{"id":14848,"date":"2026-04-07T16:42:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T16:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/14848\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T16:42:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T16:42:09","slug":"the-most-famous-vice-presidents-in-us-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/14848\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Famous Vice Presidents in US History"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today is the momentous occasion of US Vice President JD Vance<\/a> visiting our country. To mark the historic event, we have compiled a list of the most famous, most impactful people who have held that office throughout the United States\u2019 history.<\/p>\n

However, given that many of the Vice Presidents have made more of a name for themselves after ascending to the office of Presidency\u2014either upon the death of the sitting President they have served under, through an election of their own, or both\u2014we have divided our list into two categories: five people who went on to serve as Presidents, and five people never served as Presidents, only Vice Presidents.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the people who later became POTUS\u2019s.<\/p>\n

John Adams<\/p>\n

Founding Father Adams was the first person in US history to hold the newly created Office of the Vice President, under none other than President George Washington. He was a key figure in the Revolution, serving as a delegate from Massachusetts in the Continental Congress. As part of that role, he was even on the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence.<\/p>\n

During his time as VP, however, he was less influential on US politics. President Washington did not consider him a member of his cabinet, thus he did not attend cabinet meetings. Rather, his primary role was presiding over the Senate\u2014he actually somewhat resented that less active role in the earliest days of the federal US government. However, he was one of the founding members of the Federalist Party, the first political party in US history. In 1796, he was elected President.<\/p>\n

Thomas Jefferson<\/p>\n

\"Thomas_Jefferson_by_Rembrandt_Peale,_1800\"US Vice President and President Thomas Jefferson SOURCE: Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n

Adams had to serve out his four years as President with his fierce political rival, Thomas Jefferson from the opposition Democratic-Republican Party, as his Vice President. This was due to the original rules of the Electoral College: each elector got to cast two votes, the person with the most votes became President, while the person with the second most votes became Vice President.<\/p>\n

Adams and Jefferson were not always adversaries. Both of them served in the Continental Congress (with Jefferson representing Virginia), and both of them were on the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence, the historic document they both signed, with Jefferson being the primary author. In the first Washington administration, Jefferson was the Secretary of State, while Adams was the VP.<\/p>\n

As Vice President, however, Jefferson actively worked to undermine Adams\u2019s presidency, even hiring a \u2018spy\u2019 disguised as a German translator at the State Department to dig up dirt on President Adams. His scheming eventually paid off, and Jefferson defeated Adams in the 1800 presidential election.<\/p>\n

John Tyler<\/p>\n

Tyler ran on a ticket with William Henry Harrison in 1840. By then, the new, modern system was in place, with each elector casting a designated vote for President and Vice President. After just a month of taking office, President Harrison became the first POTUS in US history to die in office.<\/p>\n

The Constitution at the time was rather ambiguous about the succession process in such a case. However, Tyler certainly did not see the ambiguity and forcefully asserted full presidential powers for himself, rejecting the temporary \u2018Acting President\u2019 title. This set the precedent for presidential succession in the case of the death of the sitting President in the United States, which is now clearly laid out in the 25th Amendment of the Constitution.<\/p>\n

Theodore Roosevelt<\/p>\n

Roosevelt was actually put on the ticket by party leaders as VP in the 1900 presidential election, replacing the deceased Garret Hobart, with President McKinley to \u2018get him out of the way\u2019 as Governor of New York. The Republican Party of the late 1800s was the first political party in US history to really align themselves with big business, and the GOP bosses did not appreciate Governor Roosevelt\u2019s progressive reforms in the state.<\/p>\n

However, that plan backfired quickly. In September 1901, President McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist killer. This gave Roosevelt full presidential powers, and he used them to usher in what is now known as \u2018the Progressive Era\u2019.<\/p>\n

He started by using anti-trust laws already on the books to come after monopolies, most famously John D Rockefeller\u2019s Standard Oil. Later, he started using the Presidency as a \u2018bully pulpit\u2019 (his own terminology) to get Congress to pass additional laws. President Roosevelt also created the Food and Drug Administration for federally mandated sanitation standards in the American food industry, and created five national parks as well to conserve nature.<\/p>\n

Richard Nixon<\/p>\n

Nixon is the second youngest Vice President in US history, taking office at age 40, only behind John C Breckinridge.<\/p>\n

He built up a reputation as a staunch anti-communist in his time in Congress, which earned him a spot on the Republican ticket under General Dwight D Eisenhower in 1952. He survived a \u2018dump Nixon\u2019 campaign and served out a second term as VP from 1957 to 1961. In 1960, he narrowly lost the presidential election to John F Kennedy of the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

Nixon then had an unsuccessful run for Governor of California in 1962, after which everyone\u2014including himself\u2014thought his political career had come to an end. In 1968, however, he took advantage of the turmoil at the Democratic Party, caused by the Vietnam War and civil rights reforms, mounted an unlikely comeback, and won himself the presidency.<\/p>\n

In 1972, President Nixon was reelected in a 49-state landslide victory. However, less than two years later, he became the first and only US President to resign as a result of the Watergate scandal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s take a look at the Vice Presidents who have not served as Presidents.<\/p>\n

Aaron Burr<\/p>\n

Burr was the first Vice President in US history not to become President, serving under President Jefferson between 1801 and 1805. His place is a lot more infamous than famous in US history, due to his ill-fated duel against Alexander Hamilton.<\/p>\n

After the 1800 presidential election resulted in a tie between the two Democratic-Republican candidates Jefferson and Burr, Hamilton used his influence among the Federalists to get Jefferson elected by the House of Representatives over Burr. He made no secret of the fact that he viewed Burr as an unprincipled and self-serving figure. <\/p>\n

By the time the 1804 presidential election came around, Burr knew he would not be reelected as VP with Jefferson. Thus, he set his eyes on the Governorship of New York State. Using his status as a local revolutionary hero, Hamilton intervened against Burr’s ambitions in that race as well\u2014that was too much for Burr. He challenged Hamilton to a duel by pistols, which Hamilton accepted. In July 1804, Burr shot Hamilton to death in Weehawken Township, New Jersey. <\/p>\n

Due to contemporary New Jersey laws on duelling (which was why the location was chosen), Burr never faced any charges for killing a former Secretary of the Treasury. However, he later did face treason charges for allegedly trying to start a breakaway country in the Louisiana Territory, but was never convicted.<\/p>\n

Garret Hobart<\/p>\n

Hobart is known for being the first Vice President in US history to take an active part in the administration\u2019s day-to-day operations. He was a close and trusted advisor to President McKinley.<\/p>\n

He was also heavily involved in the presidential campaign of 1896: mimicking McKinley\u2019s strategy of \u2018front-porch campaigning\u2019, he would often invite reporters and the general public to his residence in Paterson, New Jersey, to give speeches. This ultimately helped McKinley deliver Hobart\u2019s home state of New Jersey, which was considered a swing state at the time. In November 1899, Hobart passed away due to heart disease while serving as Vice President.<\/p>\n

Al Gore<\/p>\n

Senator Gore of Tennessee was on an all-Southern ticket of the Democratic Party with Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential election. Offering a moderate \u2018third way\u2019 to the voters, they defeated the incumbent President George H W Bush (a former Vice President himself).<\/p>\n

President Clinton\u2019s time in office was marked by an economic boom facilitated by the widespread adoption of home internet use, the last recorded government surpluses in US history, as well as the Monica Lewinsky scandal that led to the second impeachment of a US President by the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n

Gore steamrolled his opposition in the 2000 Democratic primary. In the general election, however, he lost to George W Bush, the son of the former President, in one of the most contested presidential elections in US history. Gore won the popular vote by 0.5 points, but narrowly lost the electoral vote; Bush became the next POTUS. The Republican nominee carried Florida by only around 500 votes (!) on the final tally, a state with 25 electors that some networks had previously called for Gore.<\/p>\n

After the 2000 election, Gore became a global advocate for action against climate change.<\/p>\n

Kamala Harris<\/p>\n

Harris is known as the first female and first minority Vice President in US history. A Senator from California, she ran on a ticket with Former Vice President Joe Biden in 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. They ended up getting more votes than any other candidates in a US presidential election, 81.2 million. However, President Trump, who ultimately was defeated by them, claimed widespread voter fraud had changed the legitimate results in some crucial swing states, such as Georgia.<\/p>\n

While the pandemic ended under President Biden, an inflation crisis commenced at the same time, which was exacerbated by the energy crisis caused in part by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Despite that, the Democratic Party fared very well in the 2022 midterm elections, gaining a seat in the Senate and only narrowly losing the House of Representatives. This was in part due to anger among Democratic voters over the US Supreme Court overturning the 1973 Roe v Wade decision about abortion rights.<\/p>\n

However, concerns over President Biden’s age and diminished mental capacity did not subside. After a disastrous debate performance in June 2024, President Biden was pressured by his own party into dropping out of his reelection bid despite winning the primaries, and Kamala Harris was nominated in his place at the Democratic National Convention. Thus, she became the second female presidential nominee of a major political party after Hillary Clinton in 2016.<\/p>\n

However, just like Clinton in 2016, Harris also lost to Donald Trump\u2014except this time, she lost the popular vote as well.<\/p>\n

JD Vance<\/p>\n

\"\"US Vice President JD Vance in January 2026 PHOTO: Jim Watson\/POOL\/AFP<\/p>\n

Vance was elected a Senator from Ohio at just age 38 in 2022 despite coming from an economically challenged family background, as outlined in his bestselling 2016 autobiography Hillbilly Elegy. He attended Ohio State University on a veteran scholarship after serving four years in the US Marine Corps.<\/p>\n

Even before serving out his first full term in the Senate, President Trump picked him to be his running mate in the 2024 presidential election, despite Vance\u2019s criticisms of him in the 2016 election cycle. They ended up winning, thus President Trump became only the second President in US history to serve non-consecutive terms.<\/p>\n

Vance is among the favourites to win the Republican nomination for President in 2028, thus he may very well go on to become President of the United States himself. <\/p>\n

Related articles:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today is the momentous occasion of US Vice President JD Vance visiting our country. To mark the historic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9354,12070,11832,12071,422,168,12072,12073,6836,889,10,11,7179,12074,12075,1125,12076,438],"class_list":{"0":"post-14848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-donald-trump","8":"tag-al-gore","9":"tag-american-history","10":"tag-diplomatic-visit","11":"tag-garret-hobart","12":"tag-hungary","13":"tag-jd-vance","14":"tag-john-adams","15":"tag-john-tyler","16":"tag-kamala-harris","17":"tag-list","18":"tag-potus","19":"tag-president-of-the-united-states","20":"tag-richard-nixon","21":"tag-theodore-roosevelt","22":"tag-thomas-jefferson","23":"tag-us-vice-president","24":"tag-us-hungary-relations","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116364427035764714","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}