The American Vice President, the person, a heartbeat away from becoming the leader of the free world.

I, Michael Richard Pence, Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Albert Gorge, Jr. George Herbert, Walker Bush.

Assumely swear.

But I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

So help me God.

For most of its history, though, the role was considered a constitutional afterthought,

a ceremonial job that didn't come along with much power or authority or much of anything, really.

But in recent decades, any American who imagined a version of the vice presidency somewhere between Julia Lewis Dreyfus' character on the hit comedy, Veep?

Sue, Sue, Sue, do the president call?

No.

Or the menace of Dick Cheney and Mike Pence.

We will build that wall one way or another.

But despite the jokes and roasts, the role does have one interesting thing in common, at least over the past 40 years.

A lunch.

I'm Gustavo Ariano.

You're listening to The Times, daily news from the LA Times.

It's Thursday, June 30th, 2022.

Today, what the most exclusive power lunch, D.C. tells us about the evolution of the vice presidency.

Noah Bierman covers the White House in Washington, D.C. for the LA Times.

Noah, welcome to the Times.

Thanks, Gassaba.

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