Historically, the vice presidency has played a subdued political role, except for those who later became president.
But since taking office, Vice President JD Vance has broken the mold, becoming a constant presence in international discourse from South America to Germany to Australia.
“I think at a different time in American history it made sense for the vice president to be in the background, maybe a hundred years ago, when we didn’t have such a sophisticated media industry,” said Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing, Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
“But right now, especially with changes in the country, changes in [the] conservative movement, it’s a huge asset for President Trump and for the conservative movement to have not just a very active vice president, but someone who’s so articulate, and I’ll also say very winsome.”
Roberts spoke to reporters before Vance took the dais at a screening Tuesday night of “Live Not By Lies,” an Angel Studios film chronicling the perils that spiritual and political dissidents faced in the communist Soviet bloc and beyond.
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Of the 50 vice presidents throughout history, some would argue many names have been lost to the public memory, save for those who later ascended to the presidency, like George H.W. Bush, Joe Biden, Richard Nixon, Chester Arthur and Andrew Johnson.
Vice Presidents Dick Cheney of Wyoming, Aaron Burr of New York, John Calhoun of South Carolina and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts are considered three rare vice presidents who were more publicly active than naught.
Gerry is who the term “gerrymander” is named after.
Cheney was frequently a press foil for former President George W. Bush’s foreign policy. Burr famously killed Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton in a duel. And Calhoun was one of the most vocal defenders of slavery in the 19th century.
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Vance, however, appears to be tops in his prominence on the national and world stages, Roberts said.
The same way in which Vance spoke Tuesday on the importance of fighting for truth and being unafraid to speak out is also the way he carries himself in the nation’s second-highest office, he said.
Trump has skillfully “deployed” his deputy to European countries, Roberts said, recounting his own discussions with European officials who are trying to understand how the U.S. is operating under Trump-Vance.
“JD Vance is the interlocutor,” he said, “But he’s really effective. His Munich speech is one of the most important [speeches] in the last few years.”
In Bavaria in February, Vance lambasted Western allies like Sweden and the United Kingdom for “backsliding” on upholding free expression and personal liberty in a speech that shocked the international press.
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As for why Vance has focused so much on Europe rather than the other geopolitical regions highlighted in Trump’s foreign policy, Roberts cited his experience in the Senate and U.S. military as preparing to deal with the Europeans.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to take a Vance-like role in Central and South America for reasons that likely transcend the diplomat’s Cuban heritage and Spanish proficiency: He understands southern geopolitics.
“I think one of the legacies [of] Trump-Vance is going to be a revitalization of American power that only uses the threat of hard power and not the neoconservative adventurism that, of course, colored previous Republican administrations,” he said.
