Biden's Memo

On the day-to-day specifics of any Vice Presidency, there's little in the public record, which makes it an even harder task to try and condense the office's history and evolution. What, exactly are we condensing? To be certain, we have records of Senate sessions and we have newspaper articles, but the latter is a condensed work on its own and the former - true as it might be to the character of a Vice President - gives us only a snapshot of who they were, as much as it might give us the only record of them ever serving a purpose.

This is why saying that Joe Biden's recent public memo to President Obama is surprising to me might, really, be quite ignorant. Maybe its a regular thing for the VP to get on his Smith Corona, throw in some White House letterhead, and just give the president advice. Maybe its the first time a President has cared enough about one of those toiled-over mini-tomes to allow it to be public - like Obama putting Joe's memo on the White House refrigerator underneath a magnet of Abraham Lincoln reading "Four-score and seven years ago, your cheese was still good."

In all likelihood, though, I'm wrong. The only memos written by a VP that you ever hear about, frankly, are the "secret memos" that Dick Cheney wants kept secret, or the "secret memos" Dick Cheney publicly demanded become public. My search for "Dick Cheney" and "memo" turned up almost exclusively references to secret memos or memos in which Dick Cheney was mentioned, with the exception of this memo from Dick Cheney to Gerald Ford, when Cheney was Ford's Chief of Staff, about how to talk about Jimmy Carter without mentioning Jimmy Carter's name, and then to mention Jimmy Carter's name. The most fun thing about the whole memo, though, is the two pages of preparation, including references to Gerry Ford's "briefing book" (which I imagine was the size of a Tijuana Bible, only less sexually graphic, containing choice bits of advice like "left foot first" and "use the railing for balance" - yep, that was a Gerry Ford clumsiness joke. Eat it, 1976.), followed by a third page with only this single line on it.

Obviously, the subject of Vice Presidential memos is now of considerable interest to me. In this case, its Biden as a mouthpiece. Its Obama giving Joe permission to announce a sweeping new piece of administration policy - namely, the transformation of our economy to become less dependent on nonrenewable energy. Though one would hope that the section labeled "Vehicles and Fuels of the Future" would mention a flying car or, at least, a hoverboard, what it lacks in vehicular foresight it gains in that place that counts most to us here at Vice-Precedence: It smacks of Vice Presidential responsibility.

Let me say this: I have no idea how much research, or how much writing was "All Joe," but, frankly, he's doing something. We know the man can write, and we know he's folksy. He's a consummate politician and an art-appreciator. It seems that President Obama believes Biden serves a purpose - otherwise Obama could find plenty of other mouthpieces. Sure, just as First Ladies tend to champion education and children-related causes, the VP is relegated to the "soft cause" (the environment) so the President can (usually) concentrate on the hard causes (the economy and that... ongoing war thing), but any step at all for the VP is a step in the right direction. Biden's public moves have all hinted that he's preparing for the Presidency after what he hopes will be a strong 8 years under Obama's Presidential wing. I'm hoping for 8 strong years of a useful Vice Presidency, but you can't blame the guy for ambition.

- Jason C. Klamm



PS: Blogger still doesn't recognize Biden as a word. Nor hoverboard. Bastards.

The Aaron Burr Association

Hey Vice-Precedence Readers.

Well, since there isn't much news about former VP Cheney right now-the naming ceremony at the U. of Wyoming on Thursday that I blogged about went fine, even with the protesters, I thought I would write about something else today.

In doing our research for the film Jason and I have come upon many unique people and organizations. One of the best groups we found was the ABA-The Aaron Burr Association. As hopefully you our fans and readers know by now, Aaron Burr is one of the most infamous figures in American history-even people with little interest or knowledge of American history know of his famous duel with Alexander Hamilton thanks to the "Got Milk?" commercial where, while he was VP he killed the former Secretary of the Treasury and fellow Revolutionary War hero. Later he was put on trial by the federal government for treason for supposedly trying to conquer the lands west of the Mississippi River acquired in the Louisiana Purchase and Mexico and make himself Emperor of these lands. Just for the record-he was acquitted of these charges.

Burr is considered by the majority of historians and the general public as one of the villainous figures in our country's history because of this duel-which is all the majority of people know about him. However, the ABA is determined to make sure our third Vice-President is remembered for more than that:

The ABA's mission as stated in their Constitution written in 1946 is:

"To keep alive the memory of Colonel Aaron Burr as a student, a soldier, a lawyer, a politician, a patron of the arts, an educator, a banker, and as a husband and father" and "to secure for him the honor and respect which are due him as one of the leading figures of his age."

They cite the facts the Burr was an early feminist-supporting the education of women far more than the other Founders, served bravely in many terrifying combat situations during the Revolution, was a strong foe of slavery, founded Chase Manhattan Bank, and was considered by many as the greatest Senator in the country while in office in the early days of the Republic.

I found this group interesting-sort of an American parallel of the Richard the III Society in Great Britain-whose goal it is to protect the character of the "Hunchback King" from the artistic liberties of William Shakespeares' play where he is portrayed as the worst kind of villain, a homicidal sadist and murderer of children whose bloody ambition knows no bounds.

The ABA has an annual meeting every year where activities focus around Aaron Burr, at the 2006 meeting they held a reenactment of Burrs' treason trial which was presided over by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, serving in the same role as his predecessor in the Supreme Court-the greatest Chief Justice of all-John Marshall, who presided over the original proceedings. Justice Scalias' verdict: "Not Guilty", just like John Marshall 199 years earlier.

In fact, I found the group so interesting, that I called the president of the association: Stuart Johnson, and spoke with him, and he is a very polite and dedicated man when it comes to the organization. Since the dues are only $25 a year, I figured, "What the heck?"-and joined myself. There are members from all over the country who support the organization and believe in its mission.

The fact that an organization like this exists, and has existed for 63 years, shows that people do care about our Vice-Presidents. If you're interested here's the website address:
http://www.aaronburrassociation.org/

Thanks for reading and keep spreading the word about "Vice-Precedence"!
Matt Saxe

Support our Film, or An Insignificant Truth

First of all, you may be wondering about the double title I use here. Well, I'm in a double title mood because I just saw "Caroline, or Change" at the Guthrie Theatre here in Minneapolis as part of their Tony Kushner Festival, and he gives everything a double, or triple or hella long title-like his new play "The Intelligent Homosexuals Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures". Whew. So just be grateful this title isn't as long.

Now to the real subject. In his first post for this blog, my amazing production partner and co-author, (and now co-blogger) Jason Klamm asks the question-"Why?"

Why would any one want to make a movie or write a book or put up a blog about the Vice-Presidency of the United States? Who cares about this, the most neglected of U.S. government offices-a position about which our first VP, our second President, Founding Father and star of HBO mini-series John Adams said:

"The Vice President is the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived."

Well, the main answer to me for this question is: "Because NO ONE has done it yet!"

Its the absolute truth, in the history of documentary film-making, there has yet to be one single film ever devoted to the office of the Vice-President of the United States and the men who have held this office-which, technically, is the second highest elected office in the most powerful, influential, and (some would say) greatest nation on the face of the earth.

Doesn't that blow your mind a little bit? That no one else has done this? Think about all the other documentaries that are out there-ranging from everything to Broadway shows, to genocide, Christian summer camps, to animals, the planet, and climate change (made by a former VP you know), to weird artists, both famous and infamous individuals, 9/11, high school football teams, the car industry, financial scandals, guns, Gay Orthodox Jews, health care, religion, and more. Tons of different documentary films have been made-but not this one. Not by anyone, not yet. Not on TV series like "American Experience" on PBS which has tackled the history of the Supreme Court, or individual filmmakers like Ken Burns who has made documentary films about the Civil War, baseball, jazz, WW 2, the national parks (coming up) and individuals-but not the second highest office in our country. Its never be done-or even attempted as far as we know.

Until now.

FACT: "Vice-Precedence: Being Number Two in the White House" is a completely new and original idea for a documentary film.

Oh, and just a fair warning here folks, but if you try and steal this idea from us, from Me, I personally will make sure to sue your ass back to the dawn of time-whether you believe in Creation in Genesis in the Garden of Eden, or the Big Bang, trust me, I will make sure to send you there with your guts for garters if you try and steal this from me and my friends and partners. I will make you burn. Just putting that out there. Now we can be friends again. 'Kay?

There aren't many new ideas out there-that's why Hollywood and Broadway steal everything from previous sources-but this movie is one! And not to brag, but I, Matt Saxe came up with it! Me. Just a regular guy from St. Louis, MO. with a simple Bachelors Degree in Theatre, (not History) from a public university-(Roll Tide!) who for almost six years made a living wearing a huge werewolf puppet suit to scare tourists in a show at Universal Studios and being a fundraiser over the phone while hustling for acting jobs in La-La Land.

That's one of the reasons "Why" I am so behind this subject and getting this film done. Another reason "Why" I want to do this is something Jason addresses, and that its part of the history of this country. No matter what your perspective of this country is-there is no denying in that the way we have picked our leaders-and WHO, we have picked shows us for what kind of a country we were and are becoming. The fact is that this nations voters (and yes for a long time that meant only white men-a lot of whom owned slaves) have chosen some strange and bizarre people to be a heart-beat away from leading our country. Also, don't get all high and mighty about the fact that we no longer own slaves, we members of the last couple generations are just as guilty of choosing some weird folks for our second highest office as our slave-owning predecessors. Look at some of our recent VP's and VP candidates (I won't name names because its a matter of political perspective) but be honest with yourself-when you were voting for the President, did you ever worry even once about the guy on the ticket with him and what would happen if a tragedy happened and he or she (in 1984 and in 2008) became President? Did you really?

Who our Vice-Presidents were is just as representative of our country as who our Presidents were. Call it an "insignificant truth" if you will, but its a truth none the less, and as John Adams also said: "Facts are stubborn things."

So those answers go into "Why" I'm doing it, and why YOU should be interested in helping us. We need your support, both moral and financial. I will tell you right now-everyone who I have told about this film, has told me they think its one of the most original ideas they have ever heard of and those that watch the trailer and taster on VP William Rufus DeVane King have all told me that its wonderfully funny and fascinating. That includes people who know nothing about history and don't even care about it. Honest. Its been amazing to me.
So please, go to YouTube and watch the trailer there-rate it, post a comment, send it to friends with your endorsement, get the word out on this, your support and encouragement means everything to us. I am always grateful when someone tells me that they have watched the trailer and enjoyed it. Your grass-roots support can make a difference. Any kind of help you can provide we will be grateful for.

In working on this film and the book I have had many incredible meetings and conversations, but none more amazing than with Gore Vidal. Whatever you think of his politics, there is no denying that Gore Vidal is now, the most accomplished writer living in America. Perhaps the world. His body of work, and the quality of his work is simply stunning. Whether in novels, non-fiction, essays, plays or screenwriting, Vidal towers above the American literary landscape. Meeting him and interviewing him for two hours in his home in L.A. was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. When he said "You're better than Ken Burns." when we were finished with our interview, it simply left me speechless. Jason and I had worked hard to make sure we would make our interview with him as smooth and professional as possible. He and I prepared our amazing crew (big thanks to Ben Eshgapoor and Zander Lee) and prepared ourselves thoroughly. I got to conduct the interview and write and ask the questions. I prepared as much as I could-reading and researching, figuring out how one question could lead naturally into another-making sure I knew what I was talking about-Jason went over my questions with me and made brilliant suggestions that aided me immensely. It wasn't an easy time for me-I was experiencing problems in my marriage that would soon lead to my divorce, I was working at the theme park part-time but was for the most part out of work and looking, I was feeling frustrated in all aspects of my life-but hearing Mr. Vidal say what he said when we were finished was one of the highest honors I could have imagined and for that day-I felt on top of the world.

Actually, I guess the most wonderful experience of this project wasn't my meeting with Vidal, but working with Jason and everything we have learned. Together, he and I have become closer friends, and (lets face it Jason) Veep Nerds. Whenever we discovered a new anecdote, a new story or quote, or when we discovered John Denvers' "The Ballad of Spiro Agnew" and sang it to Jasons' roommates, we would practically be-as Phish put it-bouncing 'round the room. Every new discovery led us to being more and more excited and firmer in our belief that this film is meant to happen. I believed in it in late 2004 when I came up with the idea for it, and now, 4 and half years later, I still do.
So please, read this blog, post comments, send us your ideas, pass the info about us on to your family and friends. You won't regret it. Help us make film making history and historical film making that's not only informative but entertaining. As Jason put it so well in his post-we are not ashamed about the comic aspect of this film-its what sells it, and to be honest-the office of the VP is so littered with the ridiculous and the absurd that to not make the film comedic in tone would just be plain stupid.

In this blog as Jason said-I will be concentrating on former VP Richard Cheney of Wyoming (aka Darth Cheney according to Jon Stewart) who has become a major voice for the Republican party at this time. Instead of retreating to a ranch in Wyoming or some corporate figurehead role, and fading into the past, Cheney has become a bullhorn for conservative beliefs and values in the wake of his party's defeats. While at the same time-expressing his personal beliefs as well-regardless of what others may think. While most Democrats wish he would disappear (and probably many Republicans too) Dick Cheney bravely puts himself out there and opening himself to more ridicule and vitriol-defending the decisions he and those in the President George W. Bush White House made-about what to do after 9/11, the Iraq War, torture, social issues, and more. He's not a stupid man, he can read a newspaper-he know he isn't popular, but still, he states what he believes in a "Damn the torpedoes-full steam ahead" manner. Including invoking the wrath of his own party by voicing his support for gay marriage! Whether you hate him or not-Cheney refuses to back down. Call it courage or stubbornness or what you will-I know I am looking forward to his book. It is my hope that you will follow Jason as he writes about our current VP Joseph Biden from the First State-Delaware, and myself as I write about Cheney and other Veeps on this blog. Please support "Vice-Precedence:Being Number Two in the White House" in all its forms, blog, book, and with your help-finished documentary film. Thank you for your support and best to you.

Matt Saxe.