What does the vice president do?
What does the vice president do?
It’s a top government job, but what does being vice president mean?
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
Joshua Holzer, Westminster College
On Jan. 20, Kamala Harris will become vice president of the United States – the first woman, the first person of South Asian descent, and the first African American to do so. Harris will also become the first vice president to have graduated from a historically black college or university.
Each of these achievements is significant in its own right. However, the vice presidency itself has traditionally been a relatively insignificant position, though the office has become more influential in recent years.
John Adams, the nation’s first vice pres...
