The USA's 47 Vice Presidents: John Adams to Joe Biden, 1789-2009
68The SECOND most important people in the USA
ONE heartbeat away from the US presidency!
There have been 47 vice presidents of the United States of America, some VPs are VERY well known, others COMPLETELY obscure.
Fate and forturnes often play a hand determining in which column each VP ends up.
Q: Are there always Vice Presidents?
A: Yes, technically, but EIGHTEEN times in American history the position has been (gasp!) empty. You'll see those gaps in the list below.
Here's the list of all 47 VPs
Number - VP - (term) - [President]
1. John Adams (1789 - 1797) [George Washington]
2. Thomas Jefferson (1797 - 1801) [John Adams]
3. Aaron Burr (1801 - 1805) [Thomas Jefferson]
4. George Clinton (1805 - 1812) [Thomas Jefferson/James Madison]
1812 - 1813: none [James Madison]
5. Elbridge Gerry (1813 -1814) [James Madison]
1814 - 1817: none [James Madison]
6. Daniel Tompkins (1817 - 1825) [James Monroe]
7. John C. Calhoun (1825 - 1832) [John Quincy Adams / Andrew Jackson]
1832 -1833: none [Andrew Jackson]
8. Martin Van Buren (1833 - 1837) [Andrew Jackson]
9. Richard M. Johnson (1837 - 1841) [Martin Van Buren]
10. John Tyler (1841) [William Henry Harrison]
1841 - 1845: none [John Tyler]
11. George M. Dallas (1845 - 1849) [James K. Polk]
12. Millard Fillmore (1849 - 1950) [Zachary Taylor]
1850 - 1853: none [Millard Fillmore]
13. William Rufus De Vane King (1853) [Franklin Pierce]
1853 - 1857: none [Franklin Pierce]
14. John C. Breckinridge (1857 - 1861) [James Buchanan]
15. Hanibal Hamlin (1861 - 1865) [Abraham Lincoln]
16. Andrew Johnson (1865) ]Abraham Lincoln]
1865 - 1869: none [Abraham Lincoln]
17. Schuyler Colfax (1869 - 1873) [Ulysses Grant]
18. Henry Wilson (1873 - 1875) [Ulysses Grant]
1875 - 1877: none [Ulysses Grant]
19. William A. Wheeler (1877 - 1881) [Rutherford Hayes]
20. Chester A. Arthur (1881) [James Garfield]
1881 - 1885: none [Chester A. Arthur]
21. .Thomas H. Hendricks (1885) [Grover Cleveland]
1885 - 1889: none [Grover Cleveland]
22: Levy P. Morton {1889 - 1893) [Benjamin Harrison]
23. Adlai E. Stevenson (1893 - 1897) [Grover Cleveland]
24. Garret A. Hobart (1897 - 1899) [William McKinley]
1899 - 1901: none [William McKinley]
25. Theodore Roosevelt (1901) [William McKinley]
1901 - 1905: none [Theodore Roosevelt]
26. Charles W. Fairbanks (1905 - 1909) [Theodore Roosevelt]
27. James S. Sherman (1909 - 1912) [William H. Taft]
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1912 - 1913: none [William H. Taft]
28. Thomas R. Marshall (1913 - 1921) [Woodrow Wilson]
29. Calvin Coolidge (1921 - 1923) [Woodrow Wilson]
1923 - 1925: none [Calvin Coolidge]
30. Charles G. Dawes (1925 - 1929) [Calvin Coolidge]
31. Charles Curtis (1929 - 1933) [Herbert Hoover]
32. John N. Garner (1933 - 1941) [Franklin D. Roosevelt]
33. Henry A. Wallace (1941 - 1945) [Franklin D. Roosevelt]
34. Harry S. Truman (1945) [Franklin D. Roosevelt]
1945 - 1949: none [Harry S. Truman]
35. Alben W. Barkley (1949 - 1953) [Harry S. Truman]
36. Richard M. Nixon (1953 - 1961) [Dwight D. Eisenhower]
37. Lyndon B. Johnson (1961 - 1963) [John F. Kennedy]
1963 - 1965: none [Lyndon B. Johnson]
38. Herbert H. Humphrey (1965 - 1969) [Lyndon B. Johnson]
39. Spiro Agnew (1969 - 1973) [Richard M. Nixon]
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40. Gerald R. Ford (1973 - 1974) [Richard M. Nixon[]
1974: none [Gerald R. Ford]
41. Nelson A. Rockefeller (1974 - 1977) [Gerald R. Ford]
42. Walter F. Mondale (1977 - 1981) [Jimmy Carter]
43. George H. W. Bush (1981 - 1989) [Ronald Reagan]
44. James Danforth Quayle (1989 - 1993) [George H. W. Bush]
45. Albert A. Gore, Jr. (1993 - 2001) [Bill Clinton]
46. Richard B. Cheney (2001 - 2009) [George W. Bush]
47. Joseph R. Biden (2009 - ) [Barack H. Obama]
NEW! White House web site
At a few minutes past noon on inauguration day, the official web site www.WhiteHouse.gov quietly changed hands to the Obama team of digital experts. The site is completely new. Enjoy its many new features, including a slide show of past presidents in the Oval Office. Enjoy.
Links to learn more!
The USA's 44 Presidents, Washington to Obama
The USA's 67 Secretaries of State, Thomas Jefferson to Hillary Clinton
CIA Directors of the United States, 1946 - 2009
Top 10 DEFINING DOCUMENTS in American history
JOB HUNTING
Work in radio THIS WEEK: six simple steps
MUSIC
DISCO and SOUL music history (also DANCE and R&B)
MELODY, HARMONY & RHYTHM: the DNA of music
Songs of Protest, Revolution & Change in America
Copyright(C) 2009 Thomas R. Zarecki. All Rights Reserved.
CommentsLoading...
Hi DG...great question, here's the answer: there have been more VICE presidents because a number of two-term presidents did NOT use the same VP when re-elected.
That that has only occured twice in the last 100 years (Nixon had 2 VPs because his first, Agnew, resigned, and FDR had 3 VPs for his 4 terms in office).
But back in the 1800's there were 6 presidents (Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, Grant, Cleveland, McKinley) who all had more than one VP during their presidency.
Thanks for asking.
dumb guy 3 years ago
I must be dumb... Why have there been more vice-presidents (47) than presidents (44)? Your article even mentions that there has been a vice-presidential vanancy 18 times, so how can there be more 2nd-in-commands than 1sts? Do they die in office more often?