President Carter's vice-presidential legacy - The Hill (blog)
The news that former President Jimmy Carter has metastatic cancer should cause some reflection on his service as a former president and as president. Part of his underappreciated legacy as president was the historic role he played in elevating the vice presidency from an awkward, standby position to a constructive part of government on an ongoing basis. The vice presidency had grown before Carter became president but vice presidents tended to be involved episodically. Gerald Ford’s vice president, Nelson A. Rockefeller, began his service with lofty expectations and seemingly with a big portfolio over domestic policy. It soon became apparent that Rockefeller’s formal role did not confer power and his vice presidency ended in humiliation when he was dropped from Ford’s 1976 ticket. Presidents lacked the will, the savvy, or both to make their vice presidents constructive parts of their administrations on an ongoing basis. Presidents until Carter, that is. Before he was nominated, Carter concluded that the vice presidency had been a wasted asset in part because presidents felt threatened by their number twos. Moreover, he viewed the president as a trustee for the American people, a fiduciary obligation that conferred a responsibility to use available resources and to make certain that the vice president was able and sufficiently prepared to assume the... Source: thehill.com
