Editing Vice President of the United States (section)

===Vacancies===
[[File:Mr. and Mrs. Ford and Nixon 13 Oct 1973.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|alt=Two women are flanked by two men in suits, standing in a room of the White House.|(Left to right) President [[Richard Nixon]], First Lady [[Pat Nixon]], [[Betty Ford]] and Representative [[Gerald Ford]] after President Nixon nominated Ford to be vice president, October 13, 1973]]

Prior to the ratification of the Twenty-fifth Amendment in 1967, no constitutional provision existed for filling an intra-term vacancy in the vice presidency.

As a result, when such a vacancy occurred, the office was left vacant until filled through the next ensuing election and inauguration. Between 1812 and 1965, the vice presidency was vacant on sixteen occasions, as a result of seven deaths, one resignation, and eight cases of the vice president succeeding to the presidency. With the vacancy that followed the succession of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1963, the nation had been without a vice president for a cumulative total of 37 years.<ref>{{Cite journal| last=Feerick| first=John D.| title=The Vice-Presidency and the Problems of Presidential Succession and Inability| journal=Fordham Law Review| year=1964| volume=31| issue=3| publisher=Fordham University School of Law| url=https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol32/iss3/2| pages=457–498| access-date=October 1, 2019| archive-date=October 1, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001155813/https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol32/iss3/2/| url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=succesionfacts>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/27/us/succession-presidential-and-vice-presidential-fast-facts/|title=Succession: Presidential and Vice Presidential Fast Facts|publisher=[[CNN]]|date=September 26, 2016|access-date=January 15, 2017|archive-date=January 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116185756/http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/27/us/succession-presidential-and-vice-presidential-fast-facts/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Section 2 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment provides that "whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress."<ref name=XXVHeritage/> This procedure has been implemented twice since the amendment [[Coming into force|came into force]]: the first instance occurred in 1973 following the October 10 resignation of [[Spiro Agnew]], when [[Gerald Ford]] was nominated by President [[Richard Nixon]] and [[1973 United States vice presidential confirmation|confirmed by Congress]]. The second occurred ten months later on August 9, 1974, on Ford's accession to the presidency upon Nixon's resignation, when [[Nelson Rockefeller]] was nominated by President Ford and [[1974 United States vice presidential confirmation|confirmed by Congress]].<ref name=FordhamLaw2011/><ref name=succesionfacts/>

Had it not been for this new constitutional mechanism, the vice presidency would have remained vacant after Agnew's resignation; the [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|speaker of the House]], [[Carl Albert]], would have become [[Acting President of the United States|Acting President]] had Nixon resigned in this scenario, under the terms of the [[Presidential Succession Act of 1947]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Speaker Albert Was Ready to Be President|last=Gup|first=Ted|date=November 28, 1982|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/11/28/speaker-albert-was-ready-to-be-president/84ebaa61-9cf1-4817-836e-a993e7e0e980/|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=July 24, 2018|archive-date=July 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728131338/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/11/28/speaker-albert-was-ready-to-be-president/84ebaa61-9cf1-4817-836e-a993e7e0e980/|url-status=live}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Vice presidential vacancies<ref name=VP-PS/><ref name=PVPS2004OCL/>
|-
! No. !! Period of vacancy !! Cause of vacancy !! Length !! Vacancy filled by
|-
| {{0|0}}1 || {{dts|April 20, 1812}} –{{indent|2}}March 4, 1813
| {{sort|201|Death}} of [[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]]
| {{ayd|1812|04|20|1813|03|04}}
| [[1812 United States presidential election|Election of 1812]]
|-
| {{0|0}}2 || {{dts|November 23, 1814}} –{{indent|2}}March 4, 1817
| {{sort|202|Death}} of [[Elbridge Gerry]]
| {{ayd|1814|11|23|1817|03|04}}
| [[1816 United States presidential election|Election of 1816]]
|-
| {{0|0}}3 || {{dts|December 28, 1832}} –{{indent|2}}March 4, 1833
| {{sort|301|Resignation}} of [[John C. Calhoun]]
| {{ayd|1832|12|28|1833|03|04}}
| [[1832 United States presidential election|Election of 1832]]
|-
| {{0|0}}4 || {{dts|April 4, 1841}} –{{indent|2}}March 4, 1845
| {{sort|101|[[Inauguration of John Tyler|Accession]]}} of [[John Tyler]] as president
| {{ayd|1841|04|04|1845|03|04}}{{spaces|2}}
| [[1844 United States presidential election|Election of 1844]]
|-
| {{0|0}}5 || {{dts|July 9, 1850}} –{{indent|2}}March 4, 1853
| {{sort|102|[[Inauguration of Millard Fillmore|Accession]]}} of [[Millard Fillmore]] as president
| {{ayd|1850|07|09|1853|03|04}}
| [[1852 United States presidential election|Election of 1852]]
|-
| {{0|0}}6 || {{dts|April 18, 1853}} –{{indent|2}}March 4, 1857
| {{sort|203|Death}} of [[William R. King]]
| {{ayd|1853|04|18|1857|03|04}}
| [[1856 United States presidential election|Election of 1856]]
|-
| {{0|0}}7 || {{dts|April 15, 1865}} –{{indent|2}}March 4, 1869
| {{sort|103|[[Inauguration of Andrew Johnson|Accession]]}} of [[Andrew Johnson]] as president
| {{ayd|1865|04|15|1869|03|04}}
| [[1868 United States presidential election|Election of 1868]]
|-
| {{0|0}}8 || {{dts|November 22, 1875}} –{{indent|2}}March 4, 1877
| {{sort|204|Death}} of [[Henry Wilson]]
| {{ayd|1875|11|22|1877|03|04}}
| [[1876 United States presidential election|Election of 1876]]
|-
| {{0|0}}9 || {{nowrap|{{dts|September 19, 1881}} –}}{{indent|2}}March 4, 1885
| {{sort|104|[[Inauguration of Chester A. Arthur|Accession]]}} of [[Chester A. Arthur]] as president
| {{ayd|1881|09|19|1885|03|04}}
| [[1884 United States presidential election|Election of 1884]]
|-
| 10 || {{dts |November 25, 1885}} –{{indent|2}}March 4, 1889
| {{sort|205|Death}} of [[Thomas A. Hendricks]]
| {{ayd|1885|11|25|1889|03|04}}
| [[1888 United States presidential election|Election of 1888]]
|-
| 11 || {{dts|November 21, 1899}} –{{indent|2}}March 4, 1901
| {{sort|206|Death}} of [[Garret Hobart]]
| {{ayd|1899|11|21|1901|03|04}}
| [[1900 United States presidential election|Election of 1900]]
|-
| 12 || {{dts|September 14, 1901}} –{{indent|2}}March 4, 1905
| {{sort|105|[[First inauguration of Theodore Roosevelt|Accession]]}} of [[Theodore Roosevelt]] as president
| {{ayd|1901|09|14|1905|03|04}}
| [[1904 United States presidential election|Election of 1904]]
|-
| 13 || {{dts|October 30, 1912}} –{{indent|2}}March 4, 1913
| {{sort|207|Death}} of [[James S. Sherman]]
| {{ayd|1912|10|30|1913|03|04}}
| [[1912 United States presidential election|Election of 1912]]
|-
| 14 || {{dts|August 2, 1923}} –{{indent|2}}March 4, 1925
| {{sort|106|[[First inauguration of Calvin Coolidge|Accession]]}} of [[Calvin Coolidge]] as president
| {{ayd|1923|08|02|1925|03|04}}
| [[1924 United States presidential election|Election of 1924]]
|-
| 15 || {{dts|April 12, 1945}} –{{indent|2}}January 20, 1949
| {{sort|107|[[First inauguration of Harry S. Truman|Accession]]}} of [[Harry S. Truman]] as president
| {{ayd|1945|04|12|1949|01|20}}
| [[1948 United States presidential election|Election of 1948]]
|-
| 16 || {{dts|November 22, 1963}} –{{indent|2}}January 20, 1965
| {{sort|108|[[First inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson|Accession]]}} of [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] as president
| {{ayd|1963|11|22|1965|01|20}}
| [[1964 United States presidential election|Election of 1964]]
|-
| 17 || {{dts|October 10, 1973}} –{{indent|2}}December 6, 1973
| {{sort|302|Resignation}} of [[Spiro Agnew]]
| {{ayd|1973|10|10|1973|12|06}}
| [[1973 United States vice presidential confirmation|Confirmation of successor]]
|-
| 18 || {{dts|August 9, 1974}} –{{indent|2}}December 19, 1974
| {{sort|109|[[inauguration of Gerald Ford|Accession]]}} of [[Gerald Ford]] as president
| {{ayd|1974|08|09|1974|12|19}}
| [[1974 United States vice presidential confirmation|Confirmation of successor]]
|}