Happy Birthday Hubert Humphrey!

Hey Vice-Precedence Fans!

Today is the birthday of a man who truly was a champion of human and civil rights and who helped to create the modern Democratic Party, but because of his service as VP and the controversy and his subsequent loss in the Presidential Election of 1968 has been consigned to the "loser" bin in history. A place he certainly does not belong.

Today would be the 99th birthday of the original Triple H -- Hubert H. Humphrey. 38th Vice-President of the United States. I currently live in Minnesota in a suburb of Minneapolis, and with the older generations here, Humphrey is still widely respected and admired. Younger generations know of him mostly because of all the buildings named after him, most notably, the infamous Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, where the Minnesota Vikings, the U. of Minnesota Golden Gophers football team (until last year), and (until just a month ago) the Minnesota Twins played all their home games. The Metrodome is considered one of the worst stadiums in baseball history due to its lighting, the placement of its speakers, hard bouncy surface, bad sight lines, low ceiling and other odd features, primarily because it was built for football not baseball. With the moving of the Twins and Gophers to brand-new outdoor stadiums, and the Vikings demands for a new stadium -- the 29 year-old Metrodome would seem to be on its last legs and headed for destruction. A sort of fitting tribute to what the Vice-Presidency did to the the career and aspirations of Humphrey himself.

Before becoming VP, Humphrey had made a name for himself across the country as the champion of civil rights at the 1948 Democratic Convention. It was here that Humphrey demonstrated the zeal and characteristics that would lead to his nickname-"The Happy Warrior". Humphrey who at the time was the most popular mayor in Minneapolis history, and the DFL(Democratic-Farm-Labor) candidate for the Senate, gave a deeply passionate speech coming out strongly for civil rights and to leave the history of racism and segregation in the party behind. The Democratic Party-since its establishment, had always been the party of the South, and after the Civil War, it became even more so. It was believed that the party needed "The Solid South" -- all the electoral votes of the Southern states -- if it had any hope of winning the Presidency, and Democratic party leaders across the country always simply gave in to Southern segregationists in order to keep the party together. Humphrey believed that the time had come to end segregation not just in the party, but across the country. As Mayor of Minneapolis he had inherited a city that had been called "the antisemitism capital of the country" with a racist and corrupt police department and had worked tirelessly to end these circumstances. Now he wanted to do it for his party and the rest of the country. The Truman Administration and President Truman were for aggressive federal action on the issue of civil rights, but had agreed to adhere to a weaker platform at the convention to "keep the peace". Humphrey became the de-facto leader of the anti-communist, pro-civil rights liberals who wanted to break with this weak platform. Truman had already issued a 10-point civil rights program, but his aides worried that pushing the agenda too far would anger the Southern wing of the party. Aides to Truman warned Humphrey not to bring the issue to the floor of the Convention. Humphrey however, could not hold his tongue any longer on this issue he felt so strongly about, and gave an impassioned speech in favor of civil rights ending with:

"To those who say, my friends, to those who say, that we are rushing this issue of civil rights, I say to them we are 172 years too late! To those who say, this civil rights program is an infringement on states' rights, I say this: the time has arrived in America for the Democratic Party to get out of the shadow of states' rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights!"

After the speech one furious Southern politician wondered:

"Can you imagine the people of Minnesota sending that damn fool down here to represent them?"

However, as much as the Southern racist wing of the party hated the speech and Humphrey, it was surpassed by the passion the rest of the party felt for it and the man himself. Humphreys speech electrified the pro-civil rights members of the party and helped them push through their pro-civil rights plank into the platform of the party. This infuriated the Southern Democrats who stormed out of the convention and formed their own "Dixiecrat" party with South Carolina governor J. Strom Thurmond as their presidential candidate. They knew Thurmond was unlikely to win -- he was one of four candidates in that very unique election -- but their hope was to prove to the Democratic Party as a whole that it needed the South if it had any hope of winning the presidency and that it had to get rid of its strong civil-rights platform. But Humphrey had not just blindly gone into his speech without considering the political ramifications. He knew the adoption of the pro-civil rights platform would lose the South, but he believed it would gain enough support from blacks in big Northern cities like Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Detroit to make up for that. He had talked about it with those cities mayors and other Northern politicians, and they had agreed. Humphrey was determined to show it could work, and campaigned incredibly hard for President Truman. He was proven right. Truman scored the biggest upset in American political history, winning the 1948 election and demonstrated that the Democratic Party could win the Presidency without the "Solid South", and this weakened Southern Democrats and helped to trigger the shift of these Southern Democrats to the more conservative Republican Party. David McCullough in his Pulitzer Prize winner "Truman" wrote that besides Truman himself, the person who did the most to help him win in 48 was Humphrey.

Besides campaigning for Truman, Humphrey got himself elected to the Senate, where he would serve for 15 years, and in the process become the greatest Senator in Minnesota history. His colleagues selected him as majority whip in 1961, a position he held until he left the Senate on December 29, 1964 to assume the vice presidency. Humphrey knew he wanted to continue his work on civil rights, but he also knew he had angered the Southern wing of his party. He knew he had to work with Southerners if he wanted to accomplish his political and personal goals, so he attached himself to a southerner and Washington "insider" -- Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas. Johnson showed Humphrey the ropes and how to get things done in the halls of the Senate and the two men became friends and the most powerful Democratic team in the Senate for over a decade. Humphrey began to win his fellow Senators over with his strong sense of personal honor, his deeply felt passion, his integrity, and his eloquence in his clever, if a bit too long, speeches. His behavior led TIME Magazine to say that his critics thought he was:

"Too cocky, too slick, too shallow, too ambitious."

Humphrey became known for his advocacy of liberal causes; of course, civil rights, but also arms control, a nuclear test ban, food stamps, and humanitarian foreign aid. In 1957 he introduced the first bill to create the Peace Corps -- 3 years before JFK, and in 1961 with President Kennedy's backing -- it became a reality. In 1964 as Democratic Whip he experienced his greatest moment in the Senate with the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act.

By 1964 Humphrey had become a prominent national political figure and had run for the Democratic nomination for President twice. He had lost to John F. Kennedy in 1960 after losing the controversial primary in West Virginia. JFK's billionaire father Joe had poured millions into this poor, heavily Protestant state in an effort to prove his rich Catholic son could win a national election. It worked. Humphrey couldn't match the Kennedy fortune and lost a state most thought he had to win if he was going to get the nomination, so he dropped out of the race despite winning other primaries. But in 1964 President Johnson needed a VP candidate (after Kennedys assassination he had become President and had not appointed a VP) and Humphrey wanted the job badly. After the 1960 primaries he had reached the conclusion that since he didn't have the money to win a national election, he would have to serve as VP if he wanted to ever become President. Which he wanted very much. Johnson knew he wanted Humphrey as his VP, but he also knew he had the national press in the palm of his hand while they waited for him to make his announcement of his choice. It was all too tempting for Johnson who, it must be said, had something of a cruel sense of humor. Johnson had little patience for Humphrey's windy speeches, saying:

"If only I could breed him to Calvin Coolidge." (For those of you who don't get this reference-Coolidge was nicknamed "Silent Cal" and known for not talking much)

Johnson knew most of Washington and political experts around the country expected him to tap his old Senate colleague as his VP, and he knew Humphrey expected it as well. However, he just wasn't going to let it all happen that easy. First, at a State dinner where Humphrey was present, he asked him in front of the entire dinner what he thought of Senate President Mike Mansfield as a choice for VP, embarrassing Humphrey in front of the entire dinner. Then when he finally summoned Humphrey to the White House to tell him officially he was his choice he made him wait in the limo in the driveway for almost two hours. Humphrey fell asleep waiting, and was rudely awakened by the President who derisively told him:

"If you didn't know you were going to be Vice-President a month ago, you're too damn dumb to have the office."

At the 1964 Democratic Convention, Johnson sort of made up for this treatment by announcing Humphrey as his choice for VP with much fanfare, taking his time as he praised Humphrey's many qualifications before announcing his name to thunderous applause. The next day at his acceptance speech, Humphrey made his own mark and surpassed the President with his speech, immediately taking on the role of the VP candidate as the attack dog on the other party's candidate. As reported by TIME Magazine:

Hubert warmed up with a long tribute to the President, then hit his stride as he began a rhythmic jabbing and chopping at Barry Goldwater. "Most Democrats and Republicans in the Senate voted for an $11.5 billion tax cut for American citizens and American business," he cried, "but not Senator Goldwater. Most Democrats and Republicans in the Senate — in fact four-fifths of the members of his own party — voted for the Civil Rights Act, but not Senator Goldwater." Time after time, he capped his indictments with the drumbeat cry: "But not Senator Goldwater!" The delegates caught the cadence and took up the chant. A quizzical smile spread across Humphrey's face, then turned to a laugh of triumph. Hubert was in fine form. He knew it. The delegates knew it. And no one could deny that Hubert Humphrey would be a formidable political antagonist in the weeks ahead.

Johnson and Humphrey won in a landslide, but over the next four years the two mens friendship would be strained and destroyed by the offices they held. Johnson wanted Humphrey as his VP because he wanted a "Yes Man" and he made it clear to Humphrey that was what he expected of him. Humphrey from the start was against the Presidents handling of the growing military crisis in Vietnam, but Johnson threatened that if Humphrey ever spoke to the press or public against his policies there, he would destroy Humphrey's chances to become President by opposing his nomination at the next Democratic Convention. So Humphrey kept his mouth shut, angering his liberal friends and supporters across the country. They wondered what had happened to the "Happy Warrior" and began to abandon and criticize him, weakening his support across the country. Songwriter Tom Lehrer was so distressed by Humphreys lack of support against Vietnam he wrote the song "Whatever Became of Hubert?" where inquired:

"Whatever became of Hubert? Has anyone heard a thing? Once he shone on his own, now he sits home alone and waits for the phone to ring. Once a fiery liberal spirit, ah, but now when he speaks he must clear it. ..."

Humphrey was unhappy as VP and furious at Johnson for making him not only hold his tongue, but also for his constant use of him as a court jester for his amusement. Johnson liked to think of himself as a Texas ultra-male. He rode horses, hunted, had affairs and nicknamed his penis "Jumbo" and would ask it as he got out of the shower in the morning:

"Who are we going to f**k today?"

Johnson forced Humphrey to come with him to his ranch in Texas where he took the gentle VP hunting and ordered him to shoot at two deer. Humphrey did as he was told, but first he protested. Johnson, who had pulled the same stunt on a visiting Bobby Kennedy, informed his VP that Bobby Kennedy had done as he had asked and said to him:

"Aren't you as much of a man as a Kennedy?"


Later in that trip Johnson ordered the VP to dress in outlandish and oversized cowboy clothes as if he was the comic relief in a John Wayne film, and included in the outfit an absurdly garish ten-gallon hat and marched his VP in front of a group of reporters and forced him to get on an extremely nervous horse, laughing the whole time.

All the humiliation and threats led to a dissolving of the strong friendship the two men had once had for each other. In 1968 after he announced he would not seek re-election for the Presidency, LBJ refused to endorse Humphrey. Humphrey as VP was the strongest candidate, but threats from his fellow Minnesotan Eugene McCarthy-who was the most anti-Vietnam of the Democrats and Robert Kennedy put pressure on him. With Kennedys tragic assassination, Humphrey again became the front-runner and it was expected that he would win the nomination at the Convention. The liberal, anti-Vietnam wing of the Democratic party would make Humphrey their punching bag in place of Johnson as what was wrong with the party. The 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago was a nightmare. Outside the Convention Hall the Chicago Police Department had violent clashes with anti-war protesters that were broadcast on national television. Mike Wallace and Dan Rather were physically attacked on the Convention floor, and dozens of other ugly incidents took place. The convention damaged Humphreys chances at winning the Presidency, as did the candidacy of George Wallace of Alabama who took millions of blue-collar Midwestern votes that probably would have gone to Humphrey.

Liberals in the party started to rip on Humphrey as if he were the enemy. Hunter S. Thompson called him a:

"treacherous, gutless old ward-heeler....there is no way to grasp what a shallow, contemptible and hopelessly dishonest old hack Hubert Humphrey is until you've followed him around for awhile."

Because of all this, Humphrey lost to Richard Nixon. That's right hippies, when America could have elected the pro-civil rights, truly anti-war Hubert H. Humphrey president, you helped to make Richard Nixon president and Spiro Agnew VP, and all that came with them. Nice work! You have only yourselves to blame. When you think about what "might-have-been" with a Humphrey presidency as compared to the corrupt and secretive Nixon Administration, its almost enough to make you weep. Many liberals consider it as bad or even worse than George W. Bush defeating Al Gore.

After losing the 68 election, Humphrey returned to Minneapolis where he was an icon. He picked up the work he had done before turning to politics. Teaching. He happily taught students at both the esteemed Macalester College and the University of Minnesota. Then in 1970 he once again was nominated for and won election to the Senate, and would serve there for the rest of his life. At times he was considered a strong candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination, but he could never shake the taint of what had happened at the 1968 convention enough to win the nomination. He was extremely popular in the Senate, and in 1974, Humphrey co-authored the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act, the first attempt at full employment legislation. In 1976 the Senate honored Humphrey by creating the post of Deputy President pro tempore of the Senate for him. On August 16, 1977, Humphrey revealed he was suffering from terminal bladder cancer. On October 25, 1977, he addressed the Senate, and on November 3, 1977, Humphrey became the first person other than a member of the House or the President to address the House of Representatives in session. President Carter honored him by giving him command of Air Force One for his final trip to Washington on October 23.

Humphrey spent his last weeks mending political and personal fences and calling old allies and opponents. One call was to Richard Nixon inviting him to his upcoming funeral. Nixon accepted the invitation. Living in the hospital, Humphrey kept himself busy by going room to room, cheering up other patients with a joke and listening to them. Many patients were thrilled that their beloved Senator was there to talk to them and Humphrey did his best to make his fellow patients comfortable and happy despite his own impending death.

He died on January 13, 1978 of bladder cancer at his home in Waverly, Minnesota. His body lay in state in the rotunda of both the United States Capitol and the Minnesota State Capitol, and was interred in Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis. Old friends and old enemies of Humphrey, from Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon to President Carter and his former aide, successor in the Senate and the current Vice-President Walter Mondale payed their final respects. Mondale famously eulogized:

"He taught us how to live, and finally he taught us how to die",

In one of his last speeches before his hospitalization, Humphrey gave voice to what has since been called-"The Liberals Mantra", and while if you're a dyed in the wool conservative Republican or Libertarian, you may disagree with these words, millions of Americans find inspiration in them:

"It was once said that the moral test of Government is how that Government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped,"

For Hubert Humphrey, the Vice-Presidency was the thing that tainted his rich legacy of fighting for what he believed in, for championing civil rights, and helping his fellow Americans improve their quality of life. Humphreys legacy lives on in the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program, which fosters an exchange of knowledge and mutual understanding throughout the world. Here in Minnesota, Humphrey is everywhere, besides the Metrodome, there is the Humphrey Terminal at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, the Hubert H. Humphrey Job Corps Center in St. Paul, MN. The Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota and its building, the Hubert H. Humphrey Center, and the Hubert H. Humphrey Cancer Center in Robbinsdale, MN. I have seen his picture hanging in a friends house, when her husband-as a member of the Peace Corps, went with his fellow Peace Corps workers to visit the man who helped create their organization in his office when he was VP. Many consider him still to be the greatest mayor in Minneapolis history and the greatest Senator the state has ever had as well. Humphrey helped to put the state on the national map as a stronghold for Democratic senators with national influence. His legacy lives on in former VP Mondale, and inspired the late Paul Wellstone, and current Senator Al Franken. There can be no doubt that Humphrey truly made an impact on this nations history -- particularly in civil rights and the Peace Corps.

Along with job centers, schools, health centers, and other public buildings across the country named after him. Humphrey helped to create the modern Democratic Party, separating it from its racist past and bringing it into the modern world. His championing of civil rights led Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African American males to make him an Honorary Life Member.

Its a shame the Vice-Presidency and the events at the 1968 convention have tainted his legacy. Instead of thinking of Humphrey as a weak "dough-faced" liberal wimp, I prefer to think of him as the man who stood up for what he believed in at the 1948 Democratic Convention and most of his life. The Vice-Presidency was just a bump on the road. As it seems to be for many. Maybe next year on what would have been his 100th birthday, my current state of residence will do something to honor the "Happy Warrior". If so, I will be sure to be there. For now, I ask you to join me in saying:

"Happy Birthday Hubert H. Humphrey!"

Thanks for reading!

Vice-Precedence Reviews the AL GORE Comic.

Hey Vice-Precedence Blog Readers.

Sorry for the long delay in posts, but if you are frequenting the Facebook page for "Vice-Precedence" as you should be of course, you can see that Jason and I are putting up some great links to keep you updated about everything going on VP wise.

As you probably remember Bluewater Comics is the creator and publisher of comics about everyone from Barack Obama to Bo Obama, with Sarah Palin, Michelle Obama, John McCain, J.K. Rowling and more in between. They published a Joe Biden comic that Jason and I reviewed here on the blog. Now this week their comic book biography of former VP Al Gore came out. So here's my review of it.

As I have come to expect with Bluewater, the cover art is good, but inside, the art is not only disappointing, but clearly mistakes have been made. On page 24 in an illustration that is supposed to show VP Gore and then Gov. George W. Bush making accusations against one another in the 2000 election, the illustrator made an error and has Bush angrily pointing and yelling at himself, as if into a mirror. Something I am sure Democrats around the country would like to imagine, but isn't really possible. Its supposed to be Gore yelling at him, but instead its a sloppy mistake.

On another page that is supposed to illustrate Gores centrist voting record and views, its simply a wide panel with ugly illustrations of bald people with no distinguishing facial features voting and one kneeling in prayer with the Statue of Liberty blindfolded for some reason. It's a terrible illustration. On the last page in the top panel, a jacket-less Gore has collapsed into the arms of an African-American man with another man looking down on Gore as if he is telling him to relax or calm down, while on the other side a woman seems to be holding back Tipper Gore (who is illustrated so generically throughout the comic its hard to tell if it IS her) who looks upset and perhaps furious. I must confess I don't have any idea what this scene is supposed to be about or if it is referencing some event in the life of the Gores that I don't know about. Its a strange, out of place panel that doesn't seem to really make sense. Throughout the book the art is just not very good and again, Bluewater uses pale colors that don't really leap off the page.

As for the writing, the story of Gore's life as told by Scott Davis who puts himself in as the narrator on the first page sitting on a lawn chair next to a penguin in the South Pole before the iceberg he's sitting on is hit by a ship, is done with Bluewaters usual simple style and admirable effort to be non-partisan and just state the facts. It points out Gore's successes, his failures, his redeeming qualities and flaws (such as his wooden manner and speaking style, know-it-all behavior, and penchant for hyperbole), in a fair way. It clearly states that some people think of Gore as an:

"arrogant, scripted liberal hypocrite...the embodiment of big invasive government."

while others see him as:

"...the idealistic conscience of his country"

It does a good job of distinguishing facts from opinions. Something I wish more writers, bloggers, and so-called reporters would do.

The story is told chronologically beginning with Gores background and upbringing between the privileged halls of Washington power and private schools and rural Tennessee where he could cut loose performing crazy stunts off the back of speed boats when his father--Senator Gore--wasn't working him harder than the hired help cleaning hog pens and clearing over 20 acres of hill land of timber with nothing more than a regular ax. As a child Gore was apparently a "perfect little gentleman" for the most part, but also something of a "tattletale" who also enjoyed dropping water balloons on passing limos from the roof of the ritzy Fairfax Hotel his family lived in when his father was serving in the Senate. He was called "A Wooden Apollo" by one of his high-school instructors, and the book illustrates well the Gore who while in Washington worked hard to be "The Senators Son" but who was more "relaxed, fun-loving, daring, impetuous, even a bit reckless" down in Tennessee. It does a fine job showing how Gore came by his philosophy of "Choosing the Hard Right over the Easy Wrong" and how he is an interesting combination of Washington elitism and Southern gentleman tinged with the ability to be self-deprecating.

The comic does an excellent job about covering Gore's service in Vietnam. It points out, as I did on my blog for Gores' birthday, that Gore could have used his fathers political connections in the Senate and his family wealth to stay out of Vietnam (like George W. Bush and Quayle did) or just done things to avoid service (like Bill Clinton and Dick Cheney did) but instead volunteered. So even though he may have embellished a little about his service to gain votes (a time honored American political tradition) he did at least serve in combat -- something that those other guys I listed couldn't say. Gore volunteered partly because he felt it was wrong that rich privileged young men like himself could avoid service while poor kids went in his place, and partly because the Nixon Administration had targeted his father's Senate seat and him avoiding military service would have been used against his father in the campaign. The comic points out that it was later revealed that the Nixon Administration did, in fact, delay his deployment to Vietnam because they didn't want Senator Gore to get any "sympathy votes" due to his son serving in combat and being possibly wounded or killed.

The comic also does a good job tracing his career from a reporter into the House, then the Senate and the Vice-Presidency. It doesn't go into Tippers crusade against dirty lyrics on albums and only touches on the car accident his son was in. On one page it clearly and accurately covers all the controversy in Florida in the 2000 Election. This is one of the strongest aspects of the book. Something I especially appreciated is how it describes how Gore changed the Vice-Presidency. Starting with John Adams famous quote about the insignificant nature of being the Veep, it shows how Gore became a powerful and influential VP, saying:

"Gore changed the very model of the Vice-Presidency from the guy who goes to state funerals to an Executive Branch advisor and policy partner."

Finally, Davis sums up Gores post 2000 triumphs with "An Inconvenient Truth" and the Nobel Peace Prize in a concise style with his final statement ringing true:

"...no matter what side of the political fence you reside, you must admit that Al Gore is one of the more important, accomplished, influential, and relevant politicians of the 21st century."

All this is well and good, but the book suffers from the middling at best art, and again as we pointed out in the Biden comic, errors of syntax that were probably typos that should have been caught before publication. For example, on the FIRST PAGE, in describing what might have happened if Gore had won the 2000 Election it says:

"President Gore responds the 9-11 attacks."

That's just sloppy proofreading. Other examples include:

"...He grew up in the amongst"

and

"Others point to his populist campaign did not distance itself from the disgraced Clinton presidency".

Still, by simply showing Gores successes and flaws and telling the story in a clear way, I have to say, its much better than the Biden comic and I recommend picking it up if you can.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend.

Matt Saxe

Happy Birthday Al Gore!

Hey Vice-Precedence Readers!

Well, today is the birthday of one of the most beloved VP's of all time. Many Americans think that this VP should have rightly been President. Not even winning an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy and even the Nobel Peace Prize would make up for his loss in the Presidential Election of 2000.

Yes its the birthday of Al Gore, and yes he has won all of those awards. For ever since his controversial defeat in the infamous election of 2000 where he won the popular vote by around half a million votes over George W. Bush, but lost the electoral vote by losing the recount in Florida that was supported by the Supreme Court by a 5–4 margin in favor of Bush—the only time in history the Court may have determined the outcome of a presidential election, Gore has been one of the worlds best know environmentalists.

All his work on exposing his beliefs on global warming culminated in the film "An Inconvenient Truth" which won the Oscar for Best Feature Length Documentary. The audio-book would win the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album.

Gores father was a member of the House for 13 years, and the Senate for 18 years representing Tennessee. Al Jr. was raised in both Tennessee and Washington D.C., at his senior prom he met his future wife Tipper. Gore attended Harvard, where he was roommates with fellow future Oscar winner Tommy Lee Jones. He started out as an English major, but the Martin Luther King assassination, the war in Vietnam and other issues of the late 60's and early 70's led him to become politically active (without becoming a raging hippie) and switch to government as his major and graduated cum laude. He also first became aware of climate change from Roger Revelles lectures there.


When it came to Vietnam, Al Jr. was against the war, but knew that if he tried going to Canada (his mother had already agreed to join him there if he made that choice) or avoiding service in Vietnam by joining the National Guard (like some other Presidents and VP candidates I can think of...) he would damage his fathers already very tough campaign for re-election in the Senate,especially considering the fact that his father had voted for the Gulf of Tonkin resolution initially, but as the war had progressed and escalated, had changed his mind on the issue. The Nixon Administration and Republicans had targeted Senator Gore as a Senate seat they could take, and if his son somehow avoided service they all knew it would be used against him. Added to that fact, Gore Jr. did not feel it was right for someone with fewer advantages than himself to go in his place. So he became a true "Tennessee Volunteer" and enlisted in the regular Army. Before shipping out for Vietnam he married Tipper.

His orders to be sent to Vietnam were "held up" for some time and he suspected that this was due to a fear by the Nixon administration that if something happened to him, his father would gain sympathy votes. Considering the way Nixon and his administration worked, thats probably a good theory. He was finally shipped to Vietnam on January 2, 1971, after his father had lost his seat in the Senate during the 1970 Senate election, one "of only about a dozen of the 1,115 Harvard graduates in the Class of '69 who went to Vietnam." Gore was stationed with the 20th Engineer Brigade in Bien Hoa and was a journalist with The Castle Courier. He received an honorable discharge from the Army in May 1971.

After Vietnam Gore studied at Vanderbilt, worked as an investigative reporter, and studied law. In 1976 at the age of 28 he was elected to Congress and was re-elected in 1978, 1980, and 1982--each time winning by a landslide. On March 19, 1979 he became the first member of Congress to appear on C-SPAN. In 1985 he was elected to the Senate. In 1990, Senator Gore presided over a three-day conference with legislators from over 42 countries which sought to create a Global Marshall Plan, "under which industrial nations would help less developed countries grow economically while still protecting the environment."

In 1988 Gore initially denied an interest in running for President. Instead he was the subject of speculation prior to his announcement a reporter stated:

"National analysts make Sen. Gore a long-shot for the Presidential nomination, but many believe he could provide a natural complement for any of the other candidates: a young, attractive, moderate Vice Presidential nominee from the South. He currently denies any interest, but he carefully does not reject the idea out of hand."

At the time, he was 39 years old, making him the youngest serious Presidential candidate since John F. Kennedy. Finally he came out and decided to run. He ran his campaign as:

"a Southern centrist, [who] opposed federal funding for abortion. He favored a moment of silence for prayer in the schools and voted against banning the interstate sale of handguns."

Gore carried seven states in the primary, finishing 3rd, but eventually dropped out. In April 3, 1989, the Gores and their six-year-old son Albert were crossing a street after a baseball game when Albert ran across the street to see his friend and was hit by a car. He was thrown 30 feet and then traveled along the pavement for another 20 feet Gore later recalled:

"I ran to his side and held him and called his name, but he was motionless, limp and still, without breath or pulse. His eyes were open with the nothingness stare of death, and we prayed, the two of us, there in the gutter, with only my voice."

Albert was tended to by two nurses who happened to be present during the accident. The Gores spent the next month in the hospital with Albert. Gore also commented:
"Our lives were consumed with the struggle to restore his body and spirit." This event was "a trauma so shattering that [Gore] views it as a moment of personal rebirth" and a "key moment in his life" which "changed everything."

In August 1991, Gore announced that his son's accident had "left a deep impression on our family" and that it was a factor in his decision not to run for president during the 1992 presidential election. Gore stated:

"I would like to be President [...] But I am also a father, and I feel deeply about my responsibility to my children [...] I didn't feel right about tearing myself away from my family to the extent that is necessary in a Presidential campaign."

During this time, Gore wrote Earth in the Balance, which became the first book written by a sitting U.S. Senator to make the New York Times bestseller list since John F. Kennedy's Profiles in Courage. He also actually wrote his book, something that a lot of people say JFK didn't.

However, Gore did accept Bill Clintons offer to be his VP candidate, due to his clashes with the 1st Bush Administrations lack of action on global warming. Clinton stated that he chose Gore due to his foreign policy experience, work with the environment, and commitment to his family. It was a sort of unconventional VP pick, since Gore was also a young Southerner who didn't add any age or geographical balance to the ticket. They were the youngest Presidential ticket in history.

Washington Bureau Chief for The Baltimore Sun, Paul West, later suggested that:

"Al Gore revolutionized the way vice presidents are made. When he joined Bill Clinton's ticket, it violated the old rules. Regional diversity? Not with two Southerners from neighboring states. Ideological balance? A couple of left-of-center moderates. [...] And yet, Gore has come to be regarded by strategists in both parties as the best vice presidential pick in at least 20 years."

Gore crushed Quayle and Admiral James Stockdale in the VP Debate and he and Clinton went on to win the election. Gore became a very powerful and influential VP, working on issues such as the environment (of course), government corruption, and technology.

At the beginning of the first term in 1992, Clinton and Gore developed a "two-page agreement outlining their relationship." Clinton committed himself to regular lunch meetings, recognized Gore as a principal adviser on nominations, and appointed some of Gore's chief advisers to key White House staff positions. Clinton involved Gore in decision-making to an unprecedented degree for a vice president. Through their weekly lunches and daily conversations, Gore became the president's "indisputable chief adviser."

There were bumps in the road though. Gore was criticized for attending an event at a Buddhist temple that turned out to be a fund-raiser. In March 1997, Gore had to explain phone calls which he made to solicit funds for the Democratic Party for the 1996 election.[91] In a news conference, Gore stated that:

"all calls that I made were charged to the Democratic National Committee. I was advised there was nothing wrong with that. My counsel tells me there is no controlling legal authority that says that is any violation of any law."

But the biggest divide between Clinton and Gore was the Monica Lewinsky scandal. We all know the sordid details about that. Gore defended Clinton at the beginning, whom he believed to be innocent, stating:

"He is the President of the country! He is my friend. I want to ask you now, every single one of you, to join me in supporting him."

The truth was though, that Clinton had cheated on his wife in the Oval Office with Lewinsky. Its still something that just really blows (no pun intended) my mind.

After Clinton was impeached Gore continued to defend him stating:
"I've defined my job in exactly the same way for six years now [...] to do everything I can to help him be the best president possible."

But privately he was extremely disappointed in Clinton and worried about how it would effect his own run for the Presidency in 2000. Around this time Gore gave an interview with Wolf Blitzer where he said:

"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system."

Gores opponents used this quote against him, claiming he said he "invented the Internet". This urban legend exploded and was fodder for comedians and Republicans across the country. It didn't matter that computer professionals and congressional colleagues argued in his defense. Internet pioneers Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn stated that:

"We don't think, as some people have argued, that Gore intended to claim he 'invented' the Internet. Moreover, there is no question in our minds that while serving as Senator, Gore's initiatives had a significant and beneficial effect on the still-evolving Internet."

Even his old Congressional colleague and leader of the "Republican Revolution" Newt Gingrich defended him saying:

"In all fairness, it's something Gore had worked on a long time. Gore is not the Father of the Internet, but in all fairness, Gore is the person who, in the Congress, most systematically worked to make sure that we got to an Internet, and the truth is -- and I worked with him starting in 1978 when I got [to Congress], we were both part of a "futures group" -- the fact is, in the Clinton administration, the world we had talked about in the '80s began to actually happen."

So if we can all please stop with the "He invented the internet" jokes, I for one would really appreciate it. Enoughs enough with that old joke. Its not funny and its not accurate. Even Newt Gingrich says so Republicans. Get some new material everyone.


Gore announced his candidacy for President, and won the Democratic primaries against Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey. Gore made some VP history by choosing Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut as his vice presidential running mate-the first Jewish American on a Presidential ticket. The election was extremely tight, polls showed different numbers every day.

Finally it all came down to Florida on election day and night, and we all know what happened then. Weeks later the results of the decision led to Gore winning the popular vote by approximately 500,000 votes nationwide, but receiving 266 electoral votes to Bush's 271 (one District of Columbia elector abstained). On December 13, 2000, Gore conceded the election. Gore strongly disagreed with the Court's decision, but in his concession speech stated that:

"for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession."

In 2006 with the release of "An Inconvenient Truth", and his appearances across the country and in the media like Saturday Night Live and the creation of his network CURRENT TV, plus the fury over the Bush Administrations policies, Gore was probably the most popular ex-VP in history.

The director of the film, Davis Guggenheim, stated that after the release of the film:

"Everywhere I go with him, they treat him like a rock star."

At the Oscar ceremony, he pulled a fantastic prank, making it seem like he was about to announce his candidacy for President, but just as he was about to do so, was "played off" by the orchestra. Even though Gore was polling as high as second and third even without campaigning in Democratic and popular polls, he firmly refused to run again. Gore has continued to work on behalf of the environment and other issues he is passionate about. All while still helping to run his TV network.

Gore is definitely a historic VP in many ways. He followed the lead of Walter Mondale and was a VP with power and influence, but also like Mondale, he lost his bid for the White House and it seems that he will never be President. One can only wonder what a Gore Presidency during the years of the "War on Terror" would have been like. How would he have responded to 9/11? Would we have invaded Iraq? Would Saddam Hussein still be alive? Will revisionist historical novels come out about this, in the same vein of the "What if the Confederacy had won the Civil War?" fantasy history novels? We'll never really know.

However, we can say this: if any of you readers have an "In", we'd love to interview Vice-President Gore for our film! Just his presence in it for a few minutes would probably guarantee us funding and a release. We really want to interview him. I personally think it'd be a fascinating interview, and Gore seems to have a good sense of humor about himself: witness his appearance on SNL-especially the filmed segment on the set of "The West Wing" which is one of the funniest bits I have seen in a long time. So why not write to him at Current and tell him to grant us an interview? Here's his website:

www.algore.com

Join us in saying: HAPPY BIRTHDAY VICE-PRESIDENT GORE!

Thanks for reading.

Matt Saxe.

Happy Birthday Schuyler Colfax!

"A friendly rascal...a little intriguer -- plausible, aspiring beyond his capacity, and not trustworthy."
Abraham Lincoln giving his opinion of then Speaker of the House and future VP Schuyler Colfax.

Hey Vice-Precedence Blog Readers!

Yesterday was the birthday of a VP who left office under a cloud of scandal and disgrace.

On March 23, 1823 Schuyler Colfax was born in New York, NY.

Colfax came from a family with a strong tradition of service to the country, even before it was a country. His grandfather was the commander of George Washingtons Life Guards--Washingtons personal bodyguards charged with protecting him and important papers of the Continental Army.

Colfax made a steady rise from 19 year old newspaper editor, to member of the Whig Party, to member of Congress, switched to the new Republican Party, to election as Speaker of the House where he announced the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment-officially abolishing slavery, to Vice-President under Ulysses S. Grant. He was very popular among his fellow politicians and was always ready with a laugh and a joke-leading to his nickname: "Smiler".

Besides jokes, Colfax had a penchant for intrigue, scandal, and greed. He was tapped to be VP under Grant because he was popular with his fellow Republicans and experienced in politics-unlike the former failed shopkeeper turned national hero Grant.

He was forced out of the Vice-Presidency when he exposed as having taken part in the Credit Mobilier Scandal and was nearly impeached. He was replaced by Henry Wilson in the second Grant Administration, who was completely free of any scandal.

Colfax made his living after the Vice-Presidency as a lecturer, speaking across the country. On January 13, 1885, at the age of 63 he walked almost a mile in negative 30˚F weather from the Front Street depot to the Omaha depot in Mankato, Minnesota. He had to change trains in Mankato to reach Rock Rapids, Iowa, for a speaking engagement. Five minutes after arriving at the depot, Colfax dropped dead of a heart attack brought on by the extreme cold and exhaustion.

The city of Mankato (a couple hours from where I live in Minneapolis now) set up a marker where the former VP died in its Washington Park on the site of the former depot. Its probably the most historic thing to ever happen in the small town. There are also 7 cities in 7 different states across the country named for the former VP. Why? I mean, he was forced to resign in disgrace but 7 towns named their cities after him? We're all in favor of recognizing our VP's here at Vice-Precedence, but even we'll admit that Schuyler Colfax is a weird one to choose.

Most strangely of all, Colfax died trying to catch a train, so naturally the town of Colfax, CA. had a bronze statue of Colfax placed next to their AMTRAK station. You can see it here on the blog.

I'm sure he would be pleased.

In any case-HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCHUYLER COLFAX!

Happy Birthday John C. Calhoun

"He is the much the ablest man in the Senate. He could have demolished Newton, Calvin, or even John Locke as a logician."
Daniel Webster on John C. Calhoun

"Posterity will condemn me more because I was persuaded not to hang John C. Calhoun as a traitor than for any other act in my life."
President Andrew Jackson lamenting about not having his own VP executed. I guess he wasn't thinking about all the horrible things he did to Native Americans..or else he didn't care.

Today is the birthday of a man listed as one of the "Five Greatest Senators in U.S. History" as named by a Senate committee in 1957 presided over by John F. Kennedy. John C. Calhoun was described by a contemporary as:
"The cast-iron man. Who looks as if he had never been born, and never could be extinguished."

In "Profiles in Courage" JFK described him as a man with a mind that was:
"cold, narrow, concentrated, and powerful...Strangely enough, although he had the appearance, especially in his later days, of a fanatic, he was a man of infinite charm and personality. He was reputed to be the best conversationalist in South Carolina, and he won to him through their emotions men who failed to comprehend his closely reasoned arguments."

Being VP was just another little thing on the list of accomplishments of this extraordinary figure in American history.

He was a graduate of Yale, as a state representative wrote legislation making South Carolina the first state to adopt universal suffrage (for white men anyway), elected a member of the House of Representatives from his beloved South Carolina when he was just 29, served as both Secretary of State and Secretary of War, and was the most prominent Senator of the south for almost 20 years. And of course, he was VP. In fact, he happened to be a VP surrounded by interesting and ridiculous events, and a historic VP in many ways.

He was Vice-President under John Quincy Adams, and again elected VP in the next election under the new President, Andrew Jackson. Only VP George Clinton shares that distinction.

While VP under Jackson, his wife (and first-cousin once removed) Floride was the ringleader in the ridiculous "Petticoat Affair" where she organized the wives of Cabinet members to shun and ostracize "Pothouse" Peggy Eaton a former bar-maid who married Secretary of War John Eaton. They alleged that John and Peggy Eaton had engaged in an adulterous affair while Mrs. Eaton was still legally married to her first husband John B. Timberlake. The scandal resulted in the resignation of all but two of Jackson's Cabinet members. Talk about Girl Power. Calhoun told Jackson it was pointless to try to argue with his wife about an issue like this (she was very sensitive, conservative and genteel) but President Jackson was desperate to settle this affair and stop the laughs of many around the country over the whole affair. So he decided to pay Floride a formal visit. When President Jackson went to visit Floride and tried convince her to ease up on this and accept Mrs. Eaton, Floride listened to him politely and then turned to her butler and said:

"Show this gentleman to the door."

Ouch.

Finally, in 1830 when South Carolina threatened to secede from the Union over issues of high tariffs during the "Nullification Crisis" the issues between Jackson and Calhoun came to a head. During the crisis at the 1830 Jefferson Day dinner at Jesse Brown's Indian Queen Hotel, Calhoun proposed in front of many prominent Southerners that the President give a toast to which President Jackson raised his glass and while staring daggers at his VP said:

"Our federal Union, it must be preserved."

Calhoun kept his glass raised and cooly replied:
"The Union, next to our liberty, the most dear."

When Jackson found out that while Secretary of War Calhoun had wanted President Monroe to censure him for his invasion of Florida, the President was furious. All of these issues led Calhoun to be the first person to ever resign the Vice-Presidency.

He followed up his service as VP as a Senator from South Carolina, taking part in all the huge debates of the day over expansion and slavery. It is during this time that he cemented his legend as an incredible Senator. Calhouns legacy of support for states rights, slavery and agrarian republicanism lived long after his death in 1850, inspiring many men to later resign their House and Senate seats and help their states secede from the Union and join the Confederacy.

A legendary and amazing figure in American history, join us here at Vice-Precedence as we say:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN C. CALHOUN!

Thanks for reading!

Matt Saxe

The Curse of Burr? & Liz Cheney VS. "The Daily Show"

Hey Vice-Precedence Readers!

Well, last week on Monday night, PBS aired the new American Experience special, "DOLLEY MADISON" about the woman who basically created the role of the First Lady. She was the first Presidents wife to have a charity she worked for, and was the premiere hostess in our brand new Nations Capital. Her amazing parties not only introduced ice-cream to the American public (Thank you so much for that Dolley!) but truly helped to ease partisan violence in an era where men would fight duels or engage in brawls on the Congressional floor over issues. It made todays partisan bickering look like a fight between pre-schoolers. At her parties members from opposing political parties could (and were sometimes practically forced) to be civil to one another and discuss things rationally over fine food and wine with Dolley making sure everything stayed friendly.

Born before the Revolution, she met Presidents Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and other heroes of the Revolution and lived into the era of the railroads and photography. Of course, what she is most famous for is saving the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and Gilbert Stuarts now legendary painting of George Washington from the British Army when they captured Washington D.C. during the War of 1812 and destroyed the White House.

However, another famous story about Dolley Madison is how she was introduced to James Madison. At the time, Dolley was considered one of the most eligible women in Philadelphia--she was a young, attractive widow who turned heads everywhere she went. One day, Congressman James Madison--"The Father of the Constitution"--saw her as he was out walking and found her amazingly attractive. He asked a friend of his, who happened to be staying at the boarding house Dolley worked at and knew her well, to introduce him to her. That friend was Aaron Burr. Yes, the Aaron Burr who if you read this blog you should know by now. Burr was more than happy to introduce Congressman Madison to Dolley and the rest as they say is history. Even after Burr killed Hamilton in their famous duel and was basically shunned and discarded by President Jefferson (Madisons other best friend and key political ally) Dolley always was grateful to Burr for helping to get her together with Madison. However, in the special on American Experience, while Burr was mentioned--he was not shown onscreen at all. Also, in the multiple Emmy and SAG Award winning HBO series "JOHN ADAMS" starring Paul Giammatti and Laura Linney, Burr is mentioned twice but like in "DOLLEY MADISON" he is not shown at all.

Despite the exclusion of Burr I will say that the special starring Tony Award nominee Eve Best and Tony Award winner Jefferson Mays (who had played Madison before for a PBS series) was excellent. I really enjoyed it and if you're someone like us here at Vice-Precedence, I think you will enjoy it as well. Its great to get a different view of history -- in this case-- an extraordinary womans point of view. I highly recommend both it and JOHN ADAMS as well.

At the same time that Monday night on NBC "Law and Order" was on guest starring Debra Winger as a high school principal who was a little too close to her students at what is called "one of the worst schools in the city". Throughout the episode characters talk about how horrible this school is, how violent, how bad the students are, how dangerous it is, how it should and probably will be torn down and its students dispersed to other schools. The students there are suspects in the murder of a student at another school who they not only beat up, but light on fire while he's still alive. Nice kids huh? The name of this school? Why Aaron Burr High of course! Whats up with that?! I just thought it was interesting that Burr was mentioned on two completely different shows airing at the same time. How often does something like that happen?

It all made me think of a sort of theory that Jason came up with that he called "The Curse of Burr". "The Curse of Burr" is that since Burr was the first VP never to become President and was forced out of the office by his President, and his tie with Jefferson in the election of 1800 led to the creation of the 12th Amendment, that he changed the office of the Vice-President by being the odd man out and damned many of his followers in the Vice-Presidency to lives of obscurity.

In adding to this theory, its interesting to note that after Burr, practically all the VP's who became President only ascended to the office because of a national tragedy -- i.e. the death of the President. A few VP's got elected President on their own -- like Martin Van Buren and George H.W. Bush, but most didn't become President at all or lost in their elections for President, like Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, and Al Gore.

It seemed with Burr's exclusion on "DOLLEY MADISON" and the fact that the high school named after him on "LAW & ORDER" is a gangsters paradise ghetto dump that "The Curse of Burr" lives on in a different way. When one thinks of Aaron Burr, all most people think is "killer" and so using his name is a good way to make a place sort of dangerous sounding -- like they did on "L&O", meanwhile, if his name has to be brought up like in "DOLLEY MADISON" or "JOHN ADAMS", its better to just say it really quickly and move on. Aside from specials on Hamilton or Burr himself he's practically ignored. The "Curse" in action? Perhaps.

Also, apparently on tonights "Daily Show" on Comedy Central, there will be some discussion about Liz Cheney. Comedy Central is advertising the show as having earned the "Dick Cheney Scowl of Approval". Could be some interesting viewing.

Thanks for reading everyone.

Cheney VS. Biden & Happy Presidents Day!

Hey Vice-Precedence Fans!

Well, yesterday was a very interesting day for VP's in the media. Current VP Joe Biden was on NBC's "Meet the Press" and former VP Richard "Dick" Cheney was on ABC's "This Week".

Cheney made many interesting comments in his interview with Jonathan Karl, once again sharply criticizing the Obama/Biden Administration over the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and national security issues. He claimed that any success that the current administration has had on these major issues was only due to the efforts of Bush and Cheney himself:

"If [the administration is] going to take credit for [Iraq's success], fair enough ... but it ought to come with a healthy dose of 'Thank you, George Bush' up front and a recognition that some of their early recommendations with respect to prosecuting that war were just dead wrong," Cheney said.

He went on to say that he thinks the policies of the Obama/Biden administration are putting the U.S. in danger of more terrorist attacks. He used VP Biden's own words against the current administration to make his point, attacking Bidens claim that another 9/11 level attack is "unlikely":

"I just think that's just dead wrong. I think the biggest threat the United States faces today is the possibility of another 9/11 with a nuclear weapon or a biological agent of some kind. And I think Al-Qaeda is out there -- even as we meet -- trying to do that. You have to consider it as a war. You have to consider it as something we may have to deal with tomorrow. You don't want the vice president of the United States running around saying, 'Oh, it's not likely going to happen.'"

While this is par for the course when it comes to Cheney (as I have reported on this blog) and probably made his fellow conservative Republicans very happy, he then
went on to make comments that probably had their jaws dropping in shock.

Cheney DID say that he agrees with Obama's strategy for Afghanistan, saying he is a "complete supporter" of the idea of sending more soldiers, sailors, and marines to that country and highly praised the Presidents selection of General Stanley McChrystal to lead this attack.

Once again, Cheney showed his open-mindedness when it comes to issues regarding Homosexual Rights. When it comes to "Don't Ask-Don't Tell" Cheney admitted that the time has come to re-examine the issue:

"Twenty years ago, the military were strong advocates of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' when I was Secretary of Defense. I think things have changed significantly since then. I'm reluctant to second-guess the military in this regard. When the Chiefs come forward and say, 'We think we can do it,' then it strikes me that it's time to reconsider the policy."

Keep in mind, this is not only a former VP making this argument, but as he reminds folks-a former Secretary of Defense (1989-1993). Besides that, as you all probably know - he is also the father of an out lesbian and grandfather to her two children produced from artificial insemination, something that has made conservative Christian Republicans in groups like Focus on the Family and The Christian Coalition furious and disgusted. So his point of view on this subject is a unique one that should be respected and taken into account.

He also showed a lack of enthusiasm for Sarah Palin and her ideas. He made it clear that he disagrees with her on the idea that President Obama could help himself politically by declaring war on Iran. On an interview last week for the FOX NEWS
show "FOX News Sunday" Palin stated that if the President: "toughen[ed] up" and "secured our nation," people might change what they think about him.

"Say he decided to declare war on Iran or decide to really come out and do whatever he could to support Israel, which I would like him to do. If he decided to toughen up ... I think people would perhaps shift their thinking a little bit and decide, 'Well, maybe he's tougher than we think he's, than he is today.'" Palin said.

Cheney disagreed with her and made it clear he did:

"I don't think a President can make a judgment like that on the basis of politics. The stakes are too high, the consequences too significant to be treating those as simple political calculations. When you begin to talk about war, talk about crossing international borders, you talk about committing American men and women to combat, that takes place on a plane clear above any political consideration."

As for a Palin presidential bid - Cheney showed little enthusiasm for the idea:

"I haven't made a decision yet on who I'm going to support. I think all of the prospective candidates out there have got a lot of work to do if in fact they are going to persuade a majority of Americans that they are ready to take on the world's toughest job," Cheney said.

Cheney also admitted that he was in disagreement with the majority of the Bush Administration when it came to issues of interrogation of detainees in Guantanamo and Abu-Grahib. He talked about a meeting he was in with the Cabinet and other advisers to President Bush held in the Roosevelt Room "where we had a major shootout" over whether to try captured terrorist suspects before military commissions or, as the Justice Department advocated at the time, in civilian courts here in the U.S.

"We never clearly or totally resolved those issues," Cheney said. "These are tough questions, no doubt about it. You want my opinion, my view of what ought to happen, I think we have to treat it as a war."

He was, and still is, in favor of water-boarding and other intense, controversial methods, while many of the cabinet members and military advisers were against it.

He went on to criticize the way the White House is handling terrorist issues and the incident on Christmas with the "Underwear Bomber" prompting Vice-President Biden on "Meet the Press" to say:

“Dick Cheney’s a fine fellow, but he is not entitled to rewrite history without it being challenged. I don’t know where he has been. Where was he the last four years of the last administration?”

"A fine fellow"? Wow. Where the hell did that come from? So as you can see it was a very interesting week for the former VP and the current VP - who you may have seen with his wife representing the U.S. at the Opening Ceremonies at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

As you probably already know - its Presidents Day, which means days off for some people, no school for many, sales at car dealerships, furniture stores, mattress places ("Get Free Delivery with your New Sealy or any New Mattress and Pay Nothing til Next Year!!") department stores, and other places. While I don't begrudge anyone getting a good deal in this day and age with the economy the way it is, I think there needs to be more thought about what today is really about. Maybe, just maybe, we should take the time today to remember the Presidents (and VP's) who worked hard to make our country what it is today.

Remember President Lincoln, who sacrificed his life to make this nation free from the stain of slavery, who pledged "Malice towards none, and charity towards all" and who simply wanted to heal a nation stunned by death and destruction-only to be murdered in cold blood before he could do so. Lincoln rose to the greatest crisis in American history and preserved our Union, eradicated slavery, and made us what we are today.

Remember George Washington - who left his comfortable home to lead a war against the most powerful empire on Earth - who risked being hanged for treason and put himself in the middle of terrible fire from the enemy to rally his men, who somehow managed to attain victory and instead of making himself dictator or king as had all other men in history had in his position, simply retired and went home, until his country called on him again to be its first President, and who has set the standard for every President since.

Also, remember VP's like Daniel Tompkins who in his last act before becoming VP, banned slavery in New York. Remember William Wheeler, who when pressured to go along with machine-politics of New York and accept bribes flatly refused and said; ".."[T]here is nothing in the gift of the State of New York which will compensate me for the forfeiture of my self-respect". Remember the VP's who when tragedy struck the nation and we lost Presidents to murder or illness, took over an office they never thought they'd have to and did the best they could to make sure our system of government continued.

Remember our Presidents and VP's and think about all they had to give up to lead our country. Thats what today is really all about.

Thanks for reading and Happy Presidents Day!

Matt Saxe

Cheney Shooting Anniversary and Happy Birthday Sarah Palin!

Hey Vice-Precedence Readers!

Remember how I pointed out in my last blog for Aaron Burrs birthday that he was the first man to shoot someone while Vice-President, over 202 years before VP Cheney shot someone? Well, today is the 4th Anniversary of the Cheney Shooting.

On Saturday, Feb 11, 2006 Vice-President Cheney and a group of his friends and supporters were in Kenedy County, Texas at a private hunting facility called The Armstrong Ranch where the "hunting" consisted of shooting pheasants born, raised, and kept in cages until the hunters arrive in the area and get out of their vehicles. These odds aren't that great for the birds-about a 17% chance of escaping. This kind of hunting is extremely controversial-the Senior VP of the Humane Society at the time called it "an open-air abattoir".

So, VP Cheney and his friends are out there at around 6PM ready to shoot these pheasants. Cheney was armed with his own 28-gauge shotgun-a Perazzi. The party had already shot some birds, and Cheney's friend, 78 year old attorney Harry Whittington, had gone back about 100 yards from the party to recover a pheasant he had shot earlier. He was approaching Cheney from behind and was about 30 or 40 yards away when a bird or two flew up in between him and Mr. Cheney-who spun around and fired-shooting Whittington in the face, neck and upper chest.

Cheneys Secret Service agents and the medical staff who traveled with Cheney for his protection and in case of another heart attack instead found themselves having to help Whittington. Cheney later told FOX News in a special interview about 5 days after the shooting that he himself ran to Whittington and dropped down to him on the ground saying:

"Harry I had no idea you were there."

Whittington made no reply to Cheney or any one giving him medical attention. An ambulance standing nearby for the Vice President took Whittington to nearby Kingsville before he was flown by helicopter to Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital.

While Cheney and his staff informed the White House about the tragic incident
that night, it wasn't released to the public for another day-and then it wasn't released by the VP's staff but by Karen Armstrong the owner of the ranch and former head of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. All the delays and secrecy around it made the whole incident look like a cover-up. Cheney held no press conference about it-leading Republican Congressman Christopher Shays to tell CNN he believed Cheney "does need to have a full press conference."

"It's like they don't learn," Shays said of the Bush administration.

"It had to have been terrible for him, and obviously the individual he shot and everybody who was there. But the information needs to be made public and made public quickly," Shays said.

Meanwhile, poor Whittington who had been moved from intensive care to a "step-down unit" suffered a mild heart attack due to a shotgun pellet lodged close to his heart and was immediately moved back to intensive care unit and underwent a cardiac catheterization test to detect blocked or leaky arteries. This was in addition to the fact that he had been shot so badly in the face, neck, and upper chest with the tiny 2.5 millimeter (less than a tenth of an inch big) bird shot pellets that Cheney had been using as ammo that day, that the doctors decided the best and safest thing to do was to leave the majority of the pellets in his body. Thats over 200 pieces of birdshot Whittington is walking around with these days. Imagine the conversations with the Security at airports!

"Sir, you set off the metal detector."

"Yeah, uhmm....do you remember when Dick Cheney shot that guy in the face?"

"Oh sure! That was hysterical!"

"Yeah, well...I'm that guy. I have 200 little bullets in my face, neck and chest."

Awkward silence.

Eventually Whittington recovered and even though he told a friend that he thought the whole incident was "much ado about nothing", due to the attention, he held his own press conference where he made a remark that would make every late-night comedy shows writing staff dance around their tables in glee:

"My family and I are deeply sorry for everything Vice President Cheney and his family have had to deal with. We hope that he will continue to come to Texas and seek the relaxation that he deserves."

Whittington had just apologized to one of the most reviled VP's in history for getting shot in the face by him, apologized for ruining his vacation, and invited him back to his state invoking the risk of maybe getting shot in the face again! Cheney was that powerful! It was both creepy and darkly, outrageously absurd-and the late-night comics had a field day.

On his first show after the incident, Stephen Colbert confessed to having been involved in a hunting accident of his own over the weekend, then proceeded to show an edited version of Brit Hume's interview with Dick Cheney, featuring Colbert in place of Cheney with far more humorous responses to Hume's question. Colbert later mentioned the hunting incident in his famous speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

David Letterman began his Monday show on February 13 with:
"Good news, ladies and gentlemen, we have finally located weapons of mass destruction.... It's Dick Cheney," and added that:

"We can't get bin Laden, but we nailed a 78-year-old attorney."

His Top 10 list was devoted to "Dick Cheney's Excuses" and included "I thought the guy was trying to go "gay cowboy" on me".

On "The Daily Show" Jon Stewart and his staff headlined the story with the title "Cheney's Got A Gun" and Stewart pointed out how Cheney was so powerful that even though he had shot a man-he had gotten than man to apologize to him. Stewart also drew attention to the fact that back during the Burr/Hamilton Duel, Vice-President Burr had shot a man over issues of personal honor, but VP Cheney had shot a man because he "was mistaken for a bird".

Correspondent Ed Helms, supposedly reporting from Corpus Christi Hospital, TX, said that Whittington's condition had been upgraded from "stable" to "stable, but still shot in the face by Dick Cheney."

The politicians got into the act too: Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) who Cheney had famously told to "Go f**k himself" on the Senate floor commented:

"In retrospect, it looks like I got off easy."

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan who was upset about how the whole incident was handled was referring to President Bush's meeting with the University of Texas championship football team when he said:

"The orange that they're wearing is not because they're concerned that the vice president may be there." However he pointed to his own orange-striped tie and added that "Although that's why I'm wearing it."

Cheney finally had an interview on FOX News in an attempt to try to straighten out the whole thing. To his credit, he admitted the entire incident was his fault, and his fault alone:

"I am the guy who pulled the trigger and shot my friend. That is something I will never forget....Ultimately, I am the guy who pulled the trigger and fired the round that hit Harry....You can talk about all the other conditions that existed at the time, but that's the bottom line...It's not Harry's fault. You can't blame anybody else."

The image of him falling is something I will never be able to get out of my mind," Cheney said. "I fired, and there's Harry falling. And it was, I'd have to say, one of the worst days of my life, at that moment."

The interview on FOX didn't help much-two weeks after the shooting a poll showed that VP Cheney's approval rating had dropped to 18%. Which makes you wonder-who the hell were those people?

This has now become one of the most famous incidents in VP history-and the fact that it all occurred on Sarah Palins birthday just adds to the humor. Yep, today Feb 11 is the birthday of the first woman to receive the Republican nomination for Vice-President of the United States, the former Governor of Alaska-Sarah Palin!

If you haven't already-be sure to read my blog where I go to Governor Palins book signing here in Minnesota at the Mall of America. I think you'll enjoy it-it was quite a unique experience, and Gov. Palin is (to say the least) a very unique figure in American history.

Join us here at Vice-Precedence in the spirit of bipartisanship and general American friendliness in saying:

Happy Birthday Governor Palin!

Also, we hope Mr. Whittington is feeling better too. Wow.

Thanks for reading!

Matt Saxe

Happy BURRthday!

Hey Vice-Precedence Blog Fans!

Well, yesterday was former VP Dan Quayles birthday as reported by Jason, and tomorrow, Feb. 6th is another VP's birthday-and not just any VP, but the first one who never became President! Thats right-its the birthday of the most infamous man to ever hold the office of VP-Aaron Burr!

Burr was born on Feb. 6, 1756 in Newark, NJ. His grandfather Jonathan Edwards was Colonial America's most famous pastor, the author of the definitive American Puritanical sermon-"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", and is still considered, almost 300 years later, one of Americas greatest theologians. His father the Rev. Aaron Burr Sr. helped found, and was the president of Princeton University.

Aaron Burr is best known of course, for killing former Secretary of the Treasury, signer of the Constitution, head of the Federalist party, fellow Revolutionary War hero, and Major General/Senior Officer of the United States Army (the equivalent of the Joint Chief Of Staff)-Alexander Hamilton in a duel while he was Vice-President. Thats right-over 200 years before Dick Cheney shot a man while VP-the Vice-President of the United States shot and killed a man.

The duel is without a doubt the most famous in American history-made even more famous by the highly popular "Got Milk?" ad directed by my director on "Pearl Harbor" Michael Bay! Bay's work since then leads many to believe it would be a much better world if he had stuck to commercials. But that's a whole other ball of wax.

Burr is best known for the duel, but the life of this remarkable American is more than just a few seconds on the "Plains of Weehawken". Burr was the first truly prominent American feminist-advocating womens intelligence and equal education and opportunities for women throughout his life, and put his money where his mouth was-educating his daughter like a man.

Burr was a Revolutionary War hero in his own right, fighting bravely at the battles of Quebec and Monmouth, and numerous other smaller battles. He was an accomplished lawyer, congressman, Senator, and Vice-President. Here is a quote about his service as VP in presiding over the Senate:

"Mr. Burr, the Vice-President, presides in the Senate with great ease, dignity & propriety. He preserves good order, silence—& decorum in debate—he confines the speaker to the point. He has excluded all spectators from the area of the Senate chamber, except the members from the other House. A measure which contributes much to good order." Senator William Plumer (F-NH)

In case you're wondering, that "F" stands for "Federalist", and Burr was a Democratic-Republican-meaning this quote praising him is from someone in the opposing party. Pretty impressive eh?

Later in his life Burr was put on trial for treason against the U.S., accused of trying to carve out an empire for himself in parts of the Louisiana Purchase and Mexico. It was "The Trial of the Century" and Burr was acquitted, despite President Jefferson's efforts to make sure Burr was found guilty.

Burr was, without a doubt, an American Original-its hard to find any person in any other country's history like Burr. That's probably why he has so captured the American imagination-particularly in Gore Vidal's first novel in his "American Empire" series: BURR. Its also part of why the Aaron Burr Association was formed (as I talked about in another blog here) and why I joined it.

I called up the President of the Aaron Burr Association-Mr. Stuart Johnson and got this quote from him on the upcoming birthday of this amazing American:

"We here at the ABA want to wish Aaron Burr a happy 254th birthday. We've stood by you and will keep up the good fight promoting your life. Your depth and complexity never cease to amaze us and we will keep protecting your reputation and promoting your life to all Americans."

Thanks for the quote Mr. Johnson.

We here at Vice-Precedence are determined to show people the truth about Aaron Burr, and that's the focus of one of our upcoming projects. So lets all wish this truly distinctive American a "Happy Birthday"!

Thanks for reading.

Quick Post-Biden on "The Daily Show" Tonight!

Hey Vice-Precedence Readers!

Just a quick update Blog Readers. The day after Palins landmark appearance on OPRAH, tonight Vice-President Joseph Biden is on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"! This will be his sixth appearance on "The Daily Show". Biden will be the first sitting Vice-President to appear on the show in the 10 year history of "The Daily Show." So make sure to tune in. Thanks!

Cheneys and Generals

Hey Vice-Precedence readers! Sorry I haven't been able to post something in the last couple days-had some technical issues here. Now I am back.


As I have reported many times former VP Cheney has frequently criticized the Obama administration on its handling of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the policy changes the administration is working on such as shutting down Guantanamo. He has been frequently joined in his criticism by his daughter Liz-who may be prepping for a Congressional run in Virginia. Also, in another earlier blog here titled "Cheney Grabbag" written on 9-16-09 I wrote how two former marines Commandant Charles Krulak and Marine General Joseph Hoar who succeeded General "Stormin'" Norman Schwarzkopf at Central Command have responded to the Cheneys with a blistering repudiation of their own-calling the former VP "irresponsible" and said he was using "scare tactics".

Now more military figures are also saying that they disagree with both the former VP and his daughter and what they are saying about these military and security issues.

A group of retired generals say that former Vice President Dick Cheney and his "acolytes," especially Liz Cheney, are trying to scare Americans over the prospect of closing the Guantanamo Bay prison facility through "nonsense" arguments, the website Politico reports.

"It's up to all of us to say these arguments advanced by Cheney and his acolytes are nonsense and that really what they're doing is undermining our national security by delaying the date at which Guantanamo is closed," retired Brig. Gen. James Cullen told Politico.

Added retired Gen. David Maddox: "Some of the fear issues that are being raised in this are really unfortunate. It gets people excited about things they shouldn't be excited about and impedes doing what is critical to this country…We take a setback every time somebody, whether it's the vice president or his daughter comes out and says the things that they say."

So far the Cheney's haven't commented on these remarks made by generals, and considering that neither of them have any actual military service that may be the smart move for now. Although Cheney has no actual military experience, he is a former Sec. of Defense and his years of experience in politics and international issues are nothing to sneeze at. The question is-who do the American people trust more about these issues-experienced combat veterans and high-ranking military figures, or a former Sec. of Defense and Vice-President of the United States? Who do you trust more? Well, the Obama Administration made it clear who they trust more-Attorney General Eric Holder met with Generals Maddox and Cullen on Monday.

Stay tuned here for all the latest VP news and updates and keep becoming Fans on Facebook and watching the trailer and Gore Vidal footage on YouTube and thanks for reading.

Matt Saxe

Vice-Presidential Stamps?

Hey Vice-Precedence Readers!

Well, there still isn't much news out there right now on the Vice-Presidents, and of course, life can't only be about the VP's you know. For example, yesterday I had to go to the post office.

While waiting in line I saw a display about all the stamp collections available this year. Many were very interesting and beautiful-birds and flowers, State Flags, lots of Abraham Lincoln stamps commemorating his 200th birthday, Edgar Allan Poe and "The Raven", and more. One particularly caught my eye-Supreme Court Justices. Now, of course its appropriate to have stamps for Supreme Court Justices. However it got me curious, and I wondered-"If there are Supreme Court Justice stamps, are there Vice-President stamps?"

So I went to the Post Office website and looked through the archives they have online of stamps going back to 1997. They have everything that you can imagine to capture the interest of collectors or attract new collectors; from Star Wars and DC Super-Heroes to Vintage Black Cinema and Commemorative Cars, flowers, seashells, Disney characters, animals, fictional animals from childrens picture books, football coaches, baseball players, authors, movie stars like Jimmy Stewart, landmarks, bats, extreme sports, folk singers, African-American heroes like Malcolm X and Paul Robeson, holidays, Christmas cookies, carnivorous plants, practically anything you can imagine-but as of 1997-no exclusive Vice-President stamps. This struck me and made me think-there has already been a documentary on the Supreme Court on "American Experience" on PBS, and now-stamps before the Vice-Presidents. Where's the love for the Veeps?

So I ask you Vice-Precedence readers, do you think we should start a campaign to get the Post Office to create a series of Vice-President stamps? The post office does listen to Americans about creating series and stamps. Its how fans of the legendary radio comedian Jack Benny who was famous for always saying he was 39 got the post office to create a 39-cent Jack Benny commemorative stamp. Is it something we should pursue? Would it be interesting? Let us know.

Make sure to stay tuned here at Vice-Precedence for all the latest and breaking news about the VP's. Believe me when I say we are following every breaking news story on former VP Cheney and current VP Biden and anything having to do with past VP's as closely as we can. Please make sure to become a Fan of ours on Facebook, visit YouTube to watch the trailer and rate it and favorite it, and post comments here on the blog. Let us know you are out there and Thanks for your support.