Vice Presidency of The United States - Origin

Origin

The creation of the office of Vice President was a direct consequence of the Electoral College. Delegates to the Philadelphia Convention gave each state a number of presidential electors equal to that state's combined share of House and Senate seats. Yet the delegates were worried that each elector would only favor his own state's favorite son candidate, resulting in deadlocked elections that would produce no winners. To counter this potential difficulty, the delegates gave each presidential elector two votes, requiring at least one of their vote must be for a candidate from outside the elector's state; they also mandated the winner of an election must obtain an absolute majority of the total number of electors. The delegates expected each elector's second vote would go to a statesman of national character.

Fearing electors might throw away their second vote to bolster their favorite son's chance of winning, however, the Philadelphia delegates specified the runner-up would become Vice President. Creating this new office imposed a political cost on discarded votes and forced electors to cast their second ballot.