Ranking the United States Vice Presidents by Their Political Outcome
With the following United States Presidential election rapidly approaching, I created a tier list of all forty-eight vice presidents by their political outcome. I am not concerned with what all these white men have in common or even what they did while they were the vice president. Instead, I want to know if they could ascend to the presidency or if their political careers were stymied after reaching the second-highest office in the land.
A couple of notes before we begin. Joe Biden currently finds himself in the B Tier. If he were elected president in this upcoming election, he would upgrade himself to the S Tier. Also, Mike Pence is missing from the Tier list. As the current vice president, Pence does not fit the existing categories. Lastly, Kamala Harris (Joe Biden’s recently named running mate) would be the first female and non-white vice president if elected.
S Tier (Elected president): The S Tier is reserved for those vice presidents who do not just become president by succession but win the presidency by being voted in. Only five vice presidents have accomplished this feat, and they are ranked from most time spent as president to least. At the top of the S Tier, we have Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd president. Jefferson was the only vice president to be elected and serve two full terms. Next, we have…
