This thesis seeks to determine if there is a relationship between a vice president of the United States governing influence and his involvement in a presidential reelection campaign. The period for this thesis will begin with Richard Nixon'­s vice presidency and end with Al Gore's. To find a connection I will create factors that will examine both governing influence and reelection campaign involvement. / Master of Arts

Thesis advisor: Seth Jacobs / The vice presidencies of Lyndon B. Johnson and Humphrey H. Humphrey were momentous stages in both of their political careers. After leaving the position of Senate majority leader to become John F. Kennedy’s vice president, Johnson underwent a swift, total decrease in political efficacy. Those dark years impacted how he tackled the presidency, particularly in the handling of his own vice president. As Johnson’s vice president, Humphrey also watched the political power he had accrued as Senate majority whip evaporate. In an attempt to impress Johnson, Humphrey overcompensated and became a disciple for the Johnson administration’s unpopular war in Vietnam, destroying any chance Humphrey had to further his political career past the vice presidency. I argue that while their terms as vice presidents—Johnson’s was less than three years long and Humphrey’s was four years—were short periods of time in the grand scheme of their long careers, they were highly consequential for both men and severely damaging for Humphrey. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: History.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This thesis analyzes the gender narrative surrounding the vice-presidency and the 2016 election. It reviews the traditional feminine gender roles assigned to the vice-presidency and as evidenced in Governor Mike Pence’s participation in a 60 Minutes interview, nomination speech at the 2016 national convention, and vice-presidential debate. Furthers the work of Bostdorff, who argued that the vice presidency has a traditional feminine role where vice-presidential figures and potential aspirants use strategies of celebration, confrontation, vindication, and submission to fulfill a gendered role in service to a highly masculine presidency. Suggests that the realities of the 2016 election allowed for these strategies, although in a different form given the nature of the campaign and a Trump candidacy.