VID: Does the Vice President Matter in American Politics?

“Is the Vice Presidency an Irrelevant Position?,” interview by
Nick Gillespie and produced by Amanda Winkler. About 8 minutes.

Original release date was December 5, 2014 and original writeup
is below.

“Who am I? Why am I here?” asked Admiral
James Stockdale, one-time running mate to Ross Perot, in a
famous 1992 vice presidential debate. The admiral’s remarks
garnered ridicule from the public, but recently acclaimed
political journalist and author Jules Witcover
has asked the same questions about the vice presidential role
itself: Just what does the vice president do and why does it
matter?

Witcover’s new book,
The American Vice Presidency: From Irrelevance to
Power, explores how the roles and
responsibilities of the vice president have shifted and expanded
over the years. No longer expected to just preside over the Senate,
modern vice presidents have, according to Witcover, gained more
power through political maneuvering and manipulation. 

Witcover recently sat down with Reason TV’s Nick Gillespie to
discuss his new book, his least favorite vice president, and why
John McCain’s 2008 choice of Sarah Palin for a running mate was a
hail Mary pass. 

Approximately 8 minutes.

Edited by Amanda Winkler. Camera by Joshua Swain and Meredith
Bragg. 

Scroll down for downloadable versions of this video and
subscribe to Reason
TV’s YouTube channel to receive automatic updates when new
material goes live.