The Role Of The Vice President Of U.S. In Foreign Affairs Since World War Ⅱ

In the American’s history of pre-World War II, most of the vice presidents hardly involved in the government’s affairs of internal and foreign. However, since the World War Ⅱ, the vice presidency has seen much greater activity in the areas of domestic and foreign affairs among its occupants. In the areas of foreign affairs, these vice presidency occupants performed prominently and acted many roles, exerting an more and more important influence. The roles that the vice president has played in the areas of foreign affairs since the World War Ⅱ include the six roles of ceremonial role, president’s special envoy, foreign policy spokesman, president’s senior congressional liaison, president’s foreign policy adviser and the crisis manager. Playing the ceremonial role means that the vice president would represent the government or the president to participate some ceremonies abroad, such as the large scale celebrations, the funerals of some important persons and meet with some foreign dignitaries. The role of president’s special envoy is that the vice president would accept president’s delegations and go abroad for some important missions, communicating and negotiating with the foreign leaders on some substantial issues. The role of foreign policy spokesman means that the vice president would be a propagandist, interpreter and defender of the foreign policies that the government or the president is pursuing or might pursue. The president’s senior congressional liaison is that the vice president would be a Coordinator between the president and the congress, lobbying the congress and the key senators to support the president’s foreign policy. The role of president’s foreign policy adviser means that the vice president would give his advice in the decision-making process to his president. To be a crisis manager is that when a major crisis emerges, especially when the president couldn’t do anything in response to the crisis, the vice president should make or start the emergency plans and coordinate the interagency to control and solve the crisis. Based on the power and the tasks that the vice president gains and undertakes, the six roles above could be classified into three ranks of junior, intermediate and senior. It’s on the different rank that the vice president plays a different role and exerts a different influence.Since the World War Ⅱ, the roles that the vice president played in the foreign affair areas would be affected by two aspects of subjective and objective factors. The subjective factors include the institutional supports that the Modern Vice Presidency and its Insititutionalization could provide, the vice presidents’individual initiatives and the vice presidents’experiences in the areas of foreign affair; the objective factors include the historical background of times, the relations between the vice president and the president, the relations between the vice president and other foreign policy players, and the presidents’decision-making modes and operating styles. These factors relate to each other, shaping and affecting the roles played by the vice president in the areas of foreign affairs. Among these factors, the Modern Vice Presidency and its Insititutionalization and the relations between the vice president and the president are the two most essential elements. Of cause, on the context of some special situations, the other factors could also play a leading role.Since the World War Ⅱ, the vice presidents who were active and performed prominently in the areas of foreign affairs were Richard M. Nixon, Walter f. Mondale, George H. W. bush, Dan Quayle, Al Gore, Richard B. Cheney and Joseph R. Biden. In these vice presidents, Nixon, Mondale and Bush’s vice presidency marked the most substantial progress on the history of the vice presidents’ evolvement in the foreign areas. Nixon was the first modern vice president and also the path-breaking vice president in the foreign affairs areas. In his8years of vice-presidential tenure, he made visits abroad frequently and took part in the decision-making processes positively. After Nixon, the vice presidents’involvement in the foreign affairs went through a twisted course of growth. In their vice presidential tenure, the two vice presidents Hubert H. Humphrey and Spiro Agnew almost be out of the decision-making processes. However, this state changed when Mondale sworn in as vice president. Mondale’s tenure witnessed the vice president perked up again in the foreign affairs. In his tenure, Mondale also made visits abroad frequently and participated fully in the foreign affairs. When Mondale was relieved of his office, the vice president’s full participation in foreign affairs became a normal thing. Vice president Bush in his tenure continued the strong roles established by Nixon and Mondale and made a new breakthrough.