To what extent have Cheney and Biden transformed the role of the Vice President?

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To what extent have Cheney and Biden transformed the role of the Vice President? (45)

The Vice President in much of American history has been seen as a much more minor role than in the last 12 years especially.  During the last twelve years it has been Cheney (8years) and Biden (4year…so far) that have occupied this role, so how much has changed under these two people? And what powers does a Vice President possess?

There are 4 powers that the Vice President has according to the traditional constitution and one subsequent amendment has meant that there are now 5 powers. These are as follows; Counting and announcing the result of the Electoral College votes after a presidential election. This role is almost irrelevant for the vice president since it carries no power or weight; nevertheless it is still classed as a Power. Secondly the Vice President has the role of becoming President of the U.S.A (at least until the next election) in the event of a Presidents death, retirement or removal from office. This is without doubt the most important role and is a power that the public take into consideration when a Presidential candidate announces their running mate. This is perhaps one of a number of contributing factors as to why John McCain lost the 2008 Presidential Election as since he was fairly old and the job as President can be quite taxing, his running mate – Sarah Pailin – was not what the public would consider ‘Presidential material’ if the worst happened to McCain. In 1963 Vice President Lyndon Johnson became President as JKF had been assassinated.

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The third power is that of being the Presiding officer of the senate, although this power is rarely used as a junior member will usually chair the debate. The fourth power is of significance but rarely used, and that is too cast a tie breaking vote in the senate in the event of a tie. This power however is rarely used and on average of the last 30 years it has been used slightly more than once every 2 years. This fifth and newest power, first established in 1967 is that the Vice President can become acting President if ...

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