Vice Presidency

the second highest executive office in the U.S. government. The vice president is first in line to succeed to the presidency in the event of the president's death, resignation, or removal from office. Official duties are few. The vice president presides over the U.S. Senate but can vote only in case of a tie. The vice president presides over impeachment trials, but not if the case involves the president or vice president. Nine vice presidents have succeeded to the presidency, four of them because of assassination of the president. (See table.) The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution, passed in 1967, provides that when a vacancy occurs, a new vice president is appointed by the president and confirmed by a vote of both houses of Congress. The first appointed vice president was Gerald Ford, appointed by President Richard M. Nixon when Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973. When Nixon in turn resigned, President Ford appointed Nelson Rockefeller in 1974.