Charles G. Dawes and Lyndon B. Johnson

"Once upon a time there were to brothers. One went off to sea and the other became Vice President of the US, and neither  were heard of again.—Vice President Thomas R. Marshall.

Why Hillary Clinton shouldn't WANT to get the second spot on the ticket

The year: 1928. The place: Kansas City, Mo. Herbert Hoover had just won the Republican Nomination for president and was considering who he should pick for his running mate. At first he was inclined to do something that hadn't been done in nearly a century, ask the incumbent VP (the term "veep" wouldn't be coined until 1950), Charles G. Dawes, to run for a second term. When President Calvin Coolidge heard about this, he picked up the telephone and told Hoover that he'd consider a Dawes renomination to be a personal affront. Coolidge was very popular and Hoover decided on someone else.

Coolidge didn't choose Dawes as his running mate in 1924, The convention did after, get this, Frank Lowden, refused, that's right, refused to accept the nomination, which the convention had already voted him.
The president had nothing to do with it. He and Dawes didn't get along, and Dawes' Vice Presidency was a complete disaster. He didn't attend cabinet meeting and wasn't allowed near the white house under most circumstances. While he had an illustrious career,(Al Gore wasn't the first VP to win the Nobel Peace prize) Charles Dawes is considered the worst Vice President of the 20th century.

The year: 1960. The place: Los Angeles, CA. As a sign of respect, John F. Kennedy had given a pro forma offer of the Vice Presidential nomination to Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson and the latter had accepted. JFK's brother Robert had come to take the offer back. It's a famous story.

LBJ's vice presidency was a horror for him. True, unlike Dawes, he was allowed access to the White House, attended cabinet meetings and met with President Kennedy on rare occasions, but he had NO influence, a fifth wheel unwelcome in the halls of power.

Now people remember more recent vice presidents such as Gore and Cheney, who had real influence and power within the administration in which they served, but that isn't necessarily the case for the future. The reason Gore and Cheney had their power is that Bill Clinton and G. W. Bush GAVE it to them. A Hillary Clinton Vice Presidency could be like that of LBJ or even Charles Dawes.

I don't know if a President Obama would do that, but Hillary could get a tiny office in the west wing and no access to anything else. An resentful staff wouldn't take her calls, listen to her or show her the least respect.

The Vice Presidency would be back where it was in 1928.

People talk of a "dream ticket." It depends on the kind of dream, after all.