Why Sarah Palin?
The selection of Alaska’s governor, Sarah Palin, to be the Republican Vice Presidential candidate has created a firestorm in political circles. It demonstrates the speed at which news and opinion proliferate in the electronic world we live in.
Many commentators on the right and left will have their say about Governor Palin. Much pontificating will be voiced about her qualifications or lack thereof for the office.
Perhaps it would be useful to look at some past Vice Presidents, and history, to establish a frame of reference for the discussion.
The Founding Fathers, bless their souls, never anticipated a problem when they created the process for electing the President. The electors were allowed to vote for two candidates. The one with the majority of the votes would become President and the second place vote getter become the Vice President.
That was a way to truly assure that the offices were held by those that the voters chose. The top two candidates in electoral voting got the jobs.
As party politics developed, it became clear that having a President with one set of beliefs and a Vice President with another was a recipe for confusion if not disaster.
The Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, in 1804, solved that problem but it made the office of Vice President far less important, because the officeholder no longer was the second place candidate. It ensured that the same political party would control both offices and set the stage for the monolithic Executive Branch we have today.
Our fourth Vice President was George Clinton. He liked the job so much, and couldn’t get elected President on his own, that he served under both Madison and Jefferson as Vice President. He was also the longest serving Governor of New York. He died while VP.
Number five was Elbridge Gerry, a former Governor of Massachusetts. He also died while VP. James Madison was tough on his Vice Presidents.
Daniel D. Tompkins was number six, also a former Governor of New York. He died less than three months after leaving office.
John C. Calhoun was a Congressman and then Secretary of War before serving under two Presidents, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. He is also the first Vice President to resign. He became a U.S. Senator and went on to much more fame in that position.
Martin Van Buren served in New York State government, was Governor for a year and then became Secretary of State. He is the first Vice President to also be elected President on his own.
Richard Mentor Johnson is VP number nine. From Kentucky, he serve in their legislature and in the U.S. Senate before election, under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment by the U.S. Senate. His slate failed in re-election.
John Tyler became President upon the death of William Henry Harrison. Career politician from Virginia, Congressman, Governor and U.S. Senator. Also elected to the Confederate Congress.
George Mifflin Dallas served in the U.S. Senate and as Minister to Russia before his election. Ambassador to Great Britain after leaving office.
Number twelve was Millard Fillmore. He was a Congressman from New York, served in the N.Y. government and became President when Taylor died. Failed in re-election and became a community leader in Buffalo, New York until his death.
William Rufus King served in the U.S. Senate and in various diplomatic posts. Only VP inaugurated outside the United States, in Cuba. Died in office before serving.
John C. Breckinridge was the youngest Vice President. Served in the Kentucky legislature and in Congress. Served in the U.S. Senate before being expelled for treason. Also served in the Confederate Army and as Confederate Secretary of War.
Hannibal Hamlin was a Congressman, Senator and Governor of Maine. Lincoln’s first Vice President.
There you have most of the first fifteen Vice Presidents. It is likely you will have never heard of most of them. The office of Vice President does not serve as a conduit to fame, nor necessarily to future political success.
So, why Sarah Palin? How does she measure when placed with the august first fifteen?
Hamlin was from Maine, perhaps the Alaska of his day. Several others were governors, as she is. While she has never served in the diplomatic service, she has traveled abroad on official business and gone places that others in the current race did not.
Clinton, number four, was one of the movers behind the construction of the Erie Canal. Sarah Palin knows a little something about the necessity for opening up the wilderness for development.
Almost every one of the men above served in their state government and many in local government. That was a sound path to the Vice Presidency and, for Sarah Palin, will be today.
Sarah Palin is qualified to be Vice President. Her public service is of a kind with those who served in that office in the past. Let us move beyond qualifications and on to issues.
Table of contents for Palin
- Sarah Palin for Vice President!
- Palin for VP Bandwagon
- I Favor the Draft
- Thank You, John McCain!
- Palin Has Been to Iraq Theater of Operations
- Ten Sarah Palin Props
- Why Sarah Palin?
- Slamming Sara Palin
- Politico Does Not Trash Palin
- Palin Pursued By Left
- Sarah Palin as a Beauty Queen
- Loser Says Palin Banned Books
- Palins Speech From Her Foes
- Joe Biden on His Differences with Sarah Palin
- Code Word Update
- Washington Syndrome
- Palin Smear Campaign Traced to Barry Obama
- Sarah Palin – Wow!
- Sarah Palin on Hugh Hewitt
- Palin Debates “Can I Call You Joe?”
- Sarah Calls Rush
- Palin Rap on SNL
- Hot, Smokin Hot, Jeri Thompson on Hannity
- Sarah Palin Supports Alaska National Guard
- Palin Visits Deployed Guard Troops
Palin will do fine. She might even do a good job. I would not expect much from Biden. He has been living there in Washington on welfare. 5 terms as a senator and worth only a $150,000. He has got to be a loser. He must be dumb too. He lets everyone know that is all he is worth as an excuse for not taking handouts. Has he ever heard of investing conservatively. It has nothing to do with being a republican.