When The Vice President Is Not a Political Prop

Mike Pence is a pillar of calm professionalism. Can he help right Trump’s ship?

- Matthew Philips

When Donald Trump selected him as his running mate in July 2016, Mike Pence was seen largely as a way to ensure that social conservatives and evangelicals skeptical of Trump would turn out to vote for him. Like most vice presidential picks, Pence was meant to serve a specific but limited purpose. A red state governor with strong ties to the most conservative elements of the Republican Party, and more than a decade in the U.S. House of Representatives, Pence could shore up Trump’s lack of experience, and at least on paper, he looked like the perfect political counterweight to a flame throwing outsider.

A little more than a year later, amid the backbiting, tumult, and controversy that have defined Trump’s presidency, Pence remains exactly what he was brought in to be—a rare pillar of calm, polished professionalism. He’s avoided West Wing knife fights, managing not to make enemies in a White House riven by rival factions and power struggles. Pence has also tactfully steered clear of making any significant slights or public contradictions of the president and wisely avoided what’s perhaps the gravest sin in Trump World—overshadowing the boss.

And yet a quiet tension looms over his role. As questions swirl about Trump’s future and what may come after, attention has returned to Pence and his potential ambitions. News that he started his own leadership PAC in May raised eyebrows about whether Pence, 58, was actively preparing for life post-Trump or even considering a run in 2020 himself, something he vehemently denies but that Democrats are taking seriously. Still, as he becomes a stabilizing force inside an erratic White House—if only by default—the question arises: Can he use that role to effect change inside it?