The vice-presidency of the United States was until relatively recently regarded as a less than prestigious institution. For much of its history it has been seen as a comfortable dead-end job. A century ago the satirist, Finley Peter Dunne, viewed it, in a celebrated essay, through the eyes of the shrewd Chicago-Irish barman, Mr Dooley. In a phonetic attempt at Mr Dooley's Roscommon accent the vice-presidency was dealt with as follows: "The prisidincy is th' highest office in th' gift of th' people. Th' vice-prisidincy is th' next highest and the lowest. It isn't a crime exactly. Ye can't be sint to jail f'r it, but it's kind iv a disgrace. It's like writin' anonymous letters".
In later years vice-presidents such as Harry S Truman and Lyndon B Johnson stepped up to the presidency and proved their worth, though Richard M Nixon did not. The institution was again the butt of ridicule during the term of Dan Quayle. More recently, however, President Clinton has, by giving vice-president Gore more freedom of action than usual, increased the prestige of the office. The announcement by Republican candidate, George W Bush, that he has selected Mr Richard B Cheney as his running mate further confirms the modern trend towards a higher status vice-presidency. Mr Cheney who was White House Chief of Staff under President Ford, and Defence Secretary under President Bush during the Gulf War, is a political heavyweight. He will add gravitas to a Republican campaign in which one leading US political journal described Mr Bush's opinion poll performance as "soaring higher and higher, powered by his own weightlessness." There will be questions, though, about Mr Cheney's rigid political conservatism and his history of serious heart ailments.
Vice-president Gore has some time to spare before nominating his own running-mate. In this respect he has an advantage over his opponent in that his team can wait to analyse the effect Mr Cheney's selection will have on the opinion polls. Usually at this stage in the campaign the selection of a running mate gives a party ticket a boost in the polls. If the rise in the Republican ratings is below average then Mr Gore may be tempted to counter with a heavyweight candidate of his own, such as former Senator George Mitchell whose involvement in achieving the Belfast Agreement has given him an international profile. Should Mr Cheney's selection improve the Republican performance significantly then Mr Gore may be forced to go for a less orthodox candidate in response. Amongst the possibilities would be North Carolina Senator John Edwards and Senator Bob Graham of Florida who might help give the Democrats a victory in the south, where up to now Governor Bush was expected to reign supreme. The arrival of Mr Cheney as vice-presidential candidate should, at the very least, heighten the level of debate in the current campaign and put paid to any residual lack of respect for the office.