in this corner...

In an unusual piece of theater, Vice President Cheney and President Obama squared in oddly scripted back to back foreign policy speeches this past Thursday. I've been thinking about the historical role of vice presidents after they leave office. Is Cheney tour de talk unusually? It's certainly in keeping with Al Gore's work critiquing the second Bush administration on environmental issues.

Excepting the 14 vice presidents who were elected president, here are some other ex-vice presidents who were particularly outspoken



Aaron Burr - As a former vice president, Burr fatally shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel and attempted to foment a revolution in the western territories of Louisiana and Texas.

John C Calhoun - After serving four years a John Quincy Adams' vice president and three plus for Andrew Jackson, Calhoun resigned to take a seat in the Senate from South Carolina. As a senator, Calhoun lead the southern campaign opposed to national efforts to limit the expansion of slavery.

John C. Breckinridge - Vice president under James Buchanan from 1857 until March 4, 1861, Bechinridge enlisted in the Confederate Army in late 1861. He was promptly expelled from a Kentucky senate seat he assumed after his term as vice president ended.

Adlai E. Stevenson - After serving as vice president with democratic president Grover Cleveland, Stevenson ran as vice president on the democratic ticket with Cleveland rival William Jennings Bryan in 1900.

Henry Wallace - Three years after ending his four year term as Franklin Roosevelt's vice president, Wallace ran for president as a progressive against Harry Truman, Thomas Dewey and Strom Thurmond. Wallace railed against Truman foreign policies, but later retreated from his critiques to support the Korean War effort.



And, Jon Stewart does a great job sending up this whole Cheney vs. Obama thing.

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