List of Vice Presidents of the United States

Seal of the Vice President of the United States

This list of Vice Presidents of the United States includes anyone who has served as Vice President of the United States .

backgrounds

There have been a total of 18 phases in the history of the USA (as of 2018) in which the office of Vice President was vacant:

• The Vice President died 7 times during his tenure in office ( Clinton , Gerry , King , Wilson , Hendricks , Hobart and Sherman ).
• A Vice President resigned twice ( Calhoun and Agnew ).
• A vice president rose to the office of president 9 times ( Tyler , Fillmore , A. Johnson , Arthur , Th. Roosevelt , Coolidge , Truman , L. Johnson, and Ford ); eight presidents died in office ( Harrison , Taylor , Lincoln , Garfield , McKinley , Harding , F. Roosevelt, and Kennedy ) and one resigned ( Nixon ).

The first 16 times did the Office of the Vice President until the next election, that is the entire remaining term of office, unoccupied . There was no provision in law for such a case. This only brought about the adoption of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution in 1967. This was first used when Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973. After a vacancy lasting almost two months , President Nixon appointed Gerald Ford as his new Vice-President. The following year, the amendment came into effect for the second and last time in US history, when Nixon himself stepped down from the office of President, succeeded Gerald Ford and the Vice-President's office became vacant a second time in the same term. After a four-month vacancy, the new president appointed Nelson Rockefeller to the office of vice-president.

List of Vice Presidents

For a better overview, the list is divided into four large sections, which are based on the list of Presidents of the United States :

• From the War of Independence to the Civil War (1789 to 1861)
• From the Civil War to the Second World War (1861 to 1945)
• The time after the Second World War (from 1945)
• The time after the turn of the millennium

The colors in the first column and in the column of the President stand for the party affiliation of the respective person; a color legend can be found at the end of the table. The interval between two elections in the “Election” column is a four-year term of office (with the exception of the first from 1789 to 1792). The 9 presidents in bold were previously vice-presidents.

During the Civil War , Alexander Hamilton Stephens was Vice President of the Confederate States of America from 1861 to 1865 ; he is not counted as Vice President of the United States.

From the War of Independence to the Civil War (1789 to 1861)

	No.		image		Surname	choice	Time in office		annotation		president
					John Adams (1735-1826)	1789	April 21, 1789 - March 4, 1797		John Adams was the father of the 6th President, John Quincy Adams . (A federalist party only existed since 1791, the English Wikipedia even speaks of 1794. Before that, John Adams was virtually non-party.) After his term in office he was elected President.		George Washington
	1.					1792
	2.				Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)	1796	March 4, 1797 - March 4, 1801		Jefferson's picture adorns the two-dollar note and the five-cent coin (see also: US dollar ). After his term in office, he was elected President.		John Adams
	3.				Aaron Burr (1756-1836)	1800	March 4, 1801 - March 4, 1805		Was US Senator for New York State from 1791 to 1797 .		Thomas Jefferson
	4th				George Clinton  † (1739-1812)	1804	March 4, 1805 - April 20, 1812		Was the first New York governor since the Declaration of Independence from 1777 to 1795 . First Vice President to die in office.
						1808					James Madison
					Vacant		April 20, 1812 - March 4, 1813
	5.				Elbridge Gerry  † (1744-1814)	1812	March 4, 1813 - Nov. 23, 1814		Died in office. Was governor of the state of Massachusetts from 1810 to 1812 .
					Vacant		Nov 23, 1814 - March 4, 1817
	6th				Daniel D. Tompkins (1774-1825)	1816	March 4, 1817 - March 4, 1825		Was governor of New York State from 1807 to 1817. Tompkins County , Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan and the city of Tompkins are all named after him.		James Monroe
						1820
	7th				John C. Calhoun  Ø (1782-1850)	1824	March 4, 1825 - December 28, 1832		Was US Senator for South Carolina from 1832 to 1843 and 1845 to 1850 . First to step down from the position of Vice President ( see also: Nullification Crisis ).		John Quincy Adams
						1828					Andrew Jackson
					Vacant		Dec 28, 1832 - March 4, 1833
	8th.				Martin Van Buren (1782–1862)	1832	March 4, 1833 - March 4, 1837		Was US Senator for New York State from 1821 to 1829 and Governor of the state from 1829. After his term in office, he was elected President. Martin Van Buren was the last Vice President to succeed in this for 152 years. It was not until 1989, when a Vice President was George Bush , that this succeeded.
	9.				Richard Mentor Johnson (1780-1850)	1836	March 4, 1837 - March 4, 1841		Was a U.S. Senator for the State of Kentucky from 1819 to 1829 . Only vice president elected by the Senate because he failed to get a majority in the Electoral College in the 1836 presidential election .		Martin Van Buren
	10.				John Tyler  ↗ (1790-1862)	1840	March 4, 1841 - April 4, 1841		At 31 days, this is the shortest term of office of a vice president in US history. He was the first vice-president to take office following the death of the president himself.		William Henry Harrison
					Vacant		April 4, 1841 - March 4, 1845				John Tyler
	11.				George M. Dallas (1792–1864)	1844	March 4, 1845 - March 4, 1849		Was US Senator for Pennsylvania from 1831 to 1833 . The city of Dallas , Texas , was named after him.		James K. Polk
	12.				Millard Fillmore  ↗ (1800–1874)	1848	March 4, 1849 - July 9, 1850		Due to the president's death during his term of office, he himself is promoted to the office of president.		Zachary Taylor
					Vacant		July 9, 1850 - March 4, 1853				Millard Fillmore
	13.				William R. King  † (1786-1853)	1852	March 4, 1853 - April 18, 1853		Was US Senator for Alabama from 1819 to 1844 and from 1848 to 1852. Died on April 18 after 45 days in office without performing any official act.		Franklin Pierce
					Vacant		April 18, 1853 - March 4, 1857
	14th				John C. Breckinridge (1821-1875)	1856	March 4, 1857 - March 4, 1861		At 36 years, 1 month and 11 days old, was the youngest Vice President in US history. Breckinridge was after his tenure as Vice President in 1861 briefly US Senator for Kentucky and 1865 Secretary of War of the Confederate States .		James Buchanan

From the Civil War to the Second World War (1861 to 1945)

	No.		image		Surname	choice	Time in office		annotation		president
	15th				Hannibal Hamlin (1809-1891)	1860	March 4, 1861 - March 4, 1865		Was briefly first Republican governor of Maine in 1857 .		Abraham Lincoln
	16.				Andrew Johnson  ↗ (1808-1875)	1864	March 4, 1865 - April 15, 1865		Johnson was from 1853 to 1857 and 1862-1865 Governor of Tennessee , he was also from 1857 to 1862 and 1875 US Senator for this state. The Democrat Johnson was elected Vice President on the ticket of the National Union Party in 1864, during the Civil War at the side of the Republican Abraham Lincoln . By assassinating the president during his tenure, he is promoted to the office of president.
					Vacant		April 15, 1865 - March 4, 1869				Andrew Johnson
	17th				Schuyler Colfax (1823-1885)	1868	March 4, 1869 - March 4, 1873		Was Speaker of the US House of Representatives from 1863 to 1869 .		Ulysses S. Grant
	18th				Henry Wilson  † (1812–1875)	1872	March 4, 1873 - November 22, 1875		Died in office. Was US Senator for the state of Massachusetts from 1855 to 1873.
					Vacant		Nov 22, 1875 - March 4, 1877
	19th				William A. Wheeler (1819-1887)	1876	March 4, 1877 - March 4, 1881				Rutherford B. Hayes
	20th				Chester A. Arthur  ↗ (1829–1886)	1880	March 4, 1881 - September 19, 1881		From 1871 to 1878 he was the chief customs collector of the New York harbor. By assassinating the president during his tenure, he is promoted to the office of president.		James A. Garfield
					Vacant		Sept. 19, 1881 - March 4, 1885				Chester A. Arthur
	21st				Thomas A. Hendricks  † (1819–1885)	1884	March 4, 1885 - November 25, 1885		Died in office. Hendricks was US Senator for the state of Indiana from 1863 to 1869 and its governor from 1873 to 1877. He is the only Vice President ever to be depicted on a US banknote ($ 10 note from 1886).		Grover Cleveland
					Vacant		Nov 25, 1885 - March 4, 1889
	22nd				Levi P. Morton (1824-1920)	1888	March 4, 1889 - March 4, 1893		Morton was ambassador to France from 1881 to 1885. After serving as Vice President, he was Governor of New York State from 1895 to 1896 . The city of Morton Grove in the state of Illinois is named after him.		Benjamin Harrison
	23.				Adlai E. Stevenson (1835-1914)	1892	March 4, 1893 - March 4, 1897				Grover Cleveland
	24.				Garret Hobart  † (1844–1899)	1896	March 4, 1897 - November 21, 1899		Died in office. Hobart was State Senator in New Jersey from 1876 to 1882 .		William McKinley
					Vacant		Nov 21, 1899 - March 4, 1901
	25th				Theodore Roosevelt  ↗ (1858-1919)	1900	March 4, 1901 - September 14, 1901		At 42 years old, Roosevelt was the youngest president in US history. By assassinating the president during his tenure, he is promoted to the office of president.
					Vacant		Sept. 14, 1901 - March 4, 1905				Theodore Roosevelt
	26th				Charles W. Fairbanks (1852-1918)	1904	March 4, 1905 - March 4, 1909		Fairbanks was the US Senator for the state of Indiana from 1897 to 1905. The city of Fairbanks , Alaska , was named after him in 1903.
	27.				James S. Sherman  † (1855-1912)	1908	March 4, 1909 - October 30, 1912		Died in office. To date, Sherman is the last Vice President to pass away during his tenure.		William Howard Taft
					Vacant		Oct. 30, 1912 - March 4, 1913
	28.				Thomas Riley Marshall (1854-1925)	1912	March 4, 1913 - March 4, 1921		Was governor of the US state of Indiana from 1909 to 1913.		Woodrow Wilson
						1916
	29				Calvin Coolidge  ↗ (1872-1933)	1920	March 4, 1921 - August 3, 1923		Prior to his vice presidency, served as governor of the state of Massachusetts from 1919 to 1920. Due to the president's death during his term of office, he himself is promoted to the office of president.		Warren G. Harding
					Vacant		Aug 3, 1923 - March 4, 1925				Calvin Coolidge
	30th				Charles Gates Dawes (1865-1951)	1924	March 4, 1925 - March 4, 1929		Founder and namesake of the Dawes Plan , received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925 .
	31.				Charles Curtis (1860-1936)	1928	March 4, 1929 - March 4, 1933		From 1907 to 1913 and from 1915 to 1929 he was the US Senator for the state of Kansas . His mother came from the Kansa people ; Curtis was the first and so far only Native American politician who got into such a high office.		Herbert Hoover
	32.				John Nance Garner (1868-1967)	1932	March 4, 1933 - January 20, 1941		Garner was from 1903 to 1933 a member of the House of Representatives of the United States , from 1931 as its chairman (speaker) . In 1940 there was a break with Roosevelt, since Garner refused that he wanted to run for a third term. His rival candidacy was unsuccessful.		Franklin D. Roosevelt
						1936
	33.				Henry A. Wallace (1888-1965)	1940	Jan 20, 1941 - Jan 20, 1945		Wallace was Secretary of Agriculture from 1933 to 1940. His vice presidency was dominated by World War II ; so he chaired important working groups and committees for economic warfare and for securing supplies for the American troops.
	34.				Harry S. Truman  ↗ (1884–1972)	1944	Jan 20, 1945 - April 12, 1945		Truman was a US Senator for the State of Missouri from 1935 to 1945 . During World War II, he was the head of the Congressional Committee for Monitoring War Production. Due to the president's death during his term of office, he is promoted to the office of president.

The time after the Second World War (from 1945)

	No.		image		Surname	choice	Time in office		annotation		president
					Vacant		April 12, 1945 - Jan. 20, 1949				Harry S. Truman
	35.				Albums W. Barkley (1877-1956)	1948	Jan 20, 1949 - Jan 20, 1953		Barkley was a Senator for the state of Kentucky from 1927 to 1949. He was the first vice president to chair the National Security Council .
	36.				Richard Nixon (1913-1994)	1952	Jan 20, 1953 - Jan 20, 1961		Was US Senator for California from 1949 to 1953 . In 1960 he was the Republican Party's presidential candidate, but lost to John F. Kennedy. In 1968 he was elected President.		Dwight D. Eisenhower
						1956
	37.				Lyndon B. Johnson  ↗ (1908–1973)	1960	Jan 20, 1961 - Nov 22, 1963		Was US Senator for Texas from 1949 to 1961 and Senate Democratic leader from 1955 to 1961. By assassinating the president during his tenure, he is promoted to the office of president.		John F. Kennedy
					Vacant		Nov 22, 1963 - Jan 20, 1965				Lyndon B. Johnson
	38.				Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978)	1964	Jan 20, 1965 - Jan 20, 1969		Humphrey was the first Democratic Senator from the state of Minnesota from 1949 to 1964 . In 1960 he ran for the Democratic presidential nomination but was beaten in the primary by John F. Kennedy. He ran for nomination again in 1968, but had a strong competitor in Robert Kennedy. After his assassination, the nomination was certain, but he was defeated in the general election by Richard Nixon.
	39.				Spiro Agnew  Ø (1918–1996)	1968	Jan 20, 1969 - Oct 10, 1973		Agnew was forced to resign on charges of corruption and was the second vice president to step down (after John C. Calhoun).		Richard Nixon
						1972
					Vacant		Oct 10, 1973 - Dec 6, 1973
	40.				Gerald Ford  ↗ (1913-2006)		Dec 6, 1973 - Aug 9, 1974		After Spiro Agnew's resignation, Nixon appointed Gerald Ford as the new Vice President. With Nixon's resignation during his tenure, he moved up to the presidency. He became the only President of the United States to date to have been elected neither as President nor as Vice President by popular electors. The 25th Amendment to the Constitution came into effect for the first time in both cases.
					Vacant		Aug 9, 1974 - Dec 19, 1974				Gerald Ford
	41.				Nelson Rockefeller (1908-1979)		Dec. 19, 1974 - Jan. 20, 1977		Grandson of oil magnate John D. Rockefeller . Nelson Rockefeller was Governor of New York State from 1959 to 1973. In 1960, 1964 and 1968 he applied in vain for his party's presidential candidacy. Next to Gerald Ford the only unelected Vice President.
	42.				Walter Mondale (* 1928)	1976	Jan. 20, 1977 - Jan. 20, 1981		Mondale was a US Senator for the state of Minnesota from 1965 to 1976. He was a Democratic presidential candidate in 1984 , but lost significantly to incumbent Ronald Reagan.		Jimmy Carter
	43.				George Bush (1924-2018)	1980	Jan. 20, 1981 - Jan. 20, 1989		Was director of the CIA foreign intelligence service from 1976 to 1977 . After his term in office, he was elected President. George Bush is the last Vice President to have succeeded so far.		Ronald Reagan
						1984
	44.				Dan Quayle (born 1947)	1988	Jan 20, 1989 - Jan 20, 1993		Quayle was a Senator for the state of Indiana from 1981 to 1989 . From 1977 to 1981 he was a member of the House of Representatives. He withdrew a presidential candidacy for the 2000 election in 1999 after a short time.		George Bush
	45.				Al Gore (born 1948)	1992	Jan 20, 1993 - Jan 20, 2001		Gore served as a Senator for the state of Tennessee prior to serving as Vice President. He was a Democratic candidate in 2000, but lost to George W. Bush in a controversial election .		Bill Clinton
						1996

The time after the turn of the millennium

	No.		image		Surname	choice	Time in office		annotation		president
	46.				Dick Cheney (born 1941)	2000	Jan. 20, 2001 - Jan. 20, 2009		Was a Republican MP for the State of Wyoming in the US House of Representatives from 1978 to 1989 , then Secretary of Defense .		George W. Bush
						2004
	47.				Joe Biden (born 1942)	2008	Jan 20, 2009 - Jan 20, 2017		Biden served as Vice President Senator for the state of Delaware from 1973 until he took office .		Barack Obama
						2012
	48.				Mike Pence (born 1959)	2016	since Jan. 20, 2017		Pence was the governor of the state of Indiana from 2013 to 2017; he had previously represented Indiana as a member of the House of Representatives since 2001.		Donald Trump

Legend

Colours

colour	Political party
	Republican Party
	Democratic Party
	Whig party
	Democratic Republican Party
	Federalist Party

Symbols behind the name

† died in office

↗ moved up to the presidency

Ø resigned

literature

(Listed literature in English)

• Steve Tally: Bland Ambition: From Adams to Quayle - The Cranks, Criminals, Tax Cheats, and Golfers Who Made It to Vice President. Published by Harcourt, undated September 1992. ISBN 0-15-613140-4
• Carole Chandler Waldrup: Vice Presidents: Biographies of the 45 Men Who Have Held the Second Highest Office in the United States. Published by McFarland & Company, Inc., o. O. January 27, 2006. ISBN 0-7864-2611-X
• L. Edward Purcell: Vice Presidents: A Biographical Dictionary (Facts on File Library of American History). Publisher: Facts on File; 3rd edition, o. O. July 15, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5740-0

Web links

Commons : Vice President of the United States of America  - album containing pictures, videos and audio files

(All given links in English)

• Official White House website for the Vice President
• Gallery with short biographies of the Vice Presidents (click on the picture)
• Detailed explanation of the office of Vice President and list of Vice Presidents with biographies