Vice President A vice president is an officer in government or business who is next in rank below a president. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning in place of. Vice Presidents in Government In politics, a vice president is a politician whose primary function is to replace the president on the event of his or her death or resignation. Vice Presidents are often elected jointly with the president as his or her running mate, elected separately, or appointed independently after the president's election. Governments with vice presidents generally have only one person holding this role and generally if the president is not present, dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to fulfill his job, the vice president will serve as a president. In many presidential systems, the vice president does not wield much day to day political power, but is still considered an important member of the cabinet. Many Vice Presidents in the Americas hold the symbolic position of President of the Senate. The vice president can sometimes assume some of the symbolic and less important functions of president, such as some ceremonial functions and events that the actual president may be too busy to attend; the Vice President of the United States, for example often attends funerals of world leaders on behalf of the president. In this capacity the vice president may thus assume the role of a de facto symbolic Head of State, a position which is lacking in a system of government where the powers of head of state and government are fused. In parliamentary systems, most states do not have a vice president but instead name another office-holder, often the chairperson or president of the upper house of parliament or even the prime minister to act as effective vice president. In the Republic of Ireland, a collective vice presidency exists called the Presidential Commission, made up of chairmen of House of Representatives and the Senate, along with the Irish Chief Justice. In Germany, the de facto vice president is the president of the Bundesrat (parliament) and in France it is the speaker of the Senate. In some countries, the Vice President is called the Deputy President. Some notable Vice Presidents from history have included: Vice President Li Tsung-jen of the Republic of China Vice President Harry Truman of the United States Vice President Al Gore of the United States Vice President Saddam Hussein of Iraq Deputy President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa Corporate Vice Presidents In business, vice-president refers to a rank in senior or middle management. Most companies that use this title generally have large numbers of persons with the title of vice president with different types of vice president (i.e. vice president for finance). A corporate vice-president is rarely "second in line" to succeed the corporate president following death or resignation. Such decisions are usually left up to the board of directors. Most Popular Articles: Music    Musical Instruments    Guitar    Classical Music    History    Music Definition    Country Music    Rock Music    Pop Music    Hip Hop    Rap    DJ    Video Games    Casino Games    Poker    Blackjack    Casinos    Real Estate    Loan    Auction    eBay    Marketing    Search Engine Optimization    File Sharing    MP3    Music Industry    Kazaa    Internet    Supermodel    Fashion    Fashion Designers    Erotica    Modeling    Clothing    Boots    Shoes    Diamond Engagement Rings    Diamond    Rugs    Gospel Music    Affiliate    E-Commerce    Radio This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President