"An intimate, compulsively readable account of the dynamics that have
shaped--and sometimes destroyed--relations at the top of the American
political hierarchy.... [and] a valuable addition to the literature of
the modern presidency." -- Wall Street Journal
From the author of the New York Times bestsellers First Women and
The Residence, an intimate, news-making look at the men who are next
in line to the most powerful office in the world--the vice presidents of
the modern era--from Richard Nixon to Joe Biden to Mike Pence.
Vice presidents occupy a unique and important position, living partway
in the spotlight and part in the wings. Of the forty-eight vice
presidents who have served the United States, fourteen have become
president; eight of these have risen to the Oval Office because of a
president's death or assassination, and one became president after his
boss's resignation. John Nance Garner, FDR's first vice president,
famously said the vice presidency is "not worth a bucket of warm piss"
(later cleaned up to "warm spit"). But things have changed dramatically
in recent years. In interviews with more than two hundred people,
including former vice presidents, their family members, and insiders and
confidants of every president since Jimmy Carter, Kate Andersen Brower
pulls back the curtain and reveals the sometimes cold, sometimes close,
and always complicated relationship between our modern presidents and
their vice presidents.
Brower took us inside the lives of the White House staff and gave us an
intimate look at the modern First Ladies; now, in her signature style,
she introduces us to the second most powerful men in the world,
exploring the lives and roles of thirteen modern vice presidents--eight
Republicans and five Democrats. And she shares surprising revelations
about the relationship between former Vice President Joe Biden and
former President Barack Obama and how Vice President Mike Pence and
President Donald Trump interact behind closed doors.
From rivals to coworkers, there is a very tangible sense of admiration
mixed with jealousy and resentment in nearly all these relationships
between the number two and his boss, even the best ones, Brower reveals.
Vice presidents owe their position to the president, a connection that
affects not only how they are perceived but also their possible future
as a presidential candidate--which is tied, for better or worse, to the
president they serve. George H. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan had a famously
prickly relationship during the 1980 primary, yet Bush would not have
been elected president in 1988 without Reagan's high approval rating. Al
Gore's 2000 loss, meanwhile, could be attributed to the Monica Lewinsky
sex scandal and Bill Clinton's impeachment. Current Vice President Mike
Pence is walking a high-stakes political tightrope as he tries to
reassure anxious Republicans while staying on his boss's good side.
This rich dynamic between the president and the vice president has never
been fully explored or understood. Compelling and deeply reported,
grounded in history and politics, and full of previously untold and
incredibly personal stories, First In Line pierces the veil of secrecy
enveloping this historic political office to offer us a candid portrait
of what it's truly like to be a heartbeat away.
