Editing Vice President of the United States (section)

==Modern roles==
The present-day power of the office flows primarily from formal and informal delegations of authority from the president and Congress.<ref name=24KJLPP1/> These delegations can vary in significance; for example, the vice president is a statutory member of both the National Security Council and the board of regents of the [[Smithsonian Institution]].<ref name=USlegal-VP/> The extent of the roles and functions of the vice president depend on the specific relationship between the president and the vice president, but often include tasks such as drafter and spokesperson for the administration's policies, adviser to the president, and being a symbol of American concern or support. The influence of the vice president in these roles depends almost entirely on the characteristics of the particular administration.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Lizza |first=Ryan |date=October 10, 2008 |title=Biden's Brief |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/10/20/bidens-brief |access-date=August 1, 2023 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Presidential advisor===
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   | image1    = Barack Obama hugging Joe Biden, 8 April 2011.jpg
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   | caption1  = Vice President [[Joe Biden]] meets with President [[Barack Obama]] in the [[Oval Office]], 2011.
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   | caption2  = Vice President [[Kamala Harris]] meets with President [[Joe Biden]] in the [[Oval Office]], 2022.
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Most recent vice presidents have been viewed as important presidential advisors. Walter Mondale, unlike his immediate predecessors, did not want specific responsibilities to be delegated to him. Mondale believed, as he wrote President-elect Jimmy Carter a memo following the 1976 election, that his most important role would be as a "general adviser" to the president.<ref name="WPO 41921"/><ref>Walter Mondale, [https://www.mnhs.org/collections/upclose/Mondale-CarterMemo-Transcription.pdf Memo to Jimmy Carter re: The Role of the Vice President in the Carter Administration] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200307080046/http://www.mnhs.org/collections/upclose/Mondale-CarterMemo-Transcription.pdf |date=March 7, 2020 }}, Dec. 9, 1976.</ref> Al Gore was an important adviser to President [[Bill Clinton]] on matters of [[foreign policy]] and the [[environmental policy|environment]]. Dick Cheney was widely regarded as one of President George W. Bush's closest confidants. Joe Biden asked President Barack Obama to let him always be the "last person in the room" when a big decision was made; later, as president himself, Biden adopted this model with his own vice president, Kamala Harris.<ref name="Politico">{{cite news |last1=Lizza |first1=Ryan |title=What Harris Got from Biden During Her Job Interview |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/08/13/joe-biden-kamala-harris-relationship-395160 |access-date=14 August 2020 |publisher=Politico |date=August 13, 2020 |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114194956/https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/08/13/joe-biden-kamala-harris-relationship-395160 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="BusinessInsider">{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris-portfolio-2024-president-biden-white-house-administration-2021-1|title=Kamala Harris is the president-in-waiting. Here's how the VP is balancing building her own brand against serving as a loyal soldier on Team Biden.|publisher=[[Business Insider]]|last1=Bravender|first1=Robin|last2=Sfondeles|first2=Tina|date=January 29, 2021|access-date=January 29, 2021|archive-date=January 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129145023/https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris-portfolio-2024-president-biden-white-house-administration-2021-1|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Governing partner===

Recent vice presidents have been delegated authority by presidents to handle significant issue areas independently. Joe Biden (who has held the office of President and Vice President of the United States) has observed that the presidency is "too big anymore for any one man or woman".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Glueck |first1=Katie |title=Behind Joe Biden's Thinking on a Female Running Mate |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/us/politics/joe-biden-vp-running-mate.html |access-date=14 August 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 16, 2020 |archive-date=August 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200825135306/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/us/politics/joe-biden-vp-running-mate.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Dick Cheney was considered to hold a tremendous amount of power and frequently made policy decisions on his own, without the knowledge of the president.<ref name="Kenneth T. Walsh"/> Biden was assigned by Barack Obama to oversee Iraq policy; Obama was said to have said, "Joe, you do Iraq."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/breaking-maliki-biden |title=Breaking Up: Maliki and Biden |last=Osnos |first=Evan |magazine=The New Yorker |date=August 12, 2014 |access-date=August 26, 2015 |archive-date=October 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002053443/http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/breaking-maliki-biden |url-status=live }}</ref> In February 2020, [[Donald Trump]] appointed Mike Pence to lead his response to COVID-19<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Cancryn|first1=Adam|last2=Forgey|first2=Quint|last3=Diamond|first3=Dan|date=27 February 2020|title=After fumbled messaging, Trump gets a coronavirus czar by another name|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/27/white-house-coronavirus-response-debbie-birx-117893|access-date=19 July 2021|website=[[POLITICO]]|language=}}</ref> and, upon his ascension to the presidency, Biden put Kamala Harris in charge of controlling migration at the [[US–Mexico border]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=24 March 2021|title=Biden tasks Harris with tackling migrant influx on US–Mexico border|language=|work=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56516332|access-date=19 July 2021}}</ref>

===Congressional liaison===

The vice president is often an important liaison between the administration and Congress, especially in situations where the president has not previously served in Congress or served only briefly. Vice presidents are often selected as running mates in part due to their legislative relationships, notably including Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, Walter Mondale, Dick Cheney, Joe Biden, and Mike Pence among others. In recent years, Dick Cheney held weekly meetings in the Vice President's Room at the [[United States Capitol]], Joe Biden played a key role in bipartisan budget negotiations, and Mike Pence often met with House and Senate Republicans. Kamala Harris, the current vice president, presided over a 50–50 split Senate during the [[117th United States Congress|117th Congress]], which provided her with a key role in passing legislation.

===Representative at events===

Under the American [[Presidential system|system of government]] the president is both [[head of state]] and [[head of government]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Our Government: The Executive Branch|url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/the-executive-branch/|website=whitehouse.gov|publisher=The White House|location=Washington, D.C.|access-date=July 31, 2018|archive-date=July 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731035828/https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/the-executive-branch/|url-status=live}}</ref> and the ceremonial duties of the former position are often delegated to the vice president. The vice president will on occasion represent the president and the U.S. government at state funerals abroad, or at various events in the United States. This often is the most visible role of the vice president. The vice president may also meet with other heads of state at times when the administration wishes to demonstrate concern or support but cannot send the president personally.

===National Security Council member===

Since 1949, the vice president has legally been a member of the [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]]. [[Harry Truman]], having not been told about any war or post-war plans during his vice presidency (notably the [[Manhattan Project]]), recognized that upon assuming the presidency a vice president needed to be already informed on such issues. Modern vice presidents have also been included in the president's [[President's Daily Brief|daily intelligence briefings]]<ref name="Politico"/> and frequently participate in meetings in the [[Situation Room]] with the president.