April 4, 2017 •
About our 47 U.S. Vice Presidents
Since George Washington took his oath as president of the U.S. in 1789, there have been 47 vice presidents of the United States. All have been men.
In looking at the modern Republican and Democratic parties as we know them, there have been 13 Republican and 10 Democratic vice presidents since 1900.
Fourteen vice presidents have become president of the United States; eight because of death.
Richard M. Nixon is the only vice president to become president, but not go directly from one office to the next. In 1961, Nixon left the office of vice president, and in 1969 he was inaugurated as president.
Two men have not been elected to the office of vice president: Gerald Ford in 1973 and Nelson Rockefeller in 1974.
Two men have resigned from the office of vice president: John Calhoun in 1832 and Spiro Agnew in 1973.
There have been three times that the 25th Amendment, Section III of the U.S. Constitution has been invoked, where the vice president actually became the acting president. This occurred when President Ronald Reagan had surgery in 1985 and when President George W. Bush was sedated for medical procedures in both 2002 and 2007.
The Nobel Peace Prize has been won by vice presidents three times: Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, Charles Dawes in 1925, and Al Gore in 2007.
Lastly, there has been one vice president accused of murder. In 1804, Vice President Aaron Burr shot and killed Alexander Hamilton.
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