The vice president of the United States is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the United States federal government after the president of the United States.[1] The vice president also serves as the president of the Senate and may choose to cast a tie-breaking vote on decisions made by the Senate. Vice presidents have exercised this latter power to varying extents over the years.[2] Two vice presidents—George Clinton and John C. Calhoun—served under more than one president.
The incumbent vice president is Kamala Harris, who assumed office on January 20, 2021 under President Joe Biden.[3] The vice president-elect is JD Vance, who will assume office as the 50th vice president on January 20, 2025.[4][5]
There have been 49 U.S. vice presidents since the office was created in 1789. Originally, the vice president was the person who received the second-most votes for president in the Electoral College. But after the election of 1800 produced a tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, requiring the House of Representatives to choose between them, lawmakers acted to prevent such a situation from recurring. The Twelfth Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1804, creating the current system where electors cast a separate ballot for the vice presidency.[6][2]
The vice president is the first person in the presidential line of succession—that is, they assume the presidency if the president dies, resigns, or is impeached and removed from office.[7] Nine vice presidents have ascended to the presidency in this way.[a] Also, several vice presidents have gone on to be elected as president in their own right.[b]
Before adoption of the Twenty-fifth Amendment in 1967, an intra-term vacancy in the office of the vice president could not be filled until the next post-election inauguration. Several such vacancies occurred: seven vice presidents died, one resigned and eight succeeded to the presidency. This amendment allowed for a vacancy to be filled through appointment by the president and confirmation by both chambers of Congress. Since its ratification, the vice presidency has been vacant twice (both in the context of scandals surrounding the Nixon administration) and was filled both times through this process.[2] The amendment also established a procedure whereby a vice president may, if the president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office, temporarily assume the powers and duties of the office as acting president.[8] Three vice presidents have briefly acted as president under the 25th Amendment: George H. W. Bush on July 13, 1985; Dick Cheney on June 29, 2002, and on July 21, 2007; and Kamala Harris on November 19, 2021.
No.[c] | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term | Party[d] | Election | President | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | John Adams (1735–1826) [9][10] |
April 21, 1789[e] – March 4, 1797 |
Pro-Administration[f] | 1788–89
1792 |
George Washington[g] | ||
Federalist | |||||||
2 | Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) [11][12] |
March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801 |
Democratic-Republican | 1796 | John Adams[h] | ||
3 | Aaron Burr (1756–1836) [13] |
March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1805 |
Democratic-Republican | 1800 | Thomas Jefferson | ||
4 | George Clinton[i] (1739–1812) [14] |
March 4, 1805 – April 20, 1812 |
Democratic-Republican | 1804
1808 | |||
James Madison | |||||||
— | Office vacant April 20, 1812 – March 4, 1813[j] | ||||||
5 | Elbridge Gerry[i] (1744–1814) [15] |
March 4, 1813 – November 23, 1814 |
Democratic-Republican | 1812 | |||
— | Office vacant November 23, 1814 – March 4, 1817[j] | ||||||
6 | Daniel D. Tompkins (1774–1825) [16] |
March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1825 |
Democratic-Republican | 1816
1820 |
James Monroe | ||
7 | John C. Calhoun[k] (1782–1850) [17] |
March 4, 1825 – December 28, 1832 |
Democratic-Republican | 1824
1828 |
John Q. Adams | ||
Nullifier[l] | Andrew Jackson[m] | ||||||
— | Office vacant December 28, 1832 – March 4, 1833[j] | ||||||
8 | Martin Van Buren (1782–1862) [18][19] |
March 4, 1833 – March 4, 1837 |
Democratic | 1832 | |||
9 | Richard Mentor Johnson (1780–1850) [20] |
March 4, 1837 – March 4, 1841 |
Democratic | 1836 | Martin Van Buren | ||
10 | John Tyler[n] (1790–1862) [21][22] |
March 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841 |
Whig[o] | 1840 | William H. Harrison | ||
— | Office vacant April 4, 1841 – March 4, 1845[j] | John Tyler | |||||
11 | George M. Dallas (1792–1864) [23] |
March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849 |
Democratic | 1844 | James K. Polk | ||
12 | Millard Fillmore[n] (1800–1874) [24][25] |
March 4, 1849 – July 9, 1850 |
Whig | 1848 | Zachary Taylor | ||
— | Office vacant July 9, 1850 – March 4, 1853[j] | Millard Fillmore | |||||
13 | William R. King[i] (1786–1853) [26] |
March 4, 1853 – April 18, 1853 |
Democratic | 1852 | Franklin Pierce | ||
— | Office vacant April 18, 1853 – March 4, 1857[j] | ||||||
14 | John C. Breckinridge (1821–1875) [27] |
March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1861 |
Democratic | 1856 | James Buchanan | ||
15 | Hannibal Hamlin (1809–1891) [28] |
March 4, 1861 – March 4, 1865 |
Republican | 1860 | Abraham Lincoln | ||
16 | Andrew Johnson[n] (1808–1875) [29][30] |
March 4, 1865 – April 15, 1865 |
National Union[p] | 1864 | |||
— | Office vacant April 15, 1865 – March 4, 1869[j] | Andrew Johnson | |||||
17 | Schuyler Colfax (1823–1885) [31] |
March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1873 |
Republican | 1868 | Ulysses S. Grant | ||
18 | Henry Wilson[i] (1812–1875) [32] |
March 4, 1873 – November 22, 1875 |
Republican | 1872 | |||
— | Office vacant November 22, 1875 – March 4, 1877[j] | ||||||
19 | William A. Wheeler (1819–1887) [33] |
March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1881 |
Republican | 1876 | Rutherford B. Hayes | ||
20 | Chester A. Arthur[n] (1829–1886) [34] |
March 4, 1881 – September 19, 1881 |
Republican | 1880 | James A. Garfield | ||
— | Office vacant September 19, 1881 – March 4, 1885[j] | Chester A. Arthur | |||||
21 | Thomas A. Hendricks[i] (1819–1885) [36] |
March 4, 1885 – November 25, 1885 |
Democratic | 1884 | Grover Cleveland | ||
— | Office vacant November 25, 1885 – March 4, 1889[j] | ||||||
22 | Levi P. Morton (1824–1920) [37] |
March 4, 1889 – March 4, 1893 |
Republican | 1888 | Benjamin Harrison | ||
23 | Adlai Stevenson I (1835–1914) [38] |
March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1897 |
Democratic | 1892 | Grover Cleveland | ||
24 | Garret Hobart[i] (1844–1899) [39] |
March 4, 1897 – November 21, 1899 |
Republican | 1896 | William McKinley | ||
— | Office vacant November 21, 1899 – March 4, 1901[j] | ||||||
25 | Theodore Roosevelt[n] (1858–1919) [40][41] |
March 4, 1901 – September 14, 1901 |
Republican | 1900 | |||
— | Office vacant September 14, 1901 – March 4, 1905[j] | Theodore Roosevelt | |||||
26 | Charles W. Fairbanks (1852–1918) [42] |
March 4, 1905 – March 4, 1909 |
Republican | 1904 | |||
27 | James S. Sherman[i] (1855–1912) [43] |
March 4, 1909 – October 30, 1912 |
Republican | 1908 | William H. Taft | ||
— | Office vacant October 30, 1912 – March 4, 1913[j] | ||||||
28 | Thomas R. Marshall (1854–1925) [44] |
March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1921 |
Democratic | 1912
1916 |
Woodrow Wilson | ||
29 | Calvin Coolidge[n] (1872–1933) [45][46] |
March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923 |
Republican | 1920 | Warren G. Harding | ||
— | Office vacant August 2, 1923 – March 4, 1925[j] | Calvin Coolidge | |||||
30 | Charles G. Dawes (1865–1951) [47] |
March 4, 1925 – March 4, 1929 |
Republican | 1924 | |||
31 | Charles Curtis (1860–1936) [48] |
March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933 |
Republican | 1928 | Herbert Hoover | ||
32 | John Nance Garner (1868–1967) [49] |
March 4, 1933 – January 20, 1941 |
Democratic | 1932
1936 |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | ||
33 | Henry A. Wallace (1888–1965) [50] |
January 20, 1941 – January 20, 1945 |
Democratic | 1940 | |||
34 | Harry S. Truman[n] (1884–1972) [51][52] |
January 20, 1945 – April 12, 1945 |
Democratic | 1944 | |||
— | Office vacant April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1949[j] | Harry S. Truman | |||||
35 | Alben W. Barkley (1877–1956) [53] |
January 20, 1949 – January 20, 1953 |
Democratic | 1948 | |||
36 | Richard Nixon (1913–1994) [54][55] |
January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961 |
Republican | 1952
1956 |
Dwight D. Eisenhower | ||
37 | Lyndon B. Johnson[n] (1908–1973) [56] |
January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963 |
Democratic | 1960 | John F. Kennedy | ||
— | Office vacant November 22, 1963 – January 20, 1965[j] | Lyndon B. Johnson | |||||
38 | Hubert Humphrey (1911–1978) [57] |
January 20, 1965 – January 20, 1969 |
Democratic | 1964 | |||
39 | Spiro Agnew[k] (1918–1996) [58] |
January 20, 1969 – October 10, 1973 |
Republican | 1968
1972 |
Richard Nixon | ||
— | Office vacant October 10 – December 6, 1973[q] | ||||||
40[r] | Gerald Ford[n] (1913–2006) [59][60] |
December 6, 1973 – August 9, 1974 |
Republican | 1973[s] | |||
— | Office vacant August 9 – December 19, 1974[q] | Gerald Ford | |||||
41[t] | Nelson Rockefeller (1908–1979) [61] |
December 19, 1974 – January 20, 1977 |
Republican | 1974[s] | |||
42 | Walter Mondale (1928–2021) [62] |
January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981 |
Democratic | 1976 | Jimmy Carter | ||
43 | George H. W. Bush (1924–2018) [63][64] |
January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989 |
Republican | 1980
1984 |
Ronald Reagan | ||
44 | Dan Quayle (b. 1947) [65] |
January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993 |
Republican | 1988 | George H. W. Bush | ||
45 | Al Gore (b. 1948) [66] |
January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001 |
Democratic | 1992
1996 |
Bill Clinton | ||
46 | Dick Cheney (b. 1941) [67] |
January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009 |
Republican | 2000
2004 |
George W. Bush | ||
47 | Joe Biden (b. 1942) [68] |
January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017 |
Democratic | 2008
2012 |
Barack Obama | ||
48 | Mike Pence (b. 1959) [69][70] |
January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021 |
Republican | 2016 | Donald Trump | ||
49 | Kamala Harris (b. 1964) [3] |
January 20, 2021 – Incumbent |
Democratic | 2020 | Joe Biden |
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term | Party | Election | President-elect | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
50 | JD Vance (b. 1984) [71] |
To be sworn in on January 20, 2025 |
Republican | 2024 | Donald Trump |
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