{
  "id": "RL30842",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL30842",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 100295,
      "date": "2001-02-13",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:27:20.634941",
      "title": "The Vice Presidency: Evolution of the Modern Office, 1933-2001",
      "summary": "Something of an afterthought, the vice presidential office came to the attention of the delegates\nto\nthe constitutional convention in the closing days of their deliberations in 1787. The Vice President's\nconstitutional mandate vested him with two responsibilities: presiding over the deliberations of the\nSenate and standing by to succeed to the presidency in the event of the incumbent's death. For the\nnext 140 years, those holding the vice presidential office served only these functions. Indeed, the\nVice President soon came to be regarded as a legislative branch official. However, for six\nincumbents during this period, their service was particularly important to the nation when they\nsucceeded to the presidency.\n Although some Vice Presidents informally provided advice to the Presidents with whom they\nserved, the inclusion of the Vice President in Cabinet deliberations did not occur until the second\ndecade of the 20th century. Consequently, Cabinet members usually were more and better informed\nabout the policies and practices of an administration than the man who might be required to lead that\nadministration in the event of the President's death. Woodrow Wilson fractured the precedent in\n1919 when he requested his Vice President to preside over a few Cabinet meetings while he was in\nFrance negotiating the treaty of peace concluding World War I. Thereafter, President Warren\nHarding regularly included his Vice President in Cabinet sessions, and with the presidency of\nFranklin D. Roosevelt, the practice became tradition. Moreover, President Roosevelt began to make\nother uses of the Vice President as an arm of the presidency, launching the modern version of this\noffice.\n This report reviews the evolution of the modern vice presidency the historical events and\ndevelopments that have contributed to the expansion of the office beyond its largely legislative\nbranch character to include diverse and important executive branch duties. It will be updated as\nchanging conditions and circumstances recommend.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "American Law",
    "Constitutional Questions",
    "Economic Policy",
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "Intelligence and National Security",
    "National Defense"
  ]
}