Indiana: Profiles in Veepness
Why are so many VPs Hoosiers?
Defying Trump, the Indiana State Senate refused to further gerrymander their state’s Congressional districts. Indiana is an overwhelmingly Republican state, and the state Senate is hardly the bastion of wise Solons. But they listened to their constituents who voiced their disapproval of the redistricting plan and were put off to by the Trump administration’s bullying. Hoosiers thought that redistricting in the middle of the decade, between two Censuses, just wasn’t fair.
Good for the Hoosiers and good for democracy. Indiana is a mid-sized state that punches above its weight in national politics and culture. One, but not the only, example of this prominence (and you had to know this was coming) is Indiana’s leadership in producing vice presidents. But why?1
The VP Factory
A half-dozen vice presidents have been Hoosiers.2 Only New York has produced more VPs, with ten. But New York had numerous advantages in national prominence over Indiana including: seven election cycles before Indiana became a state, being the largest state in the union for over a century and a half, and NYC being our largest city. Little surprise that New York leads both in giving us ten vice presidents and seven presidents.3 Indiana’s neighbor Ohio is second to New York in producing presidents with six. Indiana and Ohio are mirror images. Indiana has given us six VPs and a single president. Ohio has given us six presidents, but only a single VP (the current office-holder JD Vance.)
The root of Indiana’s Veeplethora is the period between the end of the Civil War through to the Progressive Era (the 13 elections from 1868 through 1916). In that era 12 men held the position of VP. Five were from New York and four were from Indiana. There were also four losing tickets that featured a Hoosier running mate in that timeframe. Of the 27 VP nominees across those 13 elections (including Teddy Roosevelt’s running mate in his 1912 third party run), 9 were from Indiana!4
Indiana in this period had 13-15 votes in the Electoral College. It wasn’t one of the big states (New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois.) But it was still a substantial electoral prize. In those thirteen elections Ohio and Illinois only voted for Democrats twice and Pennsylvania’s only deviation from voting Republican was in 1912 when their Electoral Votes went to Teddy Roosevelt.
Indiana was a swing state, voting for Democrats four out of 13 times. Of the four Hoosier VPs, two were Republicans (Schuyler Colfax and Charles Fairbanks) and two were Democrats (Thomas Hendricks and Thomas Marshall). New York was the biggest swing state, going for the GOP eight times and the Democrats five times.
At this time, regional balance was important. If a candidate came from the east, their running mate should be from the west—and vice-versa. Of Ohio’s six presidential candidates, five ran with a New Yorker. There were four tickets featuring a presidential nominee from New York and a running mate from Indiana. There were also a pair of tickets (Wilson and Marshall in 1912 and 1916) which paired a presidential candidate from New Jersey with a VP from Indiana.
Long and short, in this period regional balance was important so a nominee from the east needed a western running mate, and that running mate should come from a prominent swing state. Indiana fit these conditions.
The Hoosier Veeps: Profiles in Obscurity
In office, none of these four Hoosier Veeps were terribly distinguished, although in fairness this was an era of utterly inconsequential vice presidents.
Schuyler Colfax, Grant’s first VP, was a dedicated abolitionist who was Speaker of the House when Andrew Johnson was impeached. As VP, Colfax was nearly impeached for dodgy stock dealings.
Thomas Hendricks, Grover Cleveland’s VP, served as a Congressman and Senator from Indiana. He had had an atrocious record on slavery but converted to a War Democrat when hostilities broke out. He ran for VP on a losing ticket with Samuel Tilden in 1876. Hendricks died just a few months into his term in office. Perhaps his greatest political legacy was that by dying in office Congress acted to clarify the line of succession.5 Congress removed the Senate President Pro Tem and the Speaker of the House from the line of succession. The presidency would go to the Secretary of State, followed by the other cabinet officers in order of seniority of the departments.
Charles Fairbanks, Teddy Roosevelt’s vice president, had become wealthy as a lawyer working for the railroads and had been a state party official. He became a Senator in 1894 and was selected as Roosevelt’s running mate for geographical and also ideological balance.6 Roosevelt had little interest in working with Fairbanks. In 1916, Fairbanks was again drafted as the GOP vice presidential nominee, his Democratic counterpart was none other than…
Thomas Marshall was a trial lawyer and state party official who became governor of Indiana. He served two full terms as vice president, the first person to do so since Daniel Tompkins (VP to James Madison), 88 years earlier. Marshall, a genial wit, was well-regarded in the Senate, but quickly frozen out by President Wilson who saw Marshall as a “small caliber man.” What was most interesting about Marshall’s vice presidency was what he didn’t do. While Wilson was grievously ill, probably from a stroke, Marshall kept his silence and his distance from the White House so as to not appear an usurper.
Contemporary Resurgence
Over the past few decades Indiana has had a Renaissance VP-wise with Dan Quayle and Mike Pence—no other state has produced more than one VP in this period. These decisions reflect the changing nature of the vice presidency. While carrying specific states remains a consideration, it is less critical. Balance remains a factor, but the particular person and their attributes is most important. Quayle was seen as a rising star and his youth was a contrast to the aged Reagan and not so young Bush Sr. Pence, on the other hand, was one of the only people interested in joining Trump’s ticket, which seemed destined to lose. Pence was in trouble as governor of Indiana, but he turned out to be a solid pick for Trump, reassuring evangelical voters and other traditional Republicans that the Trump (a former Democrat), would be a reliable standard bearer for the GOP.
Quayle was a step backward from the new “White House” vice presidency which established the VP as a player in the White House. Quayle was able to carve out useful niches on policy. Compared to his recent predecessors and successors, Quayle did not have a significant role, but compared to the overwhelming majority of VPs, he did far more substantial work than three-quarters of the people who have held the office.
In the chaotic Trump White House, Pence tried to play a standard vice presidential role and be a counselor. At times he had influence, but he was also handed thankless tasks such as the Covid Task Force and given no authority. He was able to play substantive roles as the chair of the Space Council and in a few other domains. His most significant role however was on January 6, when he defied Trump’s wish and presided over the count of Electoral votes. Whatever Pence’s flaws and weaknesses, like the Indiana State Senate, he resisted Trump’s bullying when it mattered.
The Indiana of the Mind
The vice presidency isn’t the only arena in which Indiana punches above its weight. While the current crop in Indiana politicians may not be inspiring, in recent decades there have been numerous Hoosiers with respected national, and even global, reputations from both parties.
But it isn’t just politics. This is intuitive, not analytical, but Indiana appears to play an outsized role in our national consciousness. Think of the TV shows explicitly set in Indiana: Stranger Things, The Middle, Parks and Recreation. Sitcoms and other shows are usually set in our leading cities (NY, LA, Chicago). The TV shows listed could have been set anywhere—why not Missouri, Wisconsin, Nebraska, or any of a dozen states in the American heartland?
All of these shows are characterized by a sort of ordinary messiness, but also by earnestness and decency. It is fitting then, that Indiana is such a prominent source of “small caliber” VPs and politicians who can surprise by rising to the occasion. In that, Indiana becomes a stand-in for the United States as a whole.
Are we taking bets on Pete Buttigieg becoming the next Hoosier VP? I’m not sure I would.
Ohio and New York were tied for producing presidents until Trump became president. In the annals of presidential minutiae Trump presents an interesting case because he moved between his presidencies and is now our first president from Florida.
Indiana’s only president, Benjamin Harrison was also during this period. His VP, Levi Morton was from New York.
When Hendricks died in office, four presidents had died or been assassinated in living memory (Harrison 1841, Taylor 1853, Lincoln 1865, and Garfield 1881). Congressional concern over the order of succession was urgent.
Roosevelt was a progressive Republican and Fairbanks was the preferred candidate of the Old Guard, big business Republicans.