Diplomatic Gardening in Latin America: A Role for the VP?
After attending the International Political Science Association conference in Buenos Aires, I heard a lot about U.S. policy towards Latin America. Long and short, the region deserves more positive and sustained attention than the U.S. is inclined to give it. I wrote a short piece about this and why, unfortunately, it probably won’t happen. I […]
Down the Hall: The VP Weekly (?), Harris #4
June 21, 2022 Down the Hall: The VP Weekly (er… monthly?), June 21, 2022 With Alex Weinberg (UMCP ‘24) and Rohan Sharma, UMCP ‘23) So we are way, way behind on things and the news cycle is just passing us by. We never claimed to break news, but we are hoping to provide valuable context […]
Down the Hall: The VP Weekly, Harris #3
Down the Hall: The VP Weekly(?) #3 With Alex Weinberg (UMCP ‘24) We’re a little behind on the whole weekly thing (about 4 weeks). Holidays and travel ate what little free time we had. We’ll see if weekly is sustainable, or perhaps move to bi-weekly (that is publishing every fortnight.) In the meantime, there has […]
Down the Hall: The VP Weekly, Harris #2
Down the Hall: The VP Weekly, Harris #2: April 1, 2022 With Alex Weinberg (UMCP ’24) Top Story: Tight Circle or Closed Loop Becoming vice president as a DC outsider creates additional challenges for an already tough gig. A story from the Los Angeles Timesby Noah Bierman and Melanie Mason discusses Harris’ limited social circle […]
Down the Hall: The VP Weekly, Harris #1
Down the Hall: The VP Weekly, Harris Issue 1: March 25, 2022 With Alex Weinberg (UMCP ’24) Hoo-boy, this week was not the week to start a publication on the vice presidency. Between Harris’ travel and appearances and the exit of her national security advisor (VPNSA) Ambassador Nancy McEldowney there was a lot of news. […]
VP Pence rebukes Trump: The End of the Beginning
It is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps the end of the beginning. Winston Churchill Something big happened on February 4 when Vice President Pence clearly rejected Trump’s continuing claim that the 2020 election was fraudulent, and the Federalist Society applauded. Pence stated: I heard […]
Vice Presidency in Trouble? Or Just Growing Pains?
On Friday, July 2, President Biden and Vice President Harris had their weekly lunch. The conversation should have been interesting. Harris appears to be struggling, with a poorly received interview about the immigration crisis, being handed impossible to solve problems, and swirling rumors of disarray at the Office of the Vice President (OVP). All of […]
Harris and the Migration Crisis: A Look at VP-led Task Forces
Walter “Fritz” Mondale, who died last week, re-defined the vice presidency and for the most part his successors have followed the model he established. But there has been one, very specific deviation. Mondale counseled future VPs not to accept line assignments. But high-profile policy assignments have become standard for all of the vice presidents since […]
The Legacy of VP Mondale
Walter “Fritz” Mondale, who died today at 93, changed what it means to be Vice President – that is the story of my dissertation – and I was fortunate to interview Mondale about it. This may be his most notable legacy, but in his long public life, he did a great many good things. Carter […]
1st Report on VP Role in Biden Administration
We have our first article about the Vice Presidency of Kamala Harris. There isn’t much to say… yet. The article title pretty much says it all. This is actually all pretty standard. She is doing outreach to groups with which she has affinity, VPs always do that. What is more interesting is when VPs have […]