Vice‐presidential comedy and the traditional female role: An examination of the rhetorical characteristics of the vice presidency

Abstract

This essay explains the vice‐presidential role and its rhetorical characteristics through an examination of public talk by and about those who run for the vice‐presidential office. More specifically, the essay argues that the vice presidency is a traditional female role in what Burke would describe as comedic drama, the symbolic form where protagonists are controlled by the situations around them, and that nominees must undergo a sublimation process during their candidacy. As part of this analysis, the essay also analyzes an apparent aberration in public talk about vice‐presidential candidates, the campaign of Geraldine Ferraro, and how the rhetorical “rules” of the vice presidency impacted upon her candidacy. Finally, the essay notes how the campaign of Dan Quayle paralleled, in many ways, that of Ferraro.

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