The recent threads on presidents got me thinking about U.S. Vice Presidents.
The other day, I went through the list of our VPs to see how many I truly don't recall ever hearing about. I count seventeen I hadn't heard of before, the most recent being Truman's VP Alben W. Barkley. Those in bold below I've heard of.
Those in bold, plus italicized and underlined, were the 14 VPs I'd heard of because they later became presidents, either due to their subsequent election to the presidency (surprisingly only 5 in all U.S. history), or the assassination (4) or other death (4) or resignation (1) of their presidents. Read and enjoy the trivia:
1 John Adams (subsequently elected president)
2 Thomas Jefferson (elected)
3 Aaron Burr
4 George Clinton
5 Elbridge Gerry
6 Daniel D. Tompkins
7 John C. Calhoun
8 Martin Van Buren (elected)
9 Richard M. Johnson
10 John Tyler (president due to Pres. William Henry Harrison's death in office)
11 George Mifflin Dallas (Dallas County, TX and maybe Dallas, TX city named for him)
12 Millard Fillmore (due to Pres. Zachary Taylor's death in office)
13 William Rufus de Vane King
14 John C. Breckinridge
15 Hannibal Hamlin
16 Andrew Johnson (Lincoln assassination)
17 Schuyler Colfax
18 Henry Wilson
19 William A. Wheeler
20 Chester A. Arthur (Garfield assassination)
21 Thomas A. Hendricks
22 Levi Morton
23 Adlai E. Stevenson (heard of his grandson who ran for president twice and lost)
24 Garret A. Hobart
25 Theodore Roosevelt (McKinley assassination)
26 Charles Warren Fairbanks
27 James Sherman
28 Thomas R. Marshall
29 Calvin Coolidge (due to Pres. Harding's death in office)
30 Charles G. Dawes
31 Charles Curtis
32 John Nance Garner (Texan - Garner State Park)
33 Henry A. Wallace
34 Harry S. Truman (due to Roosevelt's death in office)
35 Alben W. Barkley
36 Richard M. Nixon (elected)
37 Lyndon B. Johnson (Texan - Kennedy assassination)
38 Hubert H. Humphrey
39 Spiro T. Agnew
40 Gerald R. Ford (Nixon resignation)
41 Nelson A. Rockefeller
42 Walter F. Mondale
43 George H.W. Bush (Texan - elected)
44 Dan Quayle
45 Albert Gore
46 Dick Cheney
47 Joe Biden
48 Mike Pence
- Vice president John Nance Garner of Texas famously said that being a U.S. vice president "wasn't worth a bucket of warm piss."
- VP John Adams said it was the "most insignificant office" ever contrived by man.
- VP Thomas Marshall said that there once were two brothers and "one ran away to sea; the other was elected vice president of the United States, and nothing was heard of either of them again.”
- Charles Dawes said the only thing he ever had to worry about as VP was waking up to read the paper to check on the President's health.
The other day, I went through the list of our VPs to see how many I truly don't recall ever hearing about. I count seventeen I hadn't heard of before, the most recent being Truman's VP Alben W. Barkley. Those in bold below I've heard of.
Those in bold, plus italicized and underlined, were the 14 VPs I'd heard of because they later became presidents, either due to their subsequent election to the presidency (surprisingly only 5 in all U.S. history), or the assassination (4) or other death (4) or resignation (1) of their presidents. Read and enjoy the trivia:
1 John Adams (subsequently elected president)
2 Thomas Jefferson (elected)
3 Aaron Burr
4 George Clinton
5 Elbridge Gerry
6 Daniel D. Tompkins
7 John C. Calhoun
8 Martin Van Buren (elected)
9 Richard M. Johnson
10 John Tyler (president due to Pres. William Henry Harrison's death in office)
11 George Mifflin Dallas (Dallas County, TX and maybe Dallas, TX city named for him)
12 Millard Fillmore (due to Pres. Zachary Taylor's death in office)
13 William Rufus de Vane King
14 John C. Breckinridge
15 Hannibal Hamlin
16 Andrew Johnson (Lincoln assassination)
17 Schuyler Colfax
18 Henry Wilson
19 William A. Wheeler
20 Chester A. Arthur (Garfield assassination)
21 Thomas A. Hendricks
22 Levi Morton
23 Adlai E. Stevenson (heard of his grandson who ran for president twice and lost)
24 Garret A. Hobart
25 Theodore Roosevelt (McKinley assassination)
26 Charles Warren Fairbanks
27 James Sherman
28 Thomas R. Marshall
29 Calvin Coolidge (due to Pres. Harding's death in office)
30 Charles G. Dawes
31 Charles Curtis
32 John Nance Garner (Texan - Garner State Park)
33 Henry A. Wallace
34 Harry S. Truman (due to Roosevelt's death in office)
35 Alben W. Barkley
36 Richard M. Nixon (elected)
37 Lyndon B. Johnson (Texan - Kennedy assassination)
38 Hubert H. Humphrey
39 Spiro T. Agnew
40 Gerald R. Ford (Nixon resignation)
41 Nelson A. Rockefeller
42 Walter F. Mondale
43 George H.W. Bush (Texan - elected)
44 Dan Quayle
45 Albert Gore
46 Dick Cheney
47 Joe Biden
48 Mike Pence
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