Vice Presidency

Report Outline
New Interest in the Vice Presidency
Evolution of Office of Vice President
Vice Presidency: Present and Future
Special Focus

New Interest in the Vice Presidency

Changed View of Vice Presidential Nominations

President Eisenhower's decision to seek a second term has thrown the Republican vice-presidential nomination and the vice-presidential office itself into special prominence. If Eisenhower is re-elected next Nov. 6, three weeks after his 66th birthday, he will be slated to stay in the White House until he is more than 70 years old. Because no previous President has attained that age in office and because, in addition, President Eisenhower suffered a heart attack last September, there naturally is concern as to whether he can survive the strains of office and remain fully able to discharge the responsibilities of the Presidency for another four years.

Such hazards pertain to any White House occupant, young or old, but Eisenhower's illness has had the effect of bringing them forcibly to public attention. There is therefore keener realization than is usually the case that a man nominated and elected as Vice President may actually become President or may be called upon, in event of presidential disability, to perform some or all of the duties of the highest office. The importance of selecting individuals of presidential stature as vice-presidential nominees thus has been borne home. It has become correspondingly evident, moreover, that careful thought should be given to the possible application of constitutional provisions, never invoked, to enable the Vice President to act for a disabled President.

Eisenhower and Choice of a 1956 Running Mate

Renomination of Vice President Richard M. Nixon at the Republican convention in San Francisco now appears virtually certain. Although President Eisenhower has not come out flatly for Nixon as his running mate for a second term, his warm endorsement of the Vice President, after Nixon had received some 22,000 write-in votes in the New Hampshire primary in mid-March, came as close to outright tapping as was possible. At a news conference on Mar. 14 the President said: “I am very happy that Dick Nixon is my friend. I am very happy to have him as an associate in government. I would be happy to be on any political ticket in which I was a candidate with him.”