Vice-President

2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Vice-President. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

in the government of the United States , the second executive officer of the nation. The vice-president is chosen by the electoral college in the same manner as the president for a term of four years. He receives a salary of $12,000 per year. By provision of the Constitution he is the presiding officer of the senate; but has no vote except in case of a tie. The vice-president may be removed by impeachment. In case of the "removal of the president from office or of his death, resignation or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the vice-president." The Constitution provided originally that each elector shall vote for two candidates for the presidency, and that the candidate having the greatest number of votes shall be the president, the person having the next greatest number of votes to be vice-president. Vice-Presidents Adams and Jefferson were chosen in this way. In 1800 an ugly tie for the presidency occurred. Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr had the same number of votes, and the election of president, as well as vice-president, was thrown into the House of Representatives as provided. To prevent such a state of affairs in future, the twelfth amendment of the Constitution was proposed and adopted. It provides that, in balloting, the elector shall name one candidate for the presidency and another for the vice-presidency. It is noticeable that with the exception of Adams and Jefferson, who were elected under the old system, Martin Van Buren was the only vice-president who was ever nominated by his party and promoted to the presidency. Roosevelt is not an exception. He first became president by the death of McKinley. In fact, the vice-presidency has never been considered a position comparable to that of the presidency. In the early days of the republic the vice-president was known jokingly as "his superfluous excellency." In 1841, on the death of President W. H. Harrison, Vice-President John Tyler took the oath of office and assumed the duties of president. Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester A. Arthur, and Theodore Roosevelt became presidents in the same way. John Adams, George Clinton, and John C. Calhoun served two terms each. Of late, vice-presidents have not been reelected. A list of vice-presidents of the United States will be found in the table on the following page. VICE-PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. Name. Birthplace. Year. Paternal Ancestry. Residence. Qualified. Politics. Place of Death. Year. Age at Death 1 John Adams . . . . . Quincy, Mass. . . . . . 1735 English . . . . . Mass. . . . . . 1789 Fed . . . . . Quincy, Mass. . . . . . 1826 90 2 Thomas Jefferson . . . . . Shadwell, Va . . . . . 1743 Welsh . . . . . Va . . . . . 1797 Rep . . . . . Monticello, Va. . . . . . 1826 83 3 Aaron Burr . . . . . Newark, N. J. . . . . . 1756 English . . . . . N. Y. . . . . . 1801 Rep . . . . . Staten Island , N. Y. . . . . 1836 80 4 George Clinton . . . . . Ulster Co., N. Y. . . . . . 1739 English . . . . . N. Y. . . . . . 1805 Rep . . . . . Washington, D. C. . . . . . 1812 73 5 Elbridge Gerry . . . . . Marblehead, Mass. . . . . . 1744 English . . . . . Mass. . . . . . 1813 Rep. . . . . . Washington, D. C. . . . . . 1814 70 6 Daniel D. Tompkins . . . . . Scarsdale, N. Y. . . . . . 1774 English . . . . . N. Y. . . . . . 1817 Rep. . . . . . Staten Island, N. Y. . . . . . 1825 51 7 John C. Calhoun . . . . . Abbeville, S. C. . . . . . 1782 Scotch-Irish . . . . . S. C. . . . . . 1825 Rep. . . . . . Washington, D. C. . . . . . 1850 68 8 Martin Van Buren . . . . . Kinderhook, N. Y. . . . . . 1782 Dutch . . . . . N. Y. . . . . . 1833 Dem. . . . . . Kinderhook, N. Y. . . . . . 1862 79 9 Richard M. Johnson . . . . . Louisville, Ky. . . . . . 1780 English . . . . . Ky. . . . . . 1837 Dem. . . . . . Frankfort, Ky. . . . . . 1850 70 10 John Tyler . . . . . Greenway, Va. . . . . . 1790 English . . . . . Va. . . . . . 1841 Dem. . . . . . Richmond, Va. . . . . . 1862 72 11 George M. Dallas . . . . . Philadelphia, Pa. . . . . . 1792 English . . . . . Pa. . . . . . 1845 Dem. . . . . . Philadelphia, Pa. . . . . . 1864 72 12 Millard Fillmore . . . . . Summerhill, N. Y. . . . . . 1800 English . . . . . N. Y. . . . . . 1849 Whig. . . . . . Buffalo, N. Y. . . . . . 1874 74 13 William R. King . . . . . Sampson Co., N. C. . . . . . 1786 English . . . . . Ala. . . . . . 1853 Dem. . . . . . Dallas Co., Ala. . . . . . 1853 67 14 John C. Breckinridge . . . . . Lexington, Ky. . . . . . 1821 Scotch . . . . . Ky. . . . . . 1857 Dem. . . . . . Lexington, Ky. . . . . . 1875 54 15 Hannibal Hamlin . . . . . Paris, Me . . . . . 1809 English . . . . . Me. . . . . . 1861 Rep. . . . . . Bangor, Me. . . . . . 1891 81 16 Andrew Johnson . . . . . Raleigh, N. C. . . . . . 1808 English . . . . . Tenn. . . . . . 1865 Rep. . . . . . Carter Co., Tenn. . . . . . 1875 66 17 Schuyler Colfax . . . . . New York City, N. Y. . . . . . 1823 English . . . . . Ind. . . . . . 1869 Rep. . . . . . Mankato, Minn. . . . . . 1885 62 18 Henry Wilson . . . . . Farmington, N. H. . . . . . 1812 English . . . . . Mass. . . . . . 1873 Rep. . . . . . Washington, D. C. . . . . . 1875 63 19 William A. Wheeler . . . . . Malone, N. Y. . . . . . 1819 English . . . . . N. Y. . . . . . 1877 Rep. . . . . . Malone, N. Y. . . . . . 1887 68 20 Chester A. Arthur . . . . . Fairfield, Vt. . . . . . 1830 Scotch-Irish . . . . . N. Y. . . . . . 1881 Rep. . . . . . New York City, N. Y. . . . . . 1886 56 21 Thos. A. Hendricks . . . . . Muskingum Co., O. . . . . . 1819 Scotch-Irish . . . . . Ind. . . . . . 1885 Dem. . . . . . Indianapolis, Ind. . . . . . 1885 66 22 Levi P. Morton 1889 Rep. 23 Adlai E. Stevenson 1893 Dem. 24 Garret A. Hobart . . . . . Long Branch, N. J. . . . . . 1844 English . . . . . N. J. . . . . . 1897 Rep. . . . . . Paterson, N. J. . . . . . 1899 55 25 Theodore Roosevelt 1901 Rep. 26 Charles W. Fairbanks 1905 Rep. 27 James S. Sherman 1909 Rep.

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

one who holds office next to a president. The Vice-President of the United States is the second executive officer of the government, and is elected at the same time and in the same manner as the President. During the life and active health of the President his executive functions are in abeyance, his duties being confined to the presidency of the Senate during the sessions of Congress. In the Senate he has no vote, except in case of a tie between the opposing parties on a division of the House. Then, as is usual with parliamentary presiding officer, he has the casting vote. In the event of the death or incapability of the President, the Vice-President assumes the duties of the office and continues to discharge them (in case of the President's death) till the end of the term for which the two were elected, or (in case of temporary try disability) till the disability of the President shall have passed away. Several times in the history of the country has the Vice-President been called to the presidential chair-the first case being that of John Tyler, who succeeded William H. Harrison; then came Millard Fillmore, who succeeded Zachary Taylor; Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Abraham Lincoln; Chester A. Arthur, who succeeded James A. Garfield; and Theodore Roosevelt, who succeeded William McKinley. (See UNITED STATES.)