The First Active Vice President Speaks
By : Will Scullion
For former Vice President Walter Mondale, the role of the vice president is an important one that has been mishandled in recent years.
Mondale spoke to students from Pace University, Denver University and George Mason University on Feb 2 from the C-Span studios in Washington D.C.
Mondale, who was vice president under Jimmy Carter, is credited as being one of the first active vice presidents. Before Mondale, the role was relatively unimportant unless something happened to the current president.
"In the past the office of vice president had almost been one of ridicule," Mondale said. "We started this idea of bringing the vice president into the white house and what we call executising the vice presidential office."
Jason, one of the students from Denver, addressed former vice president Mondale's feelings on the current political landscape.
Mondale was quick to not favor one side too heavily over the other.
"I'm for Hillary Clinton, I'm not against Barack Obama," Mondale said. "I've known Hillary for many years. I think she has experience, she knows how the white house works and she has shown that she can be an effective vote getting leader in a state that includes kinds of citizens and so on that are found elsewhere in the country."
Through his insight and experience, former Vice President Mondale's conference provided usefull knowledge to the students at all three universities.