Being vice president is a bad gig. Sure, you get to be close to the presidency and even have some of the trappings, but the sole job of the vice president is to stand around and wait.
Vice presidents have no official duties. Their purpose is to step in if something happens to the president. If the president is fine, or at least upright and sometimes awake in Trump’s case, there isn’t much for the VP to do.
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Some presidents, like Barack Obama, pick a VP with experience who can handle responsibilities and a workload. Dick Cheney also fits into this category during George W. Bush’s first term.
Obama and Bush leaned on their VPs. Bill Clinton and Al Gore were a team. Presidents and vice presidents don’t have to be friendly. JFK and LBJ were not tight, but LBJ was the right choice to be Kennedy’s vice president, as demonstrated when tragedy struck in Dallas.
Then there is Trump, who wants his vice presidents to be his biggest cheerleaders, take none of the attention off of him, have no real responsibilities, or be any kind of threat to his ego at all.
Mike Pence actually thought that he was allowed to put the Constitution first, and it nearly got him killed by a mob that the president incited.
Trump was determined to pick a VP who would do whatever he wanted in 2024, which is how he ended up with JD Vance.
Vance is taking initial steps toward his own presidential campaign, and it’s not going great.
