Johnson with JFK is the classic answer. He helped Jack win, and was a good president on his own.
And, I think Harris helped a little for Biden. A youngish black/mixed female. I think she helped some with “Well, yeah Joe is getting up there, but his Veep is much younger”.
Having Dick Cheney on the ticket in 2000 assured a lot of people that if Bush turned out to be as dim as many thought, there would at least be a smart shadow president to call the shots. That could have easily been the margin among the few hundred Floridians that determined the outcome…assuming the SCOTUS wasn’t already in the bag for Bush.
Vice President candidates that had an effect on the election.
I think Aaron Burr scoops the prize in this category.
I beg to differ
I think Walter Mondale helped Jimmy Carter in 1976. Mondale was a classic New Deal liberal, Carter was a little-known southern Democrat. Mondale had Washington experience, Carter did not. Mondale had ties to labor, which was a much bigger deal in 1976 than today. Given the closeness of the final result, I’d say Mondale provided at least a little bump.
Still, if the QB’s attempt at a hail mary is spinning around in circles with his eyes closed and then throwing the ball straight up in the air, you can’t really say “well they didn’t have a chance anyway.”
wiki- Johnson’s domestic policy was aimed at expanding civil rights, public broadcasting, Medicare, Medicaid, aid to education and the arts, urban and rural development, and public services. In 1964 Johnson coined the term the “Great Society” to describe these efforts. In addition, he sought to create better living conditions for low income Americans by spearheading a campaign unofficially called the “War on Poverty”; assisted by a strong economy, this helped millions of Americans rise above the poverty line during his administration.[3] Johnson followed his predecessor’s actions in bolstering NASA and made the Apollo Program a national priority. He enacted the Higher Education Act of 1965 which established federally insured student loans. Johnson signed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 which laid the groundwork for U.S. immigration policy today. Johnson’s opinion on the issue of civil rights put him at odds with other white, southern Democrats. His civil rights legacy was shaped by signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 all by itself qualifies him as a good president.
As opposed to low-income Vietnamese.
Ok, you convinced me. LBJ was not the worst President in American history.
He was only the second worst.
LBJ was a great man and a great president. Medicare and Civil Rights are massive. Civil Rights doesn’t get past without his persuasive abilities with Congress and perhaps never does get passed. Medicare has been of tremendous benefit to millions of people. LBJ is easily in my top 10 presidents.
He could be on my top 10 list of presidents if he could also be on the bottom 10 list. He got some great things done but not all his best intentions for the Great Society worked out well, and then there was this little thing called Nam. I don’t think people realize how much LBJ wanted the government to work for those who needed it most, unfortunately he’s mostly remembered for his disastrous decision to send troops to Vietnam that would result in so much death and destruction.
When I was a high school senior, circa 1969-70, our Problems of Democracy teacher opined that without Vietnam, LBJ would go down in history as one of our greatest presidents. Of course, we all scoffed at the time. His popularity among young people couldn’t have been lower. But he was right. JFK aspired to a whole list of social programs that benefited many Americans but didn’t live to see them happen. It took a strong leader like LBJ to push them through a reluctant Congress. Unfortunately, his mishandling of foreign policy is a lasting stain on his legacy.
I agree that without Vietnam, LBJ is right up there with FDR. But I think that any president would have done the same in Vietnam, JFK included. To do otherwise would cause you to be tarred with the soft on communism brush and at the time, the domino theory was pretty much orthodoxy.
I don’t think it’s that clear. LBJ made a bad decision. He knew he was being pushed into Nam. Involvement there was another thing JFK wanted and LBJ added that to the list of legacy goals. Kennedy has received a lot of credit for Johnson’s success in achieving many of those goals. I don’t think Kennedy would have that well at himself. Johnson might not have either, he benefited from public support due to his predecessor’s death.
He didn’t have to go all in with Nam but the political forces were strong. He felt he needed to do it to maintain the public support for his social programs. By the time he found out our military had no idea what they were doing it was too late.
Except Burr was never a vice-presidential candidate. He ran for president against Adams and Jefferson and wound up in second place. Pre-12th amendment.
We call this ‘treatment’ ‘The Truth’.
For Palin, sure, but Quayle was not as dumb as he was portrayed. At the very least, he helped stiffen Pence’s spine that he couldn’t just disregard delegates on 1/6.
Both of them deserve the credit for portraying themselves as dumb. Neither of them was doing it intentionally. One (Sarah Palin) may be dumber than the other, but they were both clearly dumb.
I don’t think Quayle was dumb. He was prone to gaffes, which gave the impression that he was dumb, and he was absolutely awful in public debates. However, his education and accomplishments prior to his service as VP suggest he was at least of above average intelligence.
On the other hand, Quayle’s life has had numerous controversies, he was by no means a role model.
There was the infamous Paula Parkinson sex scandal (partying with a Playboy Playmate/lobbyist).
He championed Daniel Manion as judge, despite serious concerns about qualifications, and Reagan appointed him. Manion and Quayle were in law school together.
Quayle avoided service in Viet Nam by joining the Indiana National Guard. While today that likely isn’t considered a big deal to many people, it was a big issue for him in his political career.