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Isn’t it a bitch? This vice-president thing? Joe Biden, Harvard University 2nd October 2014
Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice-president of the United States of America … Quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me. Joe Biden, Nashua, New Hampshire 10 September 2008
The man with the best job in the country is the vice-president. All he has to do is get up in the morning and say, How is the president? Will Rogers
What is so unnerving about the candidacy of Sarah Palin is the degree to which she represents – and her supporters celebrate – the joyful marriage of confidence and ignorance. Ask yourself: how has ‘elitism’ become a bad word in American politics? There is simply no other walk of life in which extraordinary talent and rigorous training are denigrated. We want elite pilots to fly our planes, elite troops to undertake our most critical missions, elite athletes to represent us in competition and elite scientists to devote the most productive years of their lives to curing our diseases. And yet, when it comes time to vest people with even greater responsibilities, we consider it a virtue to shun any and all standards of excellence. When it comes to choosing the people whose thoughts and actions will decide the fates of millions, then we suddenly want someone just like us, someone fit to have a beer with, someone down-to-earth – in fact, almost anyone, provided that he or she doesn’t seem too intelligent or well educated. Sam Harris
A year ago Dick was running the country. Today, he lives out of a little suitcase. George W Bush, remark at sponsors’ prime-rib dinner
The young man who asks you to set him one heart-beat from the presidency of the United States. Adlai Stevenson, re Richard Nixon
As for that VP talk all the time. I tell you, I still can’t answer that question until someone answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does. Sarah Palin
Not worth a bucket [sometimes quoted as pitcher] of warm piss [sometimes quoted as spit]. John Nance Garner, 1868-1967
Worst damnfool mistake I ever made was letting myself be elected vice-president of the United States. Should have stuck with my old chores as Speaker of the House. I gave up the second most important job in the Government for one that didn't amount to a hill of beans. I spent eight long years as Mr Roosevelt’s spare tire. I might still be Speaker if I didn’t let them elect me vice-president. John Nance Garner
I am not in a leadership position. I am supporting the president. He can exert the leadership and I can support him. Nelson Rockefeller
I go to funerals. I go to earthquakes. Nelson Rockefeller
The understanding was that the vice-president would be the central player in the new administration, and do everything he could to enhance presidential power. Frontline: Cheney’s Law, PBS 2007
The vice-president set the style: secrecy. ibid.
He became President Ford’s Chief of Staff. ibid.
9/11: They wanted to gather as much power for the president as possible. ibid.
But the Democrats weren’t disposed to grant such sweeping presidential authority and they controlled the Senate. ibid.
Goldsmith was one of the first outsiders to read the memos written by his friend John Yoo. To his surprise they place almost no limits on the power of the president. ibid.
If you had it to do over again, would you have her [Palin] on the ticket? Game Change 2012 starring Julianne Moore & Woody Harrelson & Ed Harris & Peter MacNicol & Jamey Sheridan & Sarah Paulson & Ron Livingston & Melissa Farman & Kevin Bigley et all, director Jay Roach, 60 Minutes interview of Steve Schmidt, McCain’s senior campaign strategist
August 2007: John McCain puts country first. ibid.
July 24 2008: If he [Obama] holds a sick baby, we’re really fucked. ibid. McCain to team
A man of no accomplishment has become the biggest celebrity in the world. ibid. Schmidt
We definitely need a game-changing pick. ibid.
We have to change the gender gap. ibid.
She has an 80% approval rating in Alaska ... This is a woman with a gun, John. ibid.
It’s God’s plan. ibid. Palin to Schmidt on plane
To introduce to you the next vice-president of the United States – Governor Sarah Palin of the great state of Alaska. ibid. McCain
When she talks about guns, you can tell it’s for real. ibid. voter
Schmidt: You could be the party’s next Ronald Reagan.
Palin: Jesse. He’s my hero. ibid.
Governor, do you know what the Fed is? ibid. Schmidt
You need to make a big move, John. ibid. advisor
She’s having a mini-meltdown. ibid. female advisor
You never listen to your advisors. ibid. female advisor to Palin
Youtube is making it exponentially worse. ibid. Schmidt to McCain
She constantly slips into these catatonic stupors. ibid. advisor
Has it occurred to you guys that she might be mentally unstable? ibid.
She could be on the verge of a complete nervous breakdown. ibid. Schmidt to McCain
This isn’t a campaign I wanted to run. ibid. McCain
Fuck me. What were we supposed to do? ibid. McCain to Schmidt
Remember, you’re a hockey mom who wanted to make a difference. ibid. McCain to Palin
Anyone who thinks that the vice-president can take a position independent of the president of his administration simply has no knowledge of politics or government. You are his choice in a political marriage, and he expects your absolute loyalty. Hubert H Humphrey
Vice-president – it has such a nice ring to it. Geraldine Ferraro
If you’ve seen one slum, you’ve seen them all. Spiro Agnew
A little over a week ago I took a rather unusual step for a vice-president ... I said something. Spiro Agnew
The vice-presidency is the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived. John Adams
I am vice-president. In this I am nothing. But I may be everything. John Adams
Look at all the vice-presidents in history. Where are they? They were about as useful as a cow’s fifth teat. Harry S Truman
I would a great deal rather be anything, say professor of history, than vice-president. Theodore Roosevelt
This is a hell of a job. I can only do two things: one is to sit up here and listen to you birds talk ... The other is to look at newspapers every morning to see how the president’s health is. Charles Dawes
Keep your mouth shut, your head down, and don’t act like you want it. Jack Kemp
Grace Coolidge: You’re not going to take it, are you?
Calvin Coolidge: I suppose I’ll have to.
The chief embarrassment in discussing the office is that in explaining how little there is to say about it one has evidently said all there is to say. Woodrow Wilson
I have no interest in it. Might very well turn it down, indeed, and probably would. Al Gore