.SHORTLY AFTER declaring his run for the Democratic nomination in 1960, John F. Kennedy pointed out: “I don’t remember a single case where a vice-presidential prospect supported a selecting vote.” Still, the north-easterner chosen Lyndon Johnson as his running-mate, really hoping that the legislator coming from Texas would certainly aid him in southern states. Johnson tore across the South in a train nicknamed the LBJ Express, reaching rallies in a ten-gallon hat to the stress of “The Yellowish Rose of Texas”.
After he succeeded, Kennedy admitted that “our experts couldn’t have lugged the South without Johnson”. That Johnson “supplied the South” is currently received understanding. But just how much difference perform vice-presidential choices really create in elections?