With President’s Day approaching here’s the first of many seasonal posts.
John Adams called the Vice Presidency “the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived.” A very old joke went “Once there were two brothers. One ran away to sea and the other became Vice President. Neither was ever heard from again.”
In George S Kaufman’s and Morrie Ryskind’s classic stage work Of Thee I Sing one of the characters turns down an offer to be Vice President because he’s ashamed to have his mother know. He’s persuaded to accept the office when it’s pointed out that if he doesn’t tell her about it she’ll never find out.
The office has featured eminently forgettable figures as well as comic relief buffoons like Dan “The Global Village Idiot” Quayle and Joe “Koo Koo For Cocoa Puffs” Biden. In the light-hearted style of Balladeer’s Blog’s look at U.S. Presidents here’s a look at the men who got to hang around and see if the country’s Chief Executive wound up six feet under. I’m omitting VP’s who went on to actually become President, so no John Adams or Thomas Jefferson, etc.
AARON BURR
Served Under: Jefferson
Noted for: Shooting dead more Treasury Secretaries and hatching more plots to start his own country than any other Vice President. (So far, anyway.)
Best Burr Quote: “I’m still searching for the real killers of Alexander Hamilton.”
GEORGE CLINTON
Served Under: Jefferson and Madison
Noted for: P-Funk and Funkadelic Leading American Rebel forces against the British troops of his loyalist cousin Sir Henry Clinton during the Revolutionary War.
Best Clinton Quote: “Do fries go with that shake?”
ELBRIDGE GERRY
Served Under: Madison
Noted for: Pioneering the method of “Gerrymandering” political districts in a way that the modern day Democrats and Republicans have raised to a mainstay in the world of white collar crime which they inhabit.
Best Gerry Quote: “I’ll be immortalized as the man who invented Elbridge-mandering!”
DANIEL D TOMPKINS
Served Under: Monroe
Noted for: Being ruined by a scandal in which he was mistakenly accused of pocketing some of the funds he raised to conduct the War of 1812. Years later it was all revealed to be an accounting error. Continue reading
For Balladeer’s Blog’s Number One Harry Flashman Novel click 
8. FLASHMAN (1969) 
That’s what our protagonist wanted in the first place, and the Guv-nor buys Harry a post as a Cornet (Second Lieutenant for us Yanks) in a Cavalry Regiment. The unit selected by the ever-calculating Harry has just returned to England after years overseas, so Flashman assumes he won’t be sent to war while enjoying the benefits of a gentlemanly life of riding, sporting and letting his dashing uniform help him attract ladies. 
Sword in hand, pistol at his side and a long line of beautiful ladies on his arm, Harry spends the next three years getting swept up in the feuding in Lord Cardigan’s Cavalry unit, the Rebecca Riots in Wales, Scotland’s labor revolt and ultimately the long string of British military disasters in the First Afghan War. 
QUESTION: How come you no longer make as many mentions or blog posts about the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) as you used to? 
Long ago I used to condemn the Anarchists for finding both the left and the right too totalitarian to be worth siding with and fighting both sides. In recent years I’ve certainly come to sympathize with their position as we here in America have seen that the political left is every bit as bad as the worst right-wingers ever were. 
January is an appropriate month for this latest post about Puck magazine (1871-1918). Here at Balladeer’s Blog I’ve long made clear my fascination with that political humor magazine. Puck political cartoons – especially from the covers – are still much sought-after and I own a few myself. 
Balladeer’s Blog’s annual Shortest Day of the Year post features William Henry Harrison, America’s 9th President and the man whose term was the shortest – just 32 days. Then he died. 
ANNI CYRUS, IRANIAN-BORN CRITIC OF SHARIA LAW – Another member of the real-life League of Extraordinary Women, Anni Cyrus was in the news again, this time for her 2018 Anti-Sharia Law Tour. 
THE JET BENNY SHOW – Balladeer’s Blog’s reviews of bad and weird movies are still very popular. 
NON-DILLINGER: QUICK TAKES ON OTHER GANGSTERS OF HIS ERA – In keeping with Balladeer’s Blog’s tradition of examining topics which slip through the cultural cracks this blog post looked at some of the 1930s gangsters overshadowed by John Dillinger’s legend. 
THE RATINGS GAME – I reviewed this overlooked comedy from 1984. 
JOURNALIST SHARYL ATTKISSON’S COURAGEOUS EXPOSURE OF OBAMA’S COUNTLESS SCANDALS AND CRIMES – Strong female role model and 21st Century Ida Tarbell, Sharyl Attkisson refused to be intimidated by the Obama Administration’s thugs. 
JIMMY KIMMEL: THE BALLADEER’S BLOG INTERVIEW – Relentlessly unfunny waste of biomass Jimmy Kimmel is a truly disgusting human being. 
Two thousand fishermen from Cape Cod had gone off to enlist in the Continental Army, and in their absence the British had repeatedly landed raiding parties to harass the citizens.
Their view of American history is mind-boggling. This 1861 work of “J-History” if you will, features little-known events like JOHN ADAMS FACING A GIANT SNAKE (left) and George Washington hitting a tiger. It also corrects the mistaken assumption that Washington’s wife was named Martha when her real name was apparently “Carol.” (?) 
A large number of first-time readers have discovered Balladeer’s Blog recently and some of them have expressed confusion since I trash both Republicans and Democrats. Here’s one of my biggest hits – a tongue-in-cheek look at U.S. Presidents from Eisenhower to Trump so newbies can see that, yes, Virginia, I DO take shots at both major political parties. 
JOHN F KENNEDY 
Balladeer's Blog 