List of vice presidents of the United States facts for kids

The vice president of the United States is a very important leader in the U.S. government. They are the second-highest official after the president of the United States. The Vice President also leads the Senate, which is part of Congress. If there's a tie vote in the Senate, the Vice President can cast the deciding vote. This power has been used differently by VPs over time. A couple of VPs, George Clinton and John C. Calhoun, even served under different presidents.
The current Vice President is JD Vance. He became the 50th Vice President on January 20, 2025.
Contents
Understanding the Vice President's Role
The office of the Vice President was created in 1789. There have been 50 U.S. Vice Presidents since then.
How Vice Presidents Are Chosen
Originally, the person who came in second place for president in the Electoral College became Vice President. But after the election of 1800, there was a tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. The House of Representatives had to choose the winner. To prevent this from happening again, the Twelfth Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1804. Now, voters cast separate ballots for President and Vice President.
Taking Over as President
The Vice President is the first person in the line of succession. This means they become President if the President dies, resigns, or is removed from office. Nine Vice Presidents have become President this way. Also, many Vice Presidents have later been elected President on their own.
Filling a Vacancy
Before 1967, if the Vice President's office became empty, it stayed empty until the next election. This happened many times. Seven Vice Presidents died in office, one resigned, and eight became President.
The Twenty-fifth Amendment changed this in 1967. Now, if the Vice President's office is empty, the President can choose a new Vice President. Both parts of Congress must approve this choice.
Since 1967, the Vice President's office has been empty twice. Both times were during the Nixon administration. New Vice Presidents were chosen using this new rule.
The 25th Amendment also allows the Vice President to temporarily act as President. This happens if the President is unable to do their job. Three Vice Presidents have briefly served as acting president:
- George H. W. Bush on July 13, 1985.
- Dick Cheney on June 29, 2002, and July 21, 2007.
- Kamala Harris on November 19, 2021.
List of Vice Presidents
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term | Party | Election | President | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
John Adams (1735–1826) |
April 21, 1789 – March 4, 1797 |
Pro-Administration | 1788–89
1792 |
George Washington | |
Federalist | |||||||
2 | ![]() |
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) |
March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801 |
Democratic-Republican | 1796 | John Adams | |
3 | ![]() |
Aaron Burr (1756–1836) |
March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1805 |
Democratic-Republican | 1800 | Thomas Jefferson | |
4 | ![]() |
George Clinton (1739–1812) |
March 4, 1805 – April 20, 1812 |
Democratic-Republican | 1804
1808 |
||
James Madison | |||||||
— | Office vacant April 20, 1812 – March 4, 1813 | ||||||
5 | ![]() |
Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814) |
March 4, 1813 – November 23, 1814 |
Democratic-Republican | 1812 | ||
— | Office vacant November 23, 1814 – March 4, 1817 | ||||||
6 | ![]() |
Daniel D. Tompkins (1774–1825) |
March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1825 |
Democratic-Republican | 1816
1820 |
James Monroe | |
7 | ![]() |
John C. Calhoun (1782–1850) |
March 4, 1825 – December 28, 1832 |
Democratic-Republican | 1824
1828 |
John Q. Adams | |
Nullifier | Andrew Jackson | ||||||
— | Office vacant December 28, 1832 – March 4, 1833 | ||||||
8 | ![]() |
Martin Van Buren (1782–1862) |
March 4, 1833 – March 4, 1837 |
Democratic | 1832 | ||
9 | ![]() |
Richard Mentor Johnson (1780–1850) |
March 4, 1837 – March 4, 1841 |
Democratic | 1836 | Martin Van Buren | |
10 | ![]() |
John Tyler (1790–1862) |
March 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841 |
Whig | 1840 | William H. Harrison | |
— | Office vacant April 4, 1841 – March 4, 1845 | John Tyler | |||||
11 | ![]() |
George M. Dallas (1792–1864) |
March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849 |
Democratic | 1844 | James K. Polk | |
12 | ![]() |
Millard Fillmore (1800–1874) |
March 4, 1849 – July 9, 1850 |
Whig | 1848 | Zachary Taylor | |
— | Office vacant July 9, 1850 – March 4, 1853 | Millard Fillmore | |||||
13 | ![]() |
William R. King (1786–1853) |
March 4, 1853 – April 18, 1853 |
Democratic | 1852 | Franklin Pierce | |
— | Office vacant April 18, 1853 – March 4, 1857 | ||||||
14 | ![]() |
John C. Breckinridge (1821–1875) |
March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1861 |
Democratic | 1856 | James Buchanan | |
15 | ![]() |
Hannibal Hamlin (1809–1891) |
March 4, 1861 – March 4, 1865 |
Republican | 1860 | Abraham Lincoln | |
16 | ![]() |
Andrew Johnson (1808–1875) |
March 4, 1865 – April 15, 1865 |
National Union | 1864 | ||
— | Office vacant April 15, 1865 – March 4, 1869 | Andrew Johnson | |||||
17 | ![]() |
Schuyler Colfax (1823–1885) |
March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1873 |
Republican | 1868 | Ulysses S. Grant | |
18 | ![]() |
Henry Wilson (1812–1875) |
March 4, 1873 – November 22, 1875 |
Republican | 1872 | ||
— | Office vacant November 22, 1875 – March 4, 1877 | ||||||
19 | ![]() |
William A. Wheeler (1819–1887) |
March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1881 |
Republican | 1876 | Rutherford B. Hayes | |
20 | ![]() |
Chester A. Arthur (1829–1886) |
March 4, 1881 – September 19, 1881 |
Republican | 1880 | James A. Garfield | |
— | Office vacant September 19, 1881 – March 4, 1885 | Chester A. Arthur | |||||
21 | ![]() |
Thomas A. Hendricks (1819–1885) |
March 4, 1885 – November 25, 1885 |
Democratic | 1884 | Grover Cleveland | |
— | Office vacant November 25, 1885 – March 4, 1889 | ||||||
22 | ![]() |
Levi P. Morton (1824–1920) |
March 4, 1889 – March 4, 1893 |
Republican | 1888 | Benjamin Harrison | |
23 | ![]() |
Adlai Stevenson I (1835–1914) |
March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1897 |
Democratic | 1892 | Grover Cleveland | |
24 | ![]() |
Garret Hobart (1844–1899) |
March 4, 1897 – November 21, 1899 |
Republican | 1896 | William McKinley | |
— | Office vacant November 21, 1899 – March 4, 1901 | ||||||
25 | ![]() |
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) |
March 4, 1901 – September 14, 1901 |
Republican | 1900 | ||
— | Office vacant September 14, 1901 – March 4, 1905 | Theodore Roosevelt | |||||
26 | ![]() |
Charles W. Fairbanks (1852–1918) |
March 4, 1905 – March 4, 1909 |
Republican | 1904 | ||
27 | ![]() |
James S. Sherman (1855–1912) |
March 4, 1909 – October 30, 1912 |
Republican | 1908 | William H. Taft | |
— | Office vacant October 30, 1912 – March 4, 1913 | ||||||
28 | ![]() |
Thomas R. Marshall (1854–1925) |
March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1921 |
Democratic | 1912
1916 |
Woodrow Wilson | |
29 | ![]() |
Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) |
March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923 |
Republican | 1920 | Warren G. Harding | |
— | Office vacant August 2, 1923 – March 4, 1925 | Calvin Coolidge | |||||
30 | ![]() |
Charles G. Dawes (1865–1951) |
March 4, 1925 – March 4, 1929 |
Republican | 1924 | ||
31 | ![]() |
Charles Curtis (1860–1936) |
March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933 |
Republican | 1928 | Herbert Hoover | |
32 | ![]() |
John Nance Garner (1868–1967) |
March 4, 1933 – January 20, 1941 |
Democratic | 1932
1936 |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | |
33 | ![]() |
Henry A. Wallace (1888–1965) |
January 20, 1941 – January 20, 1945 |
Democratic | 1940 | ||
34 | ![]() |
Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) |
January 20, 1945 – April 12, 1945 |
Democratic | 1944 | ||
— | Office vacant April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1949 | Harry S. Truman | |||||
35 | ![]() |
Alben W. Barkley (1877–1956) |
January 20, 1949 – January 20, 1953 |
Democratic | 1948 | ||
36 | ![]() |
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) |
January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961 |
Republican | 1952
1956 |
Dwight D. Eisenhower | |
37 | ![]() |
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) |
January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963 |
Democratic | 1960 | John F. Kennedy | |
— | Office vacant November 22, 1963 – January 20, 1965 | Lyndon B. Johnson | |||||
38 | ![]() |
Hubert Humphrey (1911–1978) |
January 20, 1965 – January 20, 1969 |
Democratic | 1964 | ||
39 | ![]() |
Spiro Agnew (1918–1996) |
January 20, 1969 – October 10, 1973 |
Republican | 1968
1972 |
Richard Nixon | |
— | Office vacant October 10 – December 6, 1973 | ||||||
40 | ![]() |
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) |
December 6, 1973 – August 9, 1974 |
Republican | 1973 | ||
— | Office vacant August 9 – December 19, 1974 | Gerald Ford | |||||
41 | ![]() |
Nelson Rockefeller (1908–1979) |
December 19, 1974 – January 20, 1977 |
Republican | 1974 | ||
42 | ![]() |
Walter Mondale (1928–2021) |
January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981 |
Democratic | 1976 | Jimmy Carter | |
43 | ![]() |
George H. W. Bush (1924–2018) |
January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989 |
Republican | 1980
1984 |
Ronald Reagan | |
44 | ![]() |
Dan Quayle (b. 1947) |
January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993 |
Republican | 1988 | George H. W. Bush | |
45 | ![]() |
Al Gore (b. 1948) |
January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001 |
Democratic | 1992
1996 |
Bill Clinton | |
46 | ![]() |
Dick Cheney (b. 1941) |
January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009 |
Republican | 2000
2004 |
George W. Bush | |
47 | ![]() |
Joe Biden (b. 1942) |
January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017 |
Democratic | 2008
2012 |
Barack Obama | |
48 | ![]() |
Mike Pence (b. 1959) |
January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021 |
Republican | 2016 | Donald Trump | |
49 | ![]() |
Kamala Harris (b. 1964) |
January 20, 2021 – January 20, 2025 |
Democratic | 2020 | Joe Biden | |
50 | ![]() |
JD Vance (b. 1984) |
January 20, 2025 – Incumbent |
Republican | 2024 | Donald Trump |
See also
In Spanish: Anexo:Vicepresidentes de los Estados Unidos para niños
- Acting President of the United States
- Founding Fathers of the United States
- List of presidents of the United States
- Presiding Officer of the United States Senate
- United States Senate Vice Presidential Bust Collection