Review: First in Line: Presidents, Vice Presidents, and the Pursuit of Power

First in Line: Presidents, Vice Presidents, and the Pursuit of Power by Kate Andersen Brower

First in Line is a readable and informative book about US vice presidents from Nixon through Pence. The author focuses on how the role of VP has grown over that time, along with the changes in the relationship between the VPs and their presidents. She credits Carter agreement on Mondale’s role for much of the growth in responsibility in the modern vice presidency. 

The first five chapters of the book bounce around chronologically and are more focused on specific stories or themes of the vice presidency. This includes an interesting chapter on the official VP residency at the US Naval Observatory. The remaining chapters take you chronologically from Eisenhower and Nixon up to the Trump and Pence. 

In the notes at the end of the book, Brower says she spent two years and interviewed more than 200 people to complete this book. The detail and the “behind the scenes” stories throughout the book reflect the depth of that research.

While the book was interesting the way it was arranged was a bit confusing. If the content of the earlier chapters had been added chronologically into the later chapters it would have made for a better flow to the book. 

I rate First in Line 3 Stars – I liked this book. If you have an interest in the history of the US vice presidency, you might like it too.

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