Crapshoot: Rolling the Dice on the Vice Presidency

by Jules Witcover

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0517584808
• ISBN13: 9780517584804
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 450 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.4" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Number One Book On Number Twos

Witcover's book on the vice presidency is about the best that's available on the subject. He writes with a barely veiled motive -- to cast doubt on the United States's dangeous and footloose way of choosing vice presidents -- and the book was clearly a product of the Quayle era, now almost forgotten. Still, his history of the federal government's most irrelevant office is detailed and thorough. But is this book still accurate? Quayle's successor, Al Gore, became the most involved vice president in history. And Gore's successor, Dick Cheney, has surpassed Gore in clout already. Gore and Cheney have redefined the office that once neutered figures like Hubert Humphrey, and hopefully this will lead to greater emphasis on veep choices in the future.

The Man Who Would Be Number Two

Jules Whitcover's examination of how vice presidents have been selected over the course of American history was written as a response to the disaster that was Dan Quayle. While acknowledging that it is difficult to convice worthy candidates to agree to run for the office that was once described as "not worth a bucket of warm spit," Whitcover argues that Presidential candidates have a duty to the country to try and select the best available individual. Unfortunately, political considerations often stand in the way, as was the case with Qualye. Whitcover's book is informative and very enlightening. It is also quite relevant as another Presidential campaign heads for the home stretch.