There have been 49 vice presidents of the United States since the office was created in 1789. Originally, the vice president was the person who received the second-most votes for president in the Electoral College. But after the election of 1800 produced a tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, requiring the House of Representatives to choose between them, lawmakers acted to prevent such a situation from recurring. The Twelfth Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1804, creating the current system where electors cast a separate ballot for the vice presidency. [1]
The vice president is the first person in the presidential line of succession—that is, they assume the presidency if the president dies, resigns, or is impeached and removed from office. [2] Nine vice presidents have ascended to the presidency in this way: eight (John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester A. Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry S. Truman, and Lyndon B. Johnson) through the president's death and one (Gerald Ford) through the president's resignation. The vice president also serves as the president of the Senate and may choose to cast a tie-breaking vote on decisions made by the Senate. Vice presidents have exercised this latter power to varying extents over the years. [1]
Before adoption of the Twenty-fifth Amendment in 1967, an intra-term vacancy in the office of the vice president could not be filled until the next post-election inauguration. Several such vacancies occurred: seven vice presidents died, one resigned and eight succeeded to the presidency. This amendment allowed for a vacancy to be filled through appointment by the president and confirmation by both chambers of the Congress. Since its ratification, the vice presidency has been vacant twice (both in the context of scandals surrounding the Nixon administration) and was filled both times through this process, namely in 1973 following Spiro Agnew's resignation, and again in 1974 after Gerald Ford succeeded to the presidency. [1] The amendment also established a procedure whereby a vice president may, if the president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office, temporarily assume the powers and duties of the office as acting president. Three vice presidents have briefly acted as president under the 25th Amendment: George H. W. Bush on July 13, 1985; Dick Cheney on June 29, 2002, and on July 21, 2007; and Kamala Harris on November 19, 2021.
The persons who have served as vice president were born in or primarily affiliated with 27 states plus the District of Columbia. New York has produced the most of any state as eight have been born there and three others considered it their home state. Most vice presidents have been in their 50s or 60s and had political experience before assuming the office. [1] Two vice presidents—George Clinton and John C. Calhoun—served under more than one president. Ill with tuberculosis and recovering in Cuba on Inauguration Day in 1853, William R. King, by an Act of Congress, was allowed to take the oath outside the United States. He is the only vice president to take his oath of office in a foreign country.
No. [lower-alpha 1] | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term | Party [lower-alpha 2] | Election | President | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | John Adams (1735–1826) [3] [4] [5] | April 21, 1789 [lower-alpha 3] – March 4, 1797 | Pro-Administration [lower-alpha 4] | 1788–89 | George Washington [lower-alpha 5] | ||
Federalist | 1792 | ||||||
2 | Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) [6] [7] [8] | March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801 | Democratic-Republican | 1796 | John Adams [lower-alpha 6] | ||
3 | Aaron Burr (1756–1836) [9] | March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1805 | Democratic-Republican | 1800 | Thomas Jefferson | ||
4 | George Clinton [lower-alpha 7] (1739–1812) [10] | March 4, 1805 – April 20, 1812 | Democratic-Republican | 1804 | |||
1808 | James Madison | ||||||
Office vacant April 20, 1812 – March 4, 1813 [lower-alpha 8] | |||||||
5 | Elbridge Gerry [lower-alpha 7] (1744–1814) [11] | March 4, 1813 – November 23, 1814 | Democratic-Republican | 1812 | |||
Office vacant November 23, 1814 – March 4, 1817 [lower-alpha 8] | |||||||
6 | Daniel D. Tompkins (1774–1825) [12] | March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1825 | Democratic-Republican | 1816 | James Monroe | ||
1820 | |||||||
7 | John C. Calhoun [lower-alpha 9] (1782–1850) [13] | March 4, 1825 – December 28, 1832 | Democratic-Republican | 1824 | John Q. Adams | ||
Nullifier [lower-alpha 10] | 1828 | Andrew Jackson [lower-alpha 11] | |||||
Office vacant December 28, 1832 – March 4, 1833 [lower-alpha 8] | |||||||
8 | Martin Van Buren (1782–1862) [14] [15] [16] | March 4, 1833 – March 4, 1837 | Democratic | 1832 | |||
9 | Richard Mentor Johnson (1780–1850) [17] | March 4, 1837 – March 4, 1841 | Democratic | 1836 | Martin Van Buren | ||
10 | John Tyler [lower-alpha 12] (1790–1862) [18] [19] [20] | March 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841 | Whig [lower-alpha 13] | 1840 | William H. Harrison | ||
Office vacant April 4, 1841 – March 4, 1845 [lower-alpha 8] | John Tyler | ||||||
11 | George M. Dallas (1792–1864) [21] | March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849 | Democratic | 1844 | James K. Polk | ||
12 | Millard Fillmore [lower-alpha 12] (1800–1874) [22] [23] [24] | March 4, 1849 – July 9, 1850 | Whig | 1848 | Zachary Taylor | ||
Office vacant July 9, 1850 – March 4, 1853 [lower-alpha 8] | Millard Fillmore | ||||||
13 | William R. King [lower-alpha 7] (1786–1853) [25] | March 4, 1853 – April 18, 1853 | Democratic | 1852 | Franklin Pierce | ||
Office vacant April 18, 1853 – March 4, 1857 [lower-alpha 8] | |||||||
14 | John C. Breckinridge (1821–1875) [26] | March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1861 | Democratic | 1856 | James Buchanan | ||
15 | Hannibal Hamlin (1809–1891) [27] | March 4, 1861 – March 4, 1865 | Republican | 1860 | Abraham Lincoln | ||
16 | Andrew Johnson [lower-alpha 12] (1808–1875) [28] [29] [30] | March 4, 1865 – April 15, 1865 | National Union [lower-alpha 14] | 1864 | |||
Office vacant April 15, 1865 – March 4, 1869 [lower-alpha 8] | Andrew Johnson | ||||||
17 | Schuyler Colfax (1823–1885) [31] | March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1873 | Republican | 1868 | Ulysses S. Grant | ||
18 | Henry Wilson [lower-alpha 7] (1812–1875) [32] | March 4, 1873 – November 22, 1875 | Republican | 1872 | |||
Office vacant November 22, 1875 – March 4, 1877 [lower-alpha 8] | |||||||
19 | William A. Wheeler (1819–1887) [33] | March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1881 | Republican | 1876 | Rutherford B. Hayes | ||
20 | Chester A. Arthur [lower-alpha 12] (1829–1886) [34] [35] [36] | March 4, 1881 – September 19, 1881 | Republican | 1880 | James A. Garfield | ||
Office vacant September 19, 1881 – March 4, 1885 [lower-alpha 8] | Chester A. Arthur | ||||||
21 | Thomas A. Hendricks [lower-alpha 7] (1819–1885) [37] | March 4, 1885 – November 25, 1885 | Democratic | 1884 | Grover Cleveland | ||
Office vacant November 25, 1885 – March 4, 1889 [lower-alpha 8] | |||||||
22 | Levi P. Morton (1824–1920) [38] | March 4, 1889 – March 4, 1893 | Republican | 1888 | Benjamin Harrison | ||
23 | Adlai Stevenson I (1835–1914) [39] | March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1897 | Democratic | 1892 | Grover Cleveland | ||
24 | Garret Hobart [lower-alpha 7] (1844–1899) [40] | March 4, 1897 – November 21, 1899 | Republican | 1896 | William McKinley | ||
Office vacant November 21, 1899 – March 4, 1901 [lower-alpha 8] | |||||||
25 | Theodore Roosevelt [lower-alpha 12] (1858–1919) [41] [42] [43] | March 4, 1901 – September 14, 1901 | Republican | 1900 | |||
Office vacant September 14, 1901 – March 4, 1905 [lower-alpha 8] | Theodore Roosevelt | ||||||
26 | Charles W. Fairbanks (1852–1918) [44] | March 4, 1905 – March 4, 1909 | Republican | 1904 | |||
27 | James S. Sherman [lower-alpha 7] (1855–1912) [45] | March 4, 1909 – October 30, 1912 | Republican | 1908 | William H. Taft | ||
Office vacant October 30, 1912 – March 4, 1913 [lower-alpha 8] | |||||||
28 | Thomas R. Marshall (1854–1925) [46] | March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1921 | Democratic | 1912 | Woodrow Wilson | ||
1916 | |||||||
29 | Calvin Coolidge [lower-alpha 12] (1872–1933) [47] [48] [49] | March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923 | Republican | 1920 | Warren G. Harding | ||
Office vacant August 2, 1923 – March 4, 1925 [lower-alpha 8] | Calvin Coolidge | ||||||
30 | Charles G. Dawes (1865–1951) [50] | March 4, 1925 – March 4, 1929 | Republican | 1924 | |||
31 | Charles Curtis (1860–1936) [51] | March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933 | Republican | 1928 | Herbert Hoover | ||
32 | John Nance Garner (1868–1967) [52] | March 4, 1933 – January 20, 1941 | Democratic | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | ||
1936 | |||||||
33 | Henry A. Wallace (1888–1965) [53] | January 20, 1941 – January 20, 1945 | Democratic | 1940 | |||
34 | Harry S. Truman [lower-alpha 12] (1884–1972) [54] [55] [56] | January 20, 1945 – April 12, 1945 | Democratic | 1944 | |||
Office vacant April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1949 [lower-alpha 8] | Harry S. Truman | ||||||
35 | Alben W. Barkley (1877–1956) [57] | January 20, 1949 – January 20, 1953 | Democratic | 1948 | |||
36 | Richard Nixon (1913–1994) [58] [59] [60] | January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961 | Republican | 1952 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | ||
1956 | |||||||
37 | Lyndon B. Johnson [lower-alpha 12] (1908–1973) [61] [62] | January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963 | Democratic | 1960 | John F. Kennedy | ||
Office vacant November 22, 1963 – January 20, 1965 [lower-alpha 8] | Lyndon B. Johnson | ||||||
38 | Hubert Humphrey (1911–1978) [63] | January 20, 1965 – January 20, 1969 | Democratic | 1964 | |||
39 | Spiro Agnew [lower-alpha 9] (1918–1996) [64] | January 20, 1969 – October 10, 1973 | Republican | 1968 | Richard Nixon | ||
1972 | |||||||
Office vacant October 10 – December 6, 1973 [lower-alpha 15] | |||||||
40 | Gerald Ford [lower-alpha 12] (1913–2006) [65] [66] [67] | December 6, 1973 – August 9, 1974 | Republican | ||||
Office vacant August 9 – December 19, 1974 [lower-alpha 15] | Gerald Ford | ||||||
41 | Nelson Rockefeller (1908–1979) [68] | December 19, 1974 – January 20, 1977 | Republican | ||||
42 | Walter Mondale (1928–2021) [69] | January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981 | Democratic | 1976 | Jimmy Carter | ||
43 | George H. W. Bush (1924–2018) [70] [71] [72] | January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989 | Republican | 1980 | Ronald Reagan | ||
1984 | |||||||
44 | Dan Quayle (b. 1947) [73] | January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993 | Republican | 1988 | George H. W. Bush | ||
45 | Al Gore (b. 1948) [74] | January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001 | Democratic | 1992 | Bill Clinton | ||
1996 | |||||||
46 | Dick Cheney (b. 1941) [75] | January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009 | Republican | 2000 | George W. Bush | ||
2004 | |||||||
47 | Joe Biden (b. 1942) [76] | January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017 | Democratic | 2008 | Barack Obama | ||
2012 | |||||||
48 | Mike Pence (b. 1959) [77] [78] | January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021 | Republican | 2016 | Donald Trump | ||
49 | Kamala Harris (b. 1964) | January 20, 2021 – Incumbent | Democratic | 2020 | Joe Biden |
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