EXPLANATION: Today vice presidents serve as principal advisors to the president, but from 1789 until the 1950s their primary duty was to preside over the Senate. Since the 1830s, vice presidents have occupied offices near the Senate Chamber. Over the course of the nation’s history, the vice president’s influence evolved as vice presidents and senators experimented with, and at times vigorously debated, the role to be played by this constitutional officer.
