It has been labeled "The most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived." (John Adams) and upon ascension to the office, one officeholder telegraphed his successor with the message, "Please accept my sincere sympathies". (Thomas Marshall to Calvin Coolidge) We are of course speaking of the "Vice Presidency"; otherwise known as the second highest office in the nation and perhaps the most superfluous. The President's Lackey, I mean "Number 2 Man", has suffered through bouts of uselessness, ignominity, and now labeling as merely a stepping-stone. From the very moment of its creation, no one seemed to know exactly what a Vice President's job was, or even its importance, thus its continually evolving role in the United States government. In fact, he is usually considered sort of a "spare" President, there to insure a smooth transition of power in case of a Presidential removal from power. Whichever way you slice it, the poor "Veep" is an extremely misunderstood and ignored part of our government.

That being said, "Second String" is culled from the web magazine VicePresidents.com, self-labeled as the only one of its kind solely devoted to this second highest office in the country. It is chock full of trivia, facts and lists about all of our vice presidents. Every single one (46 in total) is included in this book, from John Adams down to Dick Chaney (Joe Biden had yet to be elected at the time of printing), from the great (John Adams, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Al Gore) to the infamous (Aaron Burr, Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, Spiro Agnew) as well as the famous (Thomas Jefferson, Calvin Coolidge, Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson) and the obscure (Elbridge Gerry, Henry Wilson, Garret Hobart, Alben Barkley). There are some bits of trivia about them all.

Organizationally, the book is subdivided into numerous categories, covering a variety of subjects, including cool perks of the job itself, what happened to the Veeps after they left office and famous quotes. This does make it easy if you are searching for a specific type of general information. Also, there are cartoon portraits of all of the Vice Presidents scattered throughout the book, which are well-done likenesses and help break-up the lists and facts groupings. However, there is no index, making it impossible to search for all of the listings about a particular Veep, like say John Tyler. Unless you already know some information about him, such as the fact that he was the first to become President upon the death of the President (found in the section "Vice Presidency: Stepping Stone or Millstone?"), this book would be difficult to use without reading it in its entirety. The lack of index, in my mind, is a major defect and drops the rating I am giving this book.

In addition, to the index issue, there are also several mistakes that I noticed. The most obvious ones being errors dealing with Veep John Breckinridge, in several places his years in office were wrong, while in others he was listed as coming after Hamlin, instead of before (he was Buchanan’s Vice President). There may be other errors, which I am unaware of, due to my lack of familiarity with those individuals (I am Civil War historian thus the knowledge of Breckinridge). This book struck me as being a collection of facts, trivia and biographic information submitted by individuals to this web-magazine, not dissimilar to Wikipedia. Thus I would use caution when using this book for historical papers and in answering Jeopardy! questions. Also, there was a great deal of repetition. There were some facts that were presented in multiple places, or even more than once in the same chapter. Consolidation is greatly needed before publishing the next edition.

In conclusion, I really did enjoy reading "Second String". It was entertaining and I did learn a great deal of information about our nation’s overlooked Vice Presidents. I recommend this book for those who enjoy trivia and governmental facts. The United States people must learn to respect and cherish their Veeps and the various ways in which they have served, and continue to serve, our country.

Favorite Veep Quotes:

"Some newspapers dispose of their garbage by printing it."
---Spiro Agnew---

"One useless man is a disgrace, two a law firm, three or more a Congress." ---John Adams---

It has been labeled "The most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived." (John Adams) and upon ascension to the office, one officeholder telegraphed his successor with the message, "Please accept my sincere sympathies". (Thomas Marshall to Calvin Coolidge) We are of course speaking of the "Vice Presidency"; otherwise known as the second highest office in the nation and perhaps the most superfluous. The President's Lackey, I mean "Number 2 Man", has suffered through bouts of uselessness, ignominity, and now labeling as merely a stepping-stone. From the very moment of its creation, no one seemed to know exactly what a Vice President's job was, or even its importance, thus its continually evolving role in the United States government. In fact, he is usually considered sort of a "spare" President, there to insure a smooth transition of power in case of a Presidential removal from power. Whichever way you slice it, the poor "Veep" is an extremely misunderstood and ignored part of our government.

That being said, "Second String" is culled from the web magazine VicePresidents.com, self-labeled as the only one of its kind solely devoted to this second highest office in the country. It is chock full of trivia, facts and lists about all of our vice presidents. Every single one (46 in total) is included in this book, from John Adams down to Dick Chaney (Joe Biden had yet to be elected at the time of printing), from the great (John Adams, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Al Gore) to the infamous (Aaron Burr, Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, Spiro Agnew) as well as the famous (Thomas Jefferson, Calvin Coolidge, Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson) and the obscure (Elbridge Gerry, Henry Wilson, Garret Hobart, Alben Barkley). There are some bits of trivia about them all.

Organizationally, the book is subdivided into numerous categories, covering a variety of subjects, including cool perks of the job itself, what happened to the Veeps after they left office and famous quotes. This does make it easy if you are searching for a specific type of general information. Also, there are cartoon portraits of all of the Vice Presidents scattered throughout the book, which are well-done likenesses and help break-up the lists and facts groupings. However, there is no index, making it impossible to search for all of the listings about a particular Veep, like say John Tyler. Unless you already know some information about him, such as the fact that he was the first to become President upon the death of the President (found in the section "Vice Presidency: Stepping Stone or Millstone?"), this book would be difficult to use without reading it in its entirety. The lack of index, in my mind, is a major defect and drops the rating I am giving this book.

In addition, to the index issue, there are also several mistakes that I noticed. The most obvious ones being errors dealing with Veep John Breckinridge, in several places his years in office were wrong, while in others he was listed as coming after Hamlin, instead of before (he was Buchanan’s Vice President). There may be other errors, which I am unaware of, due to my lack of familiarity with those individuals (I am Civil War historian thus the knowledge of Breckinridge). This book struck me as being a collection of facts, trivia and biographic information submitted by individuals to this web-magazine, not dissimilar to Wikipedia. Thus I would use caution when using this book for historical papers and in answering Jeopardy! questions. Also, there was a great deal of repetition. There were some facts that were presented in multiple places, or even more than once in the same chapter. Consolidation is greatly needed before publishing the next edition.

In conclusion, I really did enjoy reading "Second String". It was entertaining and I did learn a great deal of information about our nation’s overlooked Vice Presidents. I recommend this book for those who enjoy trivia and governmental facts. The United States people must learn to respect and cherish their Veeps and the various ways in which they have served, and continue to serve, our country.

Favorite Veep Quotes:

"Some newspapers dispose of their garbage by printing it."
---Spiro Agnew---

"One useless man is a disgrace, two a law firm, three or more a Congress." ---John Adams---

It has been labeled "The most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived." (John Adams) and upon ascension to the office, one officeholder telegraphed his successor with the message, "Please accept my sincere sympathies". (Thomas Marshall to Calvin Coolidge) We are of course speaking of the "Vice Presidency"; otherwise known as the second highest office in the nation and perhaps the most superfluous. The President's Lackey, I mean "Number 2 Man", has suffered through bouts of uselessness, ignominity, and now labeling as merely a stepping-stone. From the very moment of its creation, no one seemed to know exactly what a Vice President's job was, or even its importance, thus its continually evolving role in the United States government. In fact, he is usually considered sort of a "spare" President, there to insure a smooth transition of power in case of a Presidential removal from power. Whichever way you slice it, the poor "Veep" is an extremely misunderstood and ignored part of our government.

That being said, "Second String" is culled from the web magazine VicePresidents.com, self-labeled as the only one of its kind solely devoted to this second highest office in the country. It is chock full of trivia, facts and lists about all of our vice presidents. Every single one (46 in total) is included in this book, from John Adams down to Dick Chaney (Joe Biden had yet to be elected at the time of printing), from the great (John Adams, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Al Gore) to the infamous (Aaron Burr, Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, Spiro Agnew) as well as the famous (Thomas Jefferson, Calvin Coolidge, Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson) and the obscure (Elbridge Gerry, Henry Wilson, Garret Hobart, Alben Barkley). There are some bits of trivia about them all.

Organizationally, the book is subdivided into numerous categories, covering a variety of subjects, including cool perks of the job itself, what happened to the Veeps after they left office and famous quotes. This does make it easy if you are searching for a specific type of general information. Also, there are cartoon portraits of all of the Vice Presidents scattered throughout the book, which are well-done likenesses and help break-up the lists and facts groupings. However, there is no index, making it impossible to search for all of the listings about a particular Veep, like say John Tyler. Unless you already know some information about him, such as the fact that he was the first to become President upon the death of the President (found in the section "Vice Presidency: Stepping Stone or Millstone?"), this book would be difficult to use without reading it in its entirety. The lack of index, in my mind, is a major defect and drops the rating I am giving this book.

In addition, to the index issue, there are also several mistakes that I noticed. The most obvious ones being errors dealing with Veep John Breckinridge, in several places his years in office were wrong, while in others he was listed as coming after Hamlin, instead of before (he was Buchanan’s Vice President). There may be other errors, which I am unaware of, due to my lack of familiarity with those individuals (I am Civil War historian thus the knowledge of Breckinridge). This book struck me as being a collection of facts, trivia and biographic information submitted by individuals to this web-magazine, not dissimilar to Wikipedia. Thus I would use caution when using this book for historical papers and in answering Jeopardy! questions. Also, there was a great deal of repetition. There were some facts that were presented in multiple places, or even more than once in the same chapter. Consolidation is greatly needed before publishing the next edition.

In conclusion, I really did enjoy reading "Second String". It was entertaining and I did learn a great deal of information about our nation’s overlooked Vice Presidents. I recommend this book for those who enjoy trivia and governmental facts. The United States people must learn to respect and cherish their Veeps and the various ways in which they have served, and continue to serve, our country.

Favorite Veep Quotes:

"Some newspapers dispose of their garbage by printing it."
---Spiro Agnew---

"One useless man is a disgrace, two a law firm, three or more a Congress." ---John Adams---