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Ghoul’s Glossary: Vice President

Juan Cole 11/19/2008

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Vice President: n. Political chief in charge of committing vice.

The official can fulfill his public duties by committing a wide range of sins or crimes, including murder and treason (see Burr, Aaron and Breckenridge, John). Lazier and greedier incumbents have satisfied themselves with mere extortion, tax evasion, bribery, and conspiracy (see Agnew, Spiro). Energetic and conscientious vice presidents have engaged in the whole range of vice, including subverting the constitution, committing war crimes, engaging in treason through betrayal of covert intelligence operatives, or owning shares in abusive private prisons. (See Cheney, Richard Bruce). Some holders of the office have misunderstood its requirements, neglecting to distinguish themselves by any form of criminality and so dooming themselves to complete oblivion rather than the profound obscurity that is generally granted their more venal counterparts.

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About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page

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