Isn't it a little strange that throughout the plot of this movie no one ever mentions Shepherd's VP? I mean a VP is a pretty important part of any president's administration, to say the least.
Please don't confront me with my failures, I have not forgotten them.
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That's peculiar for me because I only have the vice presidencies of Gore, Cheney and Biden to compare and all of them, especially Cheney, were more or less integral within their respective administrations.
Please don't confront me with my failures, I have not forgotten them.
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They didn't need the presence of the VP to tell this story. Bear in mind that the story is the romance, not the politics going on. But you can't have a movie about The President, absent some political action... so... who needs the VP when the prez is dating?
just sayin'
what was the VP supposed to do in this perspective, romance the presidents girlfriend??
shareBush may have been President (by title), but it was Cheney who was the "man behind the curtains", running the show more often than not.
Not exactly a good rule of thumb to go by.
In general thou, Vice Presidents tend to be very "low key". Although they have certain obligations, a Vice President is rather powerless, unless promoted to power via the 25th Amendment.
Not a correction, since what you wrote applies currently, but as a matter of history, Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the Constitution worked until 1967, when the 25th Amendment (which has yet to promote a Veep to power) was ratified. Before that, there were gaps where there WAS no Veep (Truman didn't have one for his entire first term, and LBJ didn't from '63-'64).
I agree about Cheney, darkthunder84. I read once that there were those in the West Wing who were glad he did have the influence he did.
But it's true that the job of most Veeps is to "attend funerals" - as one put it, I forget which - and they aren't usually involved in day-to-day operations. I remember a Poli Sci prof in college telling us of one who had a standing, brief meeting scheduled with the President every two weeks, just to make sure he stayed on the same page/in line.
"You die, we fly."
shareGore and Biden got/get more face/media time than previous VPs, but they really didn't/don't do more than traditional VPs. On the other hand Cheney had too much influence.
shareAlso, a number of VPs have been chosen per their ability to get votes the presidential candidate knows he can't - LBJ, for example. Kennedy needed to carry Texas to win, and Johnson was able to deliver. They were not exactly friends. The job is often offered to the guy who lost most closely in the primary season, when he & the winner were arguably enemies, at least politically.
shareShepherd was in fine health throughout the movie -- there would probably be no need for the VP to be involved in daily operations.
Presumably Shepherd did meet with the VP off camera.
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4) You ever seen Superman $#$# his pants? Case closed.
@Vulpes_zerda As someone who's watched The West Wing, I can tell you that screenwriter Aaron Sorkin thinks that VPs are unimportant. He has WW characters treat the VP as a nuisance.
shareIt's possible or even probable that, as in The West Wing, the president picked someone to ideologically "balance the ticket" but didn't like him and didn't want him involved in operations or decisionmaking.
shareA VP doesn't do anything. He is elected in the case the president dies. He is not supposed to go around the White House and act like a boss.
share