5 Worst VP’s of All Time - And the Winner Is…

Friday, August 8th, 2008

1 - Dick Cheney

History is still being written about Dick Cheney, but here’s some of the things we know so far.

• Shot Friend in the Face
• Exposed Name of CIA Agent to get revenge on her husband
• Lied about Iraq’s WMD’s
• Lied about Iraq’s connection to 911 (there was none)
• Planned to dress US Marines as Iranians and fake an attack on US Navy
• Shady sweetheart (no-bid) deals with former company Haliburtan
• Abu Ghraib and the use of torture on prisoners of war
• Gitmo
• Fourth Branch of Government argument

Seriously I don’t have time or expect you do either for me to go into all of these reasons why Dick is #1 with a bullet on our list of 5 Worst US Vice Presidents of all time. Let’s just take a look at the great “Fourth Branch of Government argument” scandal.

Back in the summer of 2007 a little known arm of the government, the Information Security Oversight Office, ISOO, requested some information from Dick Cheney. Dick, being a dick, didn’t respond to their request, claiming he was “exempt.”

Here’s what Time Magazine wrote in June of 2007:

Cheney’s office, according to a story first reported by the Chicago Tribune, has resisted attempts by a tiny federal agency to compile information — in accordance with an executive order signed by George Bush himself — on the classified documents being held by the Vice President’s operation. Cheney’s office argued that the Vice President’s office, because it has both executive and legislative branch duties, is exempt from the order.

Essential Cheney claimed he was above the law, and outside of it, a fourth branch of government, not Executive, not Legislative nor Judicial; just evil.

Spread it: del.icio.us | digg it | reddit

Tags: History, Vice President, Worst
Posted in Humor, Politics | No Comments »

5 Worst VP’s of All Time (part 2)

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

“One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president, and that one word is ‘to be prepared.’” - Vice President Dan Quayle

Part 2 of our 3 part series on the Worst US Vice Presidents of All Time!

3 - John C. Calhoun

America’s 7th Vice President served under two different administrations. He was first the Vice President under John Quincy Adams, but then he jumped ship when Adams ran for re-election in 1828, Calhoun ran as the Vice Presidential candidate of his opponent Andrew Jackson. Imagine Dick Cheney running as John Kerry’s VP in 2004, to give you an idea of the flip flop.

Why is Calhoun on the list? Primarily for his “nullification” theory, which eventually lead to the Civil War, which is still the war that killed more Americans than any other. Nullification basically said that the States could simply “nullify” any Federal Law that they didn’t like.

Calhoun was secretly working on his “Nullifier” party in South Carolina when a tariff bill passed that the South Carolina legislator tried to nullify. Andrew Jackson, not known for his sense of humor, sent war ships to Charleston harbor. Eventually cooler heads prevailed, and Calhoun resigned from office becoming the first ever VP to do so.

The confederacy so loved Calhoun’s nullification theory they honored him on a 1 cent stamp.

2 - Spiro T. Agnew

Vice President under Richard M. Nixon… need I say more? Ok, fine. Agnew’s political career took off like a rocket, and if he hadn’t been a crook, he probably could have been the first Greek-American to be elected president.

He rose from a County Executive in Maryland to become Governor, then Vice President of the United States within a 6 year period. Amazingly as that is it pales in comparison to the graft associated with the man during the same 6 years.

Agnew was accused of taking bribes in every office he had held, including the Vice Presidency he eventually came under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office in the State of Maryland where he was charged with extortion, tax fraud, bribery, and conspiracy.

As if Nixon didn’t have enough troubles with the Viet Nam war raging, protests at home and his own raging paranoia, to have his VP under criminal indictment was the last straw. Agnew struck a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’s office, pleading guilty to one charge of tax evasion in exchange for resigning the office of the Vice President of America, thereby becoming the first VP ever to resign due to criminal charges.

Come back tomorrow when we conclude the series!
Spread it: del.icio.us | digg it | reddit

Tags: History, Vice President, Worst
Posted in Humor, Politics | 2 Comments »

The 5 Worst U.S. Vice President’s of All Time

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

“One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president, and that one word is ‘to be prepared.’” - Vice President Dan Quayle

The office of the Vice President has mostly just been ceremonial in nature, preside over the Senate and the Electoral College. At least since Mondale, the VP could chill up at the official VP crib, at 1 Observatory Circle, before that they had to stay in hotels or rent a house. Really they didn’t have to be in DC at all.

Still even with little or no official powers and few duties, some people found a way to truly suck at the gig, and here now are my 5 worst U.S. Vice Presidents of all time.

5 - Aaron Burr

Why is he on the list? While in office he killed the great Alexander Hamilton in a pistol duel. Here’s the story Hamilton hated Burr’s guts for various reasons and wasn’t shy about telling the world about it in print and in person. One day at a dinner party he made some remarks about Burr generally resembling the South end of a North bound horse, to which Burr objected. Instead of punching Hamilton in the nose, he challenged him to a duel to the death.

On July 11, 1804 they met in Weehawken, New Jersey where Burr subsequently whacked Hamilton. Even in 1804 this was considered a crime in Jersey, so Burr was charged with murder, and not to be outdone New York also charged him with murder. Eventually Burr beat the charges with the musket ball defense, when his lawyer persuaded the jury that “if it doesn’t flt you must acquit.”

He would be the first serving VP in U.S. history to shoot someone in the face, but not the last.

4 - Dan Quayle

J. Danforth Quayle was America’s 44th Vice President and probably the dumbest. Clearly the lightest of political lightweights he was chosen as George Herbert Walker Bush’s VP to make him seem more substantial.

Quayle, an Indiana Congressman, was a virtual nobody when G.H.W. Bush picked him for his running mate, allegedly for his boyish good looks that would appeal to the ladies and the young. Why is he on the list? Quayle makes the list on general buffoonery, making comments that until 2000 were the stupidest ever uttered by American officialdom including:

“If we don’t succeed, we run the risk of failure.”

“Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child.”

“What a waste it is to lose one’s mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is.”

“One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president, and that one word is ‘to be prepared.’”

And a personal favorite, “welcome to President Bush, Mrs. Bush, and my fellow astronauts.” During the election campaign of 1988 Quayle had to debate Democratic VP Candidate Lloyd Benson. During that debate Quayle famously compared his minor political experience to John F. Kennedy’s at the time of his election, to which the elder statesman Benson rebutted:

“Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy,”

Part 2 of our 3 part series will be published tomorrow!

Spread it: del.icio.us | digg it | reddit

Tags: History, Vice President, Worst
Posted in Humor, Politics | No Comments »