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Was Cheney the most important and powerful vice president in US history?

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Introduction

Was Cheney the most important and powerful vice president in US history? After becoming a candidate for the US Presidential election, the Presidential candidate will choose a running mate and the pair will fight the Presidential election together. The candidate who wins the election's running mate will become the US Vice President. In both the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections, George W Bush selected Dick Cheney as his running mate. Cheney became the US Vice President between 2001 to 2008 inclusively. The powers and functions of the US Vice President have changed over time, from VP to VP. There are some fixed powers that all Vice Presidents have. The US Vice President is the President of the Senate. He will be the Speaker of the Senate and will only vote in the case of a tie, where he has the deciding vote. Gore was the most recent Vice President to exercise this power when in 1993 the budget vote was tied and he voted for the budget. ...read more.

Middle

We must therefore compare Vice Presidents by how powerful they were whilst holding the office of US Vice President. To compare the powers of different Vice Presidents, the unofficial functions they carried out are to be looked at. These are very much dependant on who the Vice President is. Up to 1804, the Vice President didn't do much and it wasn't until 1949 that the role of the Vice President started to become more significant. Vice Presidential power is more significant when the President is less politically experienced such as when Nixon was Vice President. Eisenhower was the current US President but, was an army officer without political experience. George W Bush, President from 2001 to 2008 inclusively, wasn't the cleverest of Presidents and politically was quite inexperienced. So, it makes sense the reason why Cheney would have significant power as the US Vice President. Bush goes so far to say that when 'Cheney is talking, that's me (Bush) talking'. ...read more.

Conclusion

It appears that there is enough evidence to suggest that Cheney was making the big decisions in the Iraq War. In modern politics, the Iraq War has given the US a terrible reputation and quite possibly changed the way the world thinks. Bush has very much been criticised for this yet, it appears that Cheney was the ringmaster and the one responsible for the US' poor reputation. No other Vice President has ever had this sort of influence on military strategy and foreign affairs. The Iraq War alone could possible prove Cheney was the most powerful US President in history. So, although nine Vice Presidents have become the actual President, it appears that Cheney didn't need his President to die, resign or be impeached, to receive Presidential power. Dick Cheney was described as the "Real US President" and the puppet master of George W Bush. A commentator named Ratner said "we will never go back to where we were before him." It appears the office of Vice President is no longer a waiting room. Jamie Steven Boote A2 Government and Politics VP Essay ...read more.

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