History-question about the US-Senate.

[DetlefK]

It is weird how politics change. The Vice-President used to be a nobody in US-politics, up until Cheney and his sidekick came into power and he redefined the office of the Vice-President as being a deal-maker who gets shit done.

And... Do I remember this correctly or does my memory play a trick on me?
IIRC the Minority Leader of the Senate used to be a nobody as well, not special in any way, no extra rights or public fame.
Then came 2006. The Republicans went from being the majority in the Senate to being the minority, and all of a sudden the office of the US Senate Minority Leader had prestige and his input was being respected and taken note of.

Don't believe me?
Compare the Wikipedia-page on the Minority-Leader from 2005 with the 2017-version:
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Party_leaders_of_the_United_States_Senate&oldid=31897808
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_leaders_of_the_United_States_Senate
How many mentions of the Minority Leader are in each version?

It's the Republicans demanding special rights for them and shaping US-politics because they can and because the media helps them with preferential reporting.
It was a republican Vice-President who redefined the office of the Vice-President as being one of prestige and power.
It was a republican Minority-Leader who redefined the office of the Minority-Leader as being one of prestige and power.
Democratic administrations are expected to include Republicans as a gesture of bipartisanship while republican administrations are not expected to do that.



Am I wrong on this?
Do I remember this incorrectly?

[unblock]

1. as for the opposite party appointments, here's a rundown (link)

only poppy comes up completely blank, though there's room to argue about just how "opposite party" the appointee is (reagan's one democratic appointment later switched to the republican party) and just how significant the appointment is (defense vs. transportation, e.g.)

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/feb/10/barack-obama/Three-Republicans-Cabinet-Most/

For starters, we're going to give Obama three Republicans, though a stickler could point out that Defense Secretary Robert Gates isn't actually registered as a Republican. But he's Republican enough in our book. Gates has served under several Republican administrations, and though he dropped his party registration to present an apolitical appearance while with the CIA, Gates himself said in December, "I consider myself a Republican."

The other two Obama appointees are card-carrying Republicans: Ray LaHood, a former congressman from Illinois, as secretary of transportation; and Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire as commerce secretary (though he has not yet been confirmed).


• George W. Bush: Democrat Norman Mineta, transportation secretary.

• Bill Clinton: Republican William Cohen, defense secretary.

• George H. W. Bush: nada.

• Ronald Reagan: William Bennett was a Democrat when appointed as education secretary in 1985, but the following year, he became a Republican and has remained a conservative Republican voice ever since.

• Jimmy Carter: Republican James Schlesinger, who served as defense secretary under Republican presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, was tapped by Carter as America's first energy secretary.

• Richard Nixon: Daniel Patrick Moynihan served as ambassador to the United Nations, which at the time was not a Cabinet-level position.

• John F. Kennedy: Republicans C. Douglas Dillon as treasury secretary and Robert McNamara as defense secretary. McNamara wasn't such a stretch though, as Time m agazine pointed out at the time, "In politics, McNamara is a lukewarm, liberal Republican who often contributes to Democratic candidates. This year he voted for Kennedy."

• Dwight D. Eisenhower: Democrat and Labor Secretary Martin Patrick Durkin, the "plumber" among Eisenhower's so called "Nine Millionaires and a Plumber" Cabinet. Durkin was replaced in 1953 by fellow Democrat James P. Mitchell, a so-called "Democrat-for-Eisenhower."

• Franklin D. Roosevelt: Republicans Frank Knox as secretary of the Navy and Henry Stimson, secretary of war.