Vice President Joe Biden is not just a well-liked politician, but he is also the “most productive two-term vice president in American history,” according to a leading authority on the United States vice presidency.
Historian Joel Goldstein told the Washington Examiner’s media desk Monday, “I suspect most close observers of the Obama administration would agree that he has played a very consequential role.”
His remarks came after the Examiner asked him about an article he authored that appeared this weekend on the History News Network, which is a project of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.
“To an extent unmatched by any of his 46 predecessors, Biden has remained a highly consequential vice president for two full terms,” Goldstein wrote.
He noted that the office used to be less involved in the day-to-day duties of the White House. Instead, in the earliest administrations, the vice president normally presided over the U.S. Senate and did very little else.
That all changed with Richard Nixon’s vice presidency, and Biden has since built on that by being much more than just a right-hand man to the president.
Describing Biden’s “stunning success” as a vice president, Goldstein wrote that he “began with the correct vision of his office. He wanted to be a close and confidential presidential adviser across the board … and he wanted to undertake high-level assignments for Obama.”
“Biden’s expertise and skill soon made him indispensable. His relationship with Obama allowed him to offer advice on more topics than virtually anyone else in the administration,” he wrote. “He pressed Obama’s other national security advisers to clarify options regarding Afghanistan and his concerns helped shape American policy.”
“He worked to win Republican support for Obama’s early legislative efforts. He assumed responsibility for complicated interdepartmental undertakings such as the withdrawal from Iraq and the implementation of the recovery act; his efforts allowed the expenditure of unprecedented sums with a minimum of waste. No prior vice president had ever been given such significant direct responsibilities,” he added.
All this comes, Goldstein noted, after former Vice President Dick Cheney drew criticism from the press for being too involved in the duties of the Oval Office.
The current vice president has turned that criticism around, however, and is being hailed instead as a stunning and groundbreaking success.
“Biden contributed as vice president in other unprecedented ways,” Goldstein wrote, noting the vice president’s role in negotiating budget compromises with congressional Republicans.
“No prior vice president had ever been the point person for negotiations with the other party on such significant matters,” he added. “Biden became one of the first national leaders to advocate same sex marriage in May 2012, thereby precipitating the administration’s endorsement.”
And on the list goes, Goldstein noted, as Biden has played a key role in advising the president on foreign and domestic policy, as well as brokering deals with leaders from Iraq, Mexico, the Ukraine, Italy, Colombia and Israel.
“Biden has become the most productive two-term vice president in American history,” the historian declared. “Mondale historically reimagined and established the vice presidency as an integral White House participant but served only one term as did Dan Quayle. Cheney was very influential during George W. Bush’s first term but his power declined in the second. George H.W. Bush and Al Gore were significant administration figures but spent their second terms largely avoiding the fallout from administration scandals and running for president.”
“Biden, conversely, continues to do his day job, conscientiously and consequentially. And his success in maintaining his influence over two full terms speaks volumes about his own skill and about the possibilities for the nation’s second office as it has developed, if properly used and filled,” he added.
Asked what role — if any — he thinks Biden might play in the 2016 presidential election, Goldstein told the Examiner, “He’s been actively involved helping various Democratic candidates for the Senate and other offices and I would expect him to continue in that role as well as working on behalf of the Democratic presidential ticket.”
