John Adams’s second place finish in the 1789 election made him the nation’s first vice president. In 1797, he became President, and his political opponent became vice president. That contentious arrangement revealed potential problems with an electoral system that named the first and second place finishers as the respective President and vice president. The National Commission on Choosing and Using Vice Presidents, convened in 1992 and co-chaired by former Secretary of State Edmund S. Muskie and former Maryland Senator Charles McC. Mathias, examined the evolving role and increasing importance of the vice president.

The National Commission on Choosing and Using Vice Presidents (1992)

Read the Commission's Final Report (Adobe Acrobat)

Co-Chairs:

Charles McC. Mathias, U.S. Senator from Maryland, 1968-1986

Edmund S. Muskie, U.S. Senator from Maine, 1959-1980; U.S. Secretary of State, 1980-1981

Commissioners:

R.W. Apple, Jr., Chief Washington Correspondent, The New York Times

Robert S. Bergland, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, 1977-1981

M. Caldwell Butler, Member, U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia, 1972-1983

William T. Coleman, Jr., U.S. Secretary of Transportation, 1975-1977 (Senior Counselor, O’Melveny & Myers)

Lloyd N. Cutler, White House Counsel, 1977-1981, 1994; Partner, Wilmer Cutler & Pickering

Stuart E. Eizenstat, Assistant for Domestic Affairs and Foreign Policy and Executive Director of the Domestic Policy Staff, 1977-1981 (Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs, 1997-1999; Partner, Covington & Burling)

Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., Chairman, Republican National Committee, 1983-1988 (President & CEO, American Gaming Association)

Judith Richards Hope, Vice Chairman of the President’s Commission on Organized Crime, 1983-1986 (Partner and Senior Advisor, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker)

Max M. Kampelman, Counselor to the U.S. Department of State, 1987-1988 (Of Counsel, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson)

Melvin R. Laird, U.S. Secretary of Defense, 1969-1973; Counselor to the President for Domestic Affairs, 1973-1974 (Senior Counselor for National and International Affairs, Reader’s Digest Foundation)

Richard Moe, Chief of Staff to Vice President Walter F. Mondale, 1977-1981 (President, National Trust for Historic Preservation)

John J. Rhodes, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona, 1943-1982; House Minority Leader, 1973-1981

Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense, 1975-1977 (2001-2006)

Robert S. Strauss, U.S. Trade Representative, 1977-1979; U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union & Russian Federation, 1991 (Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld)

Commission Director:

Kenneth W. Thompson, Director of the Miller Center, 1978-1998