Shhhhhhh! Let’s keep it a secret! Presidents are mortal!

Consider Wednesday’s USA Today in which Don Campbell was rather dismissive of the vice presidency, noting: “Let’s get serious. Unless you’re making morbid calculations, the vice-presidential nomination and the vice presidency itself are among the least reliable routes imaginable to reach the Oval Office.”

“Let’s get serious”? “… least reliable routes imaginable”?

Huh?

Our nation has had 46 vice presidents. Thirteen (including Gerald Ford) later served as President.

Nine of them became president when the incumbent died. Three elected vice presidents eventually became president – Martin Van Buren, Richard Nixon and George Bush – and one appointed vice president, Ford, moved up when Nixon resigned.

That’s more than 25 percent. (If you don’t count Agnew and Cheney because of a resignation and a yet uncompleted term, 13 of 44 is almost 30 percent!) And yet the news media continue to treat the vice presidency as irrelevant except, mostly, in terms of what states the veep might bring to the ticket.

And we refuse to face the fact that presidents are mortal by dismissing as “morbid calculations” the thought that in nine of the 13 cases, the vice president took office upon the death of the incumbent. Nine of our 43 presidents have died in office – more than 20 percent.

In reality it’s past time to add a certain characteristic–ability to serve as president if needed–to the list of qualifications for the No. 2 spot.

But let’s keep it a secret. Shhhhhhhh. Presidents are mortal.