Who was the most consequential Vice President of the past 100 years?

[redstate_democrat]

And if you're so inclined, please give a reason why you believe they were. Thanks.

[PresidentObama]

1. I voted for Gore n/t

[snowbear]

4. Me too... Al Gore.

And soon enough Joe Biden too!

[merwin]

2. Cheney. He singlehandedly ran this country into the ground.

His hand was in EVERY scandal.

[fujiyama]

3. Dick Cheney by far

and not in a good way.

[WCGreen]

6. Agreed.

[XemaSab]

5. I gotta say: it's a low bar

A very low bar.

Al Gore is a terrific human being. Most of the others: forgettable.

[Laurab]

7. Cheney by far.

For more reasons than I can count. I believe he was the "brains" behind most of the bad decisions that were made by this administration. I also believe he'd do the same if he had it all to do again, in fact he's said as much. He's a truly evil man, who was given too much power.

[SeattleGirl]

8. Cheney, because of the destruction he has heaped on this

country and on Iraq, just to mention two things.

Worst. Vice. President. Ever.

[regnaD kciN]

9. Only three possible choices, and you didn't include one of them...

Those three would be Calvin Coolidge, Harry S Truman, and Lyndon Johnson. Why? Because all three had to take over the reins of the Presidency when their predecessor died. If the main role of the Vice President is to be ready to take over at a moment's notice, those were the only three who actually fulfilled their role. (Two others, Richard Nixon and George H. W. Bush, served as acting President when their superiors became medically incapacitated, but each was only in charge for a short period of time.)

Of those, I'm picking Harry S Truman for several reasons: he was forced to become President in the middle of the greatest war in history and saw it through to a successful conclusion, he made the momentous decision to use nuclear weapons in war for the first and only time ("consequential," it should be kept in mind, doesn't necessarily mean good or admirable), and...well, I like to be pedantic and spell his name correctly. ("S" was his middle name, not middle initial, so it should appear without a period.)

Of the other two in that same level of service, Coolidge took over in peacetime and led an uneventful Presidency, although his economic policies contributed greatly to the Great Depression that began during the term of his successor. LBJ, on the other hand, had one of the most ambitious and even noble agendas of any President, but frittered it away on Vietnam, and laid the groundwork for the Republicans to hold the White House for 28 of the next 40 years.

As for Al Gore...well, let's just say that he has been the most consequential ex-Vice President ever, but most of his accomplishments came either after (or, in the case of his first book, before) his time in office.

[redstate_democrat]

11. Great answer!

[bridgit]

10. ## PLEASE DONATE TO DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND! ##

:spray:

[mattclearing]

12. It depends...is this while in office, or entire career?

Cheney has to get the former, while Gore certainly gets the latter, and would get the first if was, "best," not, "most consequential."

[lady raven]

13. For good: Al Gore For evil: Dick Cheney