Presidents, Vice Presidents and their past

The U.S. Vice Presidents, all 46 of them, and nominees who lost, have a few things in common. Most noticeably, in recent history at least, they come from Congress.

The rule of thumb is clear: Presidents were once Governors; VP's were once Senators. That explains why Carter, Reagan, Clinton and Bush are number one's...while Mondale, Bush Sr., Ferraro, Bentsen, Quayle, Gore, Kemp, Cheney, Lieberman and Edwards are number two's.

This makes the Democrats quite difficult to figure out. Why? Because their three top nominees are from the Senate, i.e. Clinton, Edwards and Obama. Only makes sense, then, that Govenror Bill Richardson has the upper-hand at winning his parties' nomination, doesn't it? Anybody see a Richardson/Obama ticket?

For more on U.S. Vice Presidents and people, stories and events that are in the shadow and number two, visit www.vicepresidents.com or www.vicepresidents.org