The Office of the Vice President and his Recent Travels in Germany

What is the role of the Vice President? This question, seemingly easy, cannot be answered by some Americans and even those running for the office itself. According to http://www.senate.gov/, the formal powers of Vice President are:
- To become President should the President become unable to serve
- President of the US Senate that has 2 primary duties:
· To cast a vote in the event of a Senate deadlock
· To preside over and certify the official vote count of the US Electoral College

Basically a loose translation of a role of the VP is to be the President’s right hand man (or woman); someone to bounce ideas off of in times of policy making and hopefully a voice of reason to combat the occasionally fatal “group think” that can happen in any group. Looking at our current Vice President Joseph Biden, so far it seems like he is fitting into his role nicely, but the true test will be time.

Some may not think of Biden as a good leader and second to Obama because he puts the proverbial “foot in his mouth.” But doesn’t that happen to every politician (and every American citizen for that matter) at some time or another? The difference is the importance of his role as Vice President of the United States, which places him in a fishbowl to have his every move and word, be scrutinized and evaluated. So just what has Biden been doing as VP?

Recently Biden delivered a speech at the Security Conference in Munich, Germany addressing an area he has extensive experience in: foreign relations. This was a good marker to see how Biden measures up on a global scale as Vice President.

The overall message of this address was pressing “the reset button” in regard to US foreign relations and promoting negotiation before using force with those in opposition to the United States. Biden mirrored President Obama’s inaugural address in terms of ideas and content. He actually borrowed phrases from Obama’s inaugural such as “our administration rejects a false choice between our safety and our ideals,” and gives examples of Obama’s attitude of “mutual interest and mutual respect” to move forward in relations with the world.

According to CNN.com, people are seeing this administration as the “dawn of a new era” as far as international relations are concerned. A downside of the address is that it was a bit vague and only gave little specifics on what the US plans to do with negotiations. It did address that Russia should work with the US to help rid the world of the terrorists. But Russia Today reported that their deputy prime minister said that “there were a lot of thaws” between the US and Russia that went nowhere but he does hope that this time things will be different.

Biden had a tough audience for this speech but conveyed his point efficiently. Ideas of unity, negotiation, and peace wafted through the speech trying to persuade the world to see things differently now that a new administration has taken the helm. While not as eloquent and captivating as Obama, Biden had fulfilled his role as Vice President that day. Continuity is important in any campaign, and Biden did not “go rouge” or embarrass himself, but continued the message of the Obama administration.

Overall Biden did a decent job. The one major criticism is where’s the details? I understand that one cannot map out an extensive plan when dealing with foreign relations, but how does the US plan to talk to Iran and other countries about nuclear arms development? What are these “incentives” these countries will receive if they abandon their nuclear development? And how will we be able to convince Russia to help the US destroy, or at least curb terrorism? Time will be the indicator of how and if these questions will be answered.
But it is a step in the right direction.

Michele Flannery
Wilkes University, '10
Communications