How to Select a Presidential Running Mate

As Donald Young writes: "The presidential nominee should always be held responsible for the choice of his racecourse associate" (Young 374). This has not always been true, however, as Jules Witcover notes when describing the process by which Richard Nixon was chosen as the running mate for Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. Nixon was chosen by Eisenhower's political advisers rather than by Eisenhower himself:

The choice of the soldiery who might be the nation's adjacent president thus had been do by a few political operatives in hole-and-corner(a) deliberations. They innocently in induceed the presidential nominee of their choice and win his acquiescence, subject to a meeting of party leaders that was mere window dressing (Witcover 113).

In modern times, the choice of a running mate is usually made on the tail end of what part of the country the presidential nominee needs to take over and fears he will not. If he is weak in the South, he may nominate a Southerner. If he needs sassy York, he may nominate a New York politician. He is un belike ever to choose a medical prognosis from his buzz off state or part of the country because presumably he is already popular there if he has any relegate of winning at all. Paul C. Light calls this "geographical balance," noting that this comes kickoff "and ideological balance second" (Light 136). Before the 1950s, most presidents odd the selection of their running conjoin to nominating conventions. Barbara Hinckley says that the fact that the presidential candidate chooses the vice presid

Patterson, Bradley H., Jr. The colour House Staff. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 2000.

Feinberg notes that it has been gnarled for first-term presidential nominees to choose running mates:

The 1960s saw the end of brokered party conventions, and now primaries practice grassroots party members a chance to pick probable presidential nominees. More presidential candidates chose their own running mates, though they may have consulted with party leaders. One exception was in 1956, when Adlai Stevenson let the Democratic convention choose for him.

"By making their own choices, presidential nominees could ensure that they had vice presidents who would benefit the ticket, who were politically compatible, and whom they could trust" (Feinberg 45). In addition to ticket balancing, presidential candidates as well sought running mates with previous political experience. If the presidential candidate campaigns as an "outsider," he chooses a running mate more familiar with Washington, D.C.. For instance, Jimmy Carter, the governor of Georgia, ran with Walter Mondale, a Senator form Minnesota, and Bill Clinton, governor or Arkansas, chose Albert gore, Senator from Tennessee. In some cases, presidential nominees chose their rivals as running mates in order to meld the party for the coming election. Thus, John F. Kennedy chose Lyndon Johnson. Ronald Reagan's second choice was George Bush, though Bush had condemned Reagan's economic principles during the primaries (Feinberg 46).

Feinberg, Barbara Silberdick. Next in Line. Danbury, Connecticut: Franklin Watts, 1996.

Yet, the next election cycle saw both Al battue and George W. Bush choosing running mates who were older, from different parts of the country, and with experience that could help in the election. Bush's choice of Dick Cheney seems particularly problematic given Cheney's health problems, which make it seem more likely that Bush would succeed him than the other way round. The fact that
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