Rough Riding
At the dawn of the twentieth century there was no Vice-President of the United States. This fact did not seem to bother anyone. Alone of all the major offices in the Federal Government, the vice-presidency could be left vacant until the next presidential election provided a new incumbent. When Vice-President Garret Augustus Hobart died in November 1899, the only problem presented was that the McKinley administration would have to find a new running-mate for the 1900 campaign. Even had he lived, that might have been done anyway, for the practice was to deny a Vice-President renomination for a second term. However, as Hobart was particularly close to the President and enjoyed great popularity with the Senate and important sections of his party, an effort might have been made to defy this tradition.
Fascinating.
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