Do we need Lieutenant Governors? Does Honduras need three VPs?
Veeply Roundup
Welcome back from Thanksgiving break and into the Holiday Season. My gift to you, a super-fun Veeply Roundup. With elections in Honduras today, we take a look at their unusual vice presidency. Friend of VP JD, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, is doing some diplomacy, which says something about the VP’s standing in the administration. But first, we take a look at lieutenant governors and ask the obvious question.
Lieutenant Governors: What are they Good For?
An article in The Atlantic argues that we don’t need lieutenant governors. It cites another article from Governing that discusses in some depth the roles of lieutenant governors (LGs). The article is from 2015 suggesting that the literature on LGs is not expansive.
I’ll be blunt, we don’t need lieutenant governors OR vice presidents. Just because a thing isn’t important, doesn’t mean it isn’t worthy of study. I will stand by my argument that a good VP or LG can be a real asset. I have some evidence for this being the case for vice presidents. Much, much less for LGs (although I have something I’m investigating.)
One problem with lieutenant governors is that in 17 states (including the mega-states California and Texas) the LG does not run on a ticket with the governor.1 The governor and LG can be from different parties—and even if they are from the same party they may be political enemies.
The VP grew out of the colonial LGs—back then people died a lot more frequently and from a lot more stuff, so having a backup on hand made sense. Ironically the longest period of presidents completing their terms was after the nation’s founding, from George Washington taking the presidency in 1789 to William Henry Harrison dying in office in 1841 was 52 years. From Harrison through JFK presidents died or were assassinated at regular 20-year intervals. The current era of presidents completing their terms in office started after Nixon resigned in 1974. Assuming Trump is still in office, we will surpass the initial streak in September 2026. In those early days, VPs were more likely to die in office. Both George Clinton and his successor Elbridge Gerry both died in office, while John C. Calhoun resigned.
Governors depart the scene more frequently than presidents. They are more likely to die in office or get into criminal difficulties. Also, not infrequently, they run for a higher office. This makes a modest case for Lt. Governors. Succession can go to the Senate President (who is not elected by the people) or to an appointed official. When the LG isn’t elected with the Governor, their succession can mean a switch in parties. A modest case can be made that LGs elected with the governor help legitimate and ensure the voter’s will if the succession issue arises. Then, since they’re around, governors may as well find something useful for their lieutenants to do.
Join the Army, See the World
The Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll has been playing an outsized role on the world stage. This is besides the challenge of updating the Army for whatever the future holds. In this context, he’s become known as “the drone guy.” Bringing technological change to the military is hard. The money is huge, but never enough, while the projects are complex and can easily go wrong. This is in addition to the enormous headaches that go with managing an organization with hundreds of thousands of people, many billions worth of equipment, spread all over the world. (Driscoll is also acting head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.)
Despite all of this, Driscoll has also done a bit of high-level diplomacy with Ukraine. The White House tapped Driscoll to sell the Ukrainians on the 28-point peace plan. Driscoll then headed to Geneva, joining Secretary of State Rubio and Special Envoy Steven Witkoff, to discuss updates to the plan with the Ukrainians (Witkoff had pitched the plan to Moscow.) And then Driscoll headed to Abu Dhabi for talks with the Russians. This is an unusual role for the Secretary of the Army.2 It reflects the Trump administration’s start-up diplomacy, but it also speaks to the influence of his patron: Vice President Vance.
Driscoll, served in the Army for 3 ½ years, including a nine-month deployment to Iraq where he saw combat. He earned his Ranger Tab and left the Army as a 1st Lieutenant. After the Army, Driscoll attended Yale Law School where he was a classmate of JD Vance. Driscoll does not have a lengthy background in defense circles, which may not be a bad thing. New blood and fresh perspectives on problems may be just what the Army (and the entire national security apparatus need.)
But Driscoll became Secretary of the Army—and was tapped as envoy to Ukraine—because he knew JD Vance.
That Trump approved Vance’s recommendation of Driscoll speaks well of Vance’s influence in the White House.
There is an emerging Vance-Rubio alliance within the White House and Driscoll could be part of that. Further, if Hegseth flames out—which certainly seems possible, Driscoll could be well-positioned to become the next Secretary of Defense.
The VP Trinity of Honduras
The Honduran election could be a telenovela. It’s got everything. There are China angles, crypto angles, U.S. strategic interests, high-level corruption, drug cartels, but also weird Trumpy stuff. Plus there are three candidates and a very strong likelihood that the results will be disputed.
But I’m not here for that.
I’m about the vice presidents and Honduras has three of them! But they can’t run for president. Salvador Nasralla, one of the three candidates for president, had been a vice president and stepped down so that he could run. These Veeps don’t seem to have much to do, except become president if necessary. The Congress picks which of the three becomes president in cases of presidential death, resignation, or incapacity. They are officially called “presidential delegates.”
For most of its history, Honduras had the standard President-Vice President set-up. When the military took control in 1957 they instituted the system with three vice presidents. I have no idea why. When a new Constitution was written and promulgated with the return to civilian rule in 1982, the triple Veepery continued. It was briefly disestablished and replaced with a single VP from 2006-2010 by the Congress (again no idea why.) The Supreme Court ordered the three VP set-up restored.
I don’t know the origins of these reforms or the unusual set-up. In scanning news about the Honduran elections, I haven’t seen anything about the vice-presidential candidates. But this unique arrangement seems curious and worthy of further research.
Seven states don’t have a lieutenant governor at all. In three of them the separately elected Secretary of State is next in the line of succession. In four states the president of the Senate is the next in line. Quick additional note, one of the states the elects the governor and LG separately is Georgia. I’ve always wondered if that complicated relationship helped spur Carter into thinking about the vice presidency differently. A future post, perhaps.
In fairness, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance had previously served as Secretary of the Army.