Between the Branches: Where Does the Vice Presidency Belong?

In June 2007, vice president Dick Cheney declined to pass several classified documents held by his office on the assumption that the vice president, as president of the Senate, is legislative branch representative, which 'is not entity within executive branch.' While confusing scholars, journalists and legal experts, the vital question remains: where does the vice presidency belong? In this paper, the author argues that due to the constitutional duty of being ex officio the president of the Senate, the vice presidency has long been more part of the executive branch of American government. Both symbolically - having seal similar to presidential one, Air Force Two and an executive office that mirrors the presidential one - and, more importantly, politically, due to being the chief executive's advisor and representative, spokesman and potential successor, the vice president has been a presidential branch member. In this paper the author will investigate the historical shift of the vice presidency toward the executive branch.