Throttlebottom’s Legacy

THOUGH THE Vice President of the United States is just a heartbeat away from the world’s most powerful office, most Vice Presidents have been chosen to balance a ticket rather than for their statesmanlike qualities. Because of this, and the veil of anonymity that seems automatically to envelop them once they are elected, Vice Presidents have made an easy target for humorists since the founding of the Republic. Just play a quick round of TV roulette some night, and chances are you will find a comedian upholding the tradition.

Veteran political observers remember when all of the folly associated with the Vice Presidency could be summed up in one word: Throttlebottom. To be reminiscent of the hapless Vice President Alexander Throttlebottom spelled political ruin. Every Vice President from John Nance Garner to at least Lyndon Johnson went into the office vowing: “I will not be a Throttlebottom.”

JR

About the Author

John Roberts

THOUGH THE Vice President of the United States is just a heartbeat away from the world’s most powerful office, most Vice Presidents have been chosen to balance a ticket rather than for their statesmanlike qualities. Because of this, and the veil of anonymity that seems automatically to envelop them once they are elected, Vice Presidents have made an easy target for humorists since the founding of the Republic. Just play a quick round of TV roulette some night, and chances are you will find a comedian upholding the tradition.

Veteran political observers remember when all of the folly associated with the Vice Presidency could be summed up in one word: Throttlebottom. To be reminiscent of the hapless Vice President Alexander Throttlebottom spelled political ruin. Every Vice President from John Nance Garner to at least Lyndon Johnson went into the office vowing: “I will not be a Throttlebottom.”