# Is Joe Biden the lowest-profile VP ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 15, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139 "2015-05-15T22:26:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/1 "2015-05-15T22:26:23Z")
The other day, it took me about five seconds to remember who the vice-president of the USA is. While this memory lapse might suggest premature senility, I wonder whether it’s attributable to an extremely low profile by Mr. Biden. Does Mr. Biden do as much as previous VPs, but is simply not as publicized or reported on? Should he hire a publicist? Hell, I even remember Gerald Ford’s VP–Nelson Rockefeller. And from reading a history book eons ago, that Harry Truman did not have a VP in his first term. But Biden seems to be such an absence…is it excessive anti-charisma or something? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/2 "2015-05-16T00:15:38Z")
Biden is a favorite target of late-night TV jokes, and occasionally a guest on Sunday morning talk shows. Lyndon Johnson was almost completely ignored when he was JFK’s Vice President, and he was far more powerful before then than Biden ever was. Hubert Humphrey was so neglected as Johnson’s VP that [Tom Leher wrote a song about it.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld7VVBztuVM) Vice Presidents seem to only appear for one of three reasons: 1. They say something really stupid (Biden, Dan Quayle, Spiro Agnew) 2. The President gets shot (Johnson, George HW Bush) 3. They actually run for President (Humphrey, Bush, Gore) Dick Cheney is an exception, but how many exceptions like that do we really want? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/3 "2015-05-16T00:28:07Z")
Nope, [Vice-President King](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_R._King): sworn into office in Havana, returned to Alabama and died, without ever stepping foot in Washington as Veep. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/4 "2015-05-16T01:12:34Z")
The standard joke is: > [@](#): > > Which vice president said: “Once there were two brothers. One ran away to sea; the other was elected vice president of the United States. And nothing was heard of either of them again”? > > Thomas Marshall. [http://www.vicepresidents.com/theysaidIT.html](http://www.vicepresidents.com/theysaidIT.html) ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/5 "2015-05-16T01:12:44Z")
No, VPs only rarely had any role at all. Cheney was a serious abberation. Who recalls who Truman’s VP was (Alben Barkley). Unless they ran for president or ascended to office, they were nearly always unknown. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/6 "2015-05-16T01:16:54Z")
> **[Biden To Cool His Heels In Mexico For A While](https://www.theonion.com/biden-to-cool-his-heels-in-mexico-for-a-while-1819571718)** > > JUÁREZ, MEXICO—In an effort to let the heat die down a little, Vice President Joe Biden reportedly skipped town Saturday, telling White House officials that he was going to be lying low in Mexico for a spell. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/7 "2015-05-16T02:19:10Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Who recalls who Truman’s VP was (Alben Barkley). :raises hand: His grandson coined the term “Veep”, insuring Barkley had V-P immortality. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/8 "2015-05-16T03:24:19Z")
I would say that Biden is actually higher-profile than many, given his chronic foot-in-mouth disease. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/9 "2015-05-16T03:44:38Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > No, VPs only rarely had any role at all. Cheney was a serious abberation. Who recalls who Truman’s VP was (Alben Barkley). Unless they ran for president or ascended to office, they were nearly always unknown. Wasn’t it Truman who said the Vice Presidency wasn’t worth a pitcher of warm piss? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/10 "2015-05-16T03:57:33Z")
Nope, [John Nance Garner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nance_Garner) - FDR’s first Vice-President. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/11 "2015-05-16T04:04:13Z")
Lowest profile veep ever? Pff. Try ass-kickin-est veep ever. [Proof, bitches.](http://www.theonion.com/search?q=%22joe-biden%22&page=2) ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/12 "2015-05-16T05:44:30Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Nope, [John Nance Garner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nance_Garner) - FDR’s first Vice-President. No, that guy will never be forgotten, simply because of crossword puzzles. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/13 "2015-05-16T14:30:26Z")
LBJ once noted “Hell, Ah keep Hubert’s balls in mah back pocket”. It’s really only since Carter made Mondale effectively his Chief of Staff that the VP even had close day to day involvement in the White House. The standard joke that the job was to look good in a suit at a foreign funeral is pretty well faded by now. And it’s only been since Cheney that the VP of a two-term administration was not pretty much automatically the party’s next nominee for President. It isn’t clear why Biden has never publicly been interested. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/14 "2015-05-16T19:47:41Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > LBJ once noted “Hell, Ah keep Hubert’s balls in mah back pocket”. > > It’s really only since Carter made Mondale effectively his Chief of Staff that the VP even had close day to day involvement in the White House. The standard joke that the job was to look good in a suit at a foreign funeral is pretty well faded by now. > > And it’s only been since Cheney that the VP of a two-term administration was not pretty much automatically the party’s next nominee for President. It isn’t clear why Biden has never publicly been interested. That’s wrong. AFAIK, Nixon in 1960 was the first VP to seriously try to become his party’s nominee and he won the nomination, but lost the election (officially, anyway). Before that I cannot think VP who then ran for president unless he had already acceeded to the office. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/15 "2015-05-16T22:43:31Z")
Before Eisenhower’s, there were no legally term-limited administrations anyway. Both of FDR’s VP’s from his third and fourth terms ran in 1948, btw (Garner was probably just too old by then even if he had support). To find a two-termer whose VP did not run to succeed him, you have to go back to Woodrow Wilson and Thomas Marshall in 1918, and even then Wilson’s departure from office was forced on him by his stroke. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/16 "2015-05-16T22:53:37Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Before that I cannot think VP who then ran for president unless he had already acceeded to the office. Not recently, but John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Martin Van Buren are earlier examples. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/17 "2015-05-17T23:00:54Z")
VP’s typically only got some recognition when they took on some special project, possibly assigned by the Prez. For example, Jackie became well-known for that Beautify America campaign, and Hilary became well-known for that (somewhat serious) attempt to establish a nation-wide government-sponsored health care program. What? They _weren’t_ VP’s? Who were they then? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/18 "2015-05-18T01:09:18Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > It’s really only since Carter made Mondale effectively his Chief of Staff that the VP even had close day to day involvement in the White House. The standard joke that the job was to look good in a suit at a foreign funeral is pretty well faded by now. This. Carter’s giving Mondale a nontrivial role in policymaking was what changed the veep job into something meaningful. Before then, Garner’s line, and Tom Lehrer’s song, were accurate reflections of the job. That said, it does seem that Biden’s profile has been not only lower than Cheney’s (and given that Cheney was President in all but name for a few years, it would have been hard to beat that), but also lower than that of Gore or Quayle, although with Quayle one has to take into account that he was a high-profile laughingstock. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/19 "2015-05-18T01:22:06Z")
**LynnM** , where were you during the last Presidential election cycle? Biden was making headlines every week. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Annoying\_Buzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Annoying\_Buzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoying_Buzz)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139/20 "2015-05-18T06:18:24Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Not recently, but John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Martin Van Buren are earlier examples. Although back then the VP was the guy who finished 2nd in the election, rather than the candidate’s hand-picked running mate. So by definition the VPs back then all had presidential aspirations. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-joe-biden-the-lowest-profile-vp-ever/720139.md?page=2)