to provide regional or ideological balance, to make up for a lack of foreign policy experience (Barack Obama/Biden), to curry favor with political bosses (in the old days of backroom dealing), or to return a political favor (Biden selecting Harris after U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn provided Biden with a pivotal endorsement in a critical primary state). Presidential timber does not seem to figure on this list of criteria.

Nine vice presidents have become president when the previous president died or resigned from office. Of those nine, Teddy Roosevelt and Harry Truman were positive standouts, but others, like Andrew Johnson and Millard Fillmore were overall negatives. Obviously, the nation needs a successor plan. Without a vice president, the Constitution could specify that the Senate president pro tempore fills the position when a presidential vacancy occurs. No doubt such constitutional designation would see the Senate majority leader be elected to the pro tem position, just like it is in the California state Senate. In the 19th century, the U.S. Senate president pro tempore was first in line to succeed to the presidency after the vice president. A senator named William King (sounds quite presidential, doesn’t it) was elected vice president in 1852 while serving as the Senate president pro tempore. Over a century later, another King, Leslie King, did become president, but only after his name was changed in childhood to that of the man his divorced mother had remarried. That kid was Gerald Ford.

Our nation has gone without a vice president for a total of approximately 34 years and 10 months since April 30, 1789, when George Washington became president. That’s about 15% of the time. In 1840, President Van Buren ran without a running mate but lost. We should adopt that model, with the Senate leader being first in the line of succession, followed by the House Speaker and then designated members of the Cabinet, similar to the current line of succession after the vice president. Lyndon Johnson was the Senate majority leader when elected vice president in 1960. So was Charles Curtiss in 1928. Vice President Barkley had been Senate majority leader for a decade but was demoted to minority leader for the two years prior to his election as vice president after the Republicans took the Senate in the 1946 election. Two vice presidents had been the speaker of the House (John Nance Garner and Schuyler Colfax) while another had been the Republican House minority leader (Ford) when elected or named.

If a Senate president pro tempore moves into the White House when more than one year of the presidential term is left, a special election could be held in short order, preceded by a national primary election to select the party nominees. Our nation is better off with electoral winners ending up in the top spot. Vice presidents need not apply.

Paul F. DeMeester is a criminal defense attorney. He worked on Walter Mondale’s 1984 presidential campaign, was Nancy Pelosi’s phone bank director in her first congressional campaign in 1987, and was a volunteer attorney for Al Gore postelection in Florida in 2000.