Not Exactly a Crime...

"Th' prisidincy is th' highest office in th' gift to th' people. Th' vice prisidincy is th' next highest an th' lowest. It isn't a crime exactly. Ye can't be sint to jail fr it, but it's kind iv a disgrace. It's like writin' anonymous letters." --Mr. Dooley[1906]

Once upon a time vice presidents were chosen in hurried consultations between top party leaders huddled in smoke-filled rooms. Hastily selected, quickly nominated, winning almost unnoticed, they ascended the steps of Blair House, and disappeared--never to be heard from again. The obscurity of the office prompted then vice-president Theodore Roosevelt to complain that it was "not a stepping stone to anything but oblivion," and FDR's first vice president. John Nance Garner, to say that the post was worth less than "a pitcher of warm spit."

But the 1980 election has been different. With Bush running for the presidency, opponents of both parties criticizing Reagan's age; the media playing up the "Reagan-Ford deal that wasn't" and political commentators speculating on the possibility of a Carter-Kennedy alignment or a Mondale presidency. American voters have had little opportunity to forget the office of Number Two.

The new attention focused on the vice presidency is a post-Watergate development. Increased voter awareness coupled with widespread media coverage of vice-presidential nominees has forced presidential candidates to spend more time and use different criteria in selecting their running mates. In addition, the office itself has gradually gained influence--it is no longer just a ceremonial post--and the days when a vice president disappeared into anonymity as soon as he was sworn in seem gone for good.

Unlike many of their predecessors, both Walter Mondale and George Bush were nominated to the vice presidency after a long and careful selection process. In 1972, George McGovern chose Sen. Thomas Eagleton of Missouri in what has been described as a "one minute and two second telephone conversation." By contrast, Carter surveyed 14 nominees, held 30 to 40 meetings with key citizens, and personally interviewed the final seven contenders before nominating Mondale as his running mate in 1976. Last spring Reagan's staff polled party members nationwide to determine their vice-presidential preference, and--despite a brief flirtation with former President Ford--eventually listened to the polls and selected George Bush.

John Anderson's agonizing and protracted search for a vice president also testifies to the growing importance of the number-two man during a campaign. In his attempt to enlist a well-known running mate who could help revive his faltering campaign, Anderson approached Boston's Mayor White, former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, and New York Governor Carey. at the same time gaining much media coverage while political analysts speculated on his eventual choice. Anderson's failure to attract a nationally-known vice president--he finally selected Patrick Lucey, former Governer of Minnesota--lost him an opportunity to resuscitate his campaign.

The major-party nominations of Bush and Mondale also reveal a shift in the characteristics considered necessary for a vice presidential candidate--a shift which may be largely due to their increasing share of campaign coverage. Both men represent not only the traditional balance of ideology, region and experience, but also an apparent attempt by party leaders to balance the personal styles of the running mates.

Reagan advisers and political analysts tend to agree that Bush's nomination represents a triumph of electoral logic over sentiment. (Bush was chosen, for instance, over Sen. Paul Laxalt (R-Nev.), a close friend and ideological cohort of Reagan whose selection would have put two conservative Westerners on the ticket.) A Texas oil industry, Bush has the advantage of a split geographical background. While a presidential candidate, he won six primaries--including those in the key states of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Michigan--and is being counted on to help Reagan in those areas where the former California governor is weakest. Bush, who served in five national posts in the last 10 years including U.S. representative, U.N. Ambassador under Nixon, and head of the CIA under Ford--brings to the ticket the foreign policy experience and Washington expertise which Reagan flagrantly lacks. In addition, Republican strategists are counting on Bush's age, a mere 56, and ideology, slightly more moderate than Reagan's, to help mitigate some of the doubts about the presidential candidate.

But one of Bush's biggest pluses is his personal style and manner. A graduate of Andover and Yale who often wears three-piece suits and has been described as a "gentlemanly" campaigner, Bush embodies to many the Eastern Republican establishment--a sector of the electorate to which Reagan's grass-roots style has very little appeal.

The role Mondale has played in this campaign also underlines the growing attention to the personality and character of the vice presidential nominee. Mondale, a protege of Hubert Humphrey, was nominated in 1976 primarily because of his strong ties to the liberal side of the Democratic party and his widespread support in the Midwest and Northeast. But in the 1980 campaign his appeal seems to be based at least equally on his personal integrity and low-key style. An easy-going politician who is respected by liberals and neo-conservatives alike, Mondale has to a degree counterbalanced Carter's aloof and sometimes caustic personality. As one politician noted, "Mondale simply has no negative constituency." And in an election where many of the ballots cast will be negative votes, this is seen as an important attribute.

The role of the vice president has changed greatly since the days when the number-two man on the ticket did little more than attract a few regional votes. In the post-Watergate years the positions, personalities and characters of potential candidates have been closely scrutinized before nomination. And over a longer period--with the growing size and complexity of the federal bureaucracy--the vice presidency has evolved into a position with more substantive duties.

Where Van Buren's vice president had so little to do he left Washington for a summer to run an inn, Lyndon B. Johnson headed the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunities and the Aeronautics and Space Council under Kennedy. Harry Truman did not even know about the existence of an atomic bomb when he became president, but Nixon was allowed to preside over the National Security Council when President Eisenhower was absent.

When he was nominated Mondale announced that he wanted "a very broad range of dutes and responsibilities in both domestic and foreign policy," and most Washington observers agree that he has achieved this objective. During his tenure as vice president, Mondale has won from the Administration strong stands on affirmative action and increased funding for a variety of educational and urban programs. Mondale played an important role in gaining the cooperation of organized labor in endorsing anti-inflationary policies. And in a symbolic flourish, he is the first vice president with an office in the West Wing of the White House.

No matter which party wins, the vice presidency will probably expand its influence during the next four years. Although Bush--because of his oftcited differences with Reagan early in the campaign--has remained remarkably quiet about his own positions since his nomination, his Washington experience will put him in a good position to assume major duties under a Reagan administration. If the Democrats win, Mondale will undoubtedly continue his efforts to be what he likes to call "a damn good vice president."

Regardless of their effectiveness as vice presidents, both candidates are likely to be heard from again. As one of the few offices where a politician can gain the media coverage and national recognition needed to start a successful presidential campaign, the vice presidency has increasingly become a launching pad to the White House. Bush seems content to take a back seat in this election, but speculation is increasing that he is setting himself up for another attempt at the presidency in 1984. Mondale also will be in a good position to challenge Kennedy for the Democratic nomination. A story that Thomas R. Marshall, vice president under Woodrow Wilson, liked to tell is no longer appropriate: There once were two brothers: "One ran away to see, and the other was elected Vice President. Neither was ever heard from again.