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Vice presidency of Selina Meyer
January 20, 2013 – January 24, 2016
President Stuart Hughes
Election 2012
Seat Number One Observatory Circle
← ??? • Andrew Doyle
Vpseal
Seal of the Vice President
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This article is part of a series about
Selina Meyer
Political positionsElectoral historyFamily
Vice President of the United States
Vice presidency
Clean Jobs BillGet Moving!Uzbek hostage crisis2015 U.S. government shutdown
President of the United States
Presidencies (Timeline)
1st inauguration2nd inauguration
Joint session address • Medileaks scandalFamilies First Bill • 2016 U.S. banking crisisDeath of Hamza Al BashirIndependence of Tibet
Presidential campaigns
20082012 (Primaries) • 2012 VP campaign (Selection, Convention, Election)
2016 (Primaries, Convention, Election, Nevada recount)
2020 (Primaries, Convention, Election, Chinese election interference)
Some New Beginnings • A Woman First
Trips takenResidencesControversiesMeyer FundSelina Meyer Presidential Library • Death and state funeral
Signature
Seal Of The President Of The United States Of America

Selina Meyer served as the 47th vice president of the United States from 2013 to 2016, during the Stuart Hughes administration.

Campaign[]

Maryland Senator Selina Meyer ran for president in the 2012 electionAlthough she came in third in Iowa, Meyer won the New Hampshire primary and was considered a rising star in the party. However, she did very poorly on Super Tuesday, losing Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, and Guam. With no way forward, Meyer suspended her campaign.

After ultimately losing in the primaries, Meyer was approached months before the convention about becoming running mate for Michigan governor and soon-to-be party nominee Stuart Hughes during a hostile hotel conference. Meyer claims that one of the reasons she joined Hughes on the ticket was because he looked like a "fossil" and his appearance would make her look younger by comparison. Hughes and Meyer accepted the party nomination for president and vice president at the 2012 National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In the general election campaign, Meyer became bitter with Hughes' senior strategist Kent Davison, primarily for forcing Meyer to appear more familial with her ex-husband Andrew, including a trip going river rafting, where Meyer at night had to hear "Andrew banging that skank on the riverbank". It was later revealed that Andrew's firm funded both sides in the general election.

Meyer would later recall the vice presidential debate in the election, against her vice presidential challenger Abraham Buttrick: "[It] consisted mostly of his extended recounting of his time as a POW in Vietnam and the terrible things that were done to him during it, which I was too respectful of the sacrifices of our brave men and women in uniform to interrupt but which didn't seem to help his side much."

Hughes and Meyer ultimately won the election. On the night of the victory, Davison put Andrew on stage, with Meyer angry because it was her night, according to Meyer.

Swearing-in[]

See also: Inauguration of Stuart Hughes

Meyer was sworn in as vice president in a private ceremony on January 20, 2013. Her first day as vice president, Meyer was blindsided when President Hughes reneged on his promise to give her an office in the West Wing, and instead moves her to the Eisenhower Building.

Because January 20 was a Sunday, the public inauguration was held on January 21. Meyer was sworn in on a bible that was "hastily purchased for the occasion at a Georgetown used bookstore." Catherine held the bible, but was shivering uncontrollably in the 28 degree weather, and Meyer would recall "I barely managed to get through the oath without her dropping it."

Clean jobs initiative[]

See also: Clean Jobs Bill

Placement of Chuck Furnham[]

Early in her first year as vice president, Meyer wanted the implementation of a Clean Jobs commission to be her legacy, which would place sanctions on polluters and provide tax breaks for the "good guys". Senator Andrew Doyle wanted Meyer to agree to keep oil guys off the Clean Jobs task force in exchange for his sponsorship of the Senate reform bill, another piece of legislation she wanted to push through. However, Meyer knew she'd already agreed to put an oil guy on the task force. Dan Egan suggested putting an ex-oil guy on the task force.

Meyer's top choice for the task force is ex-oil Chuck Furnham in an effort to appease both the oil lobby and the anti-oil lobby. Anti-oil Senator Doyle hates the idea of placing Furnham on the task force due to Furnham's former connections to oil, and pro-oil Barbara Hallowes hates the idea because Furnham isn't oily enough. However, by this point, Furnham had announced that he would be on the task force.

At a remembrance for the late Senator Reeves, word comes that President Stuart Hughes, bowing to oil pressure, wanted Sidney Purcell on the clean jobs task force. Egan stepped into action and offered Purcell an unofficial back channel to Meyer, then congratulated Doyle for pushing Furnham out and getting the much oilier Purcell in the bargain. Doyle is flummoxed and eats crow to get Chuck Furnham back on the task force.

Macauley Amendment[]

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Meyer votes against the Macauley Amendment after it ties in the Senate; October 2013.

In October 2013, Meyer drafted the Clean Jobs Bill, which put emphasis on adding sanctions on polluters and lowering taxes on non-polluters. However, President Hughes decided that he wanted all emphasis on the Fiscal Responsibility Bill, so he dropped Clean Jobs.

Meyer's deputy director of communications Dan Egan went behind Meyer's back and contacted Senator Macauley, who was a big proponent of Clean Jobs, and got Macauley to add the bulk of Clean Jobs as an amendment to the Fiscal Responsibility Bill. The Macauley Amendment received a tied vote in the Senate. Meyer was forced to cancel a trip to Paris to cast the deciding vote. Meyer was unsure of what to do--she had worked tirelessly on Clean Jobs for months, but to vote for the amendment would be going against the president's wishes. Meyer ultimately voted against the amendment.

Following the amendment's failure in the Senate, various members of Meyer's team, including Meyer herself, implied that they knew about Egan's actions in lobbying Senator Macauley. Meyer insisted she wanted nothing to do with it as she doesn't want to appear disloyal to Hughes.

Ohio Congressman Roger Furlong appeared to have full knowledge of Egan's role in the Macauley Amendment and threatened to drag the vice president's office into a congressional hearing. In November 2014, the party lost it's majority in the House of Representatives, scraping Furlong of his ability to investigate the Meyer offices.

Get Moving! initiative[]

See also: Get Moving!

In October 2013, Meyer was forced by President Hughes to launch a campaign to combat obesity. This was considered a slight against Meyer as she personally despised obese people.

Get Moving! was officially launched at an event at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland, in November 2013. During the event, a gas leak in the stadium forced Meyer and others to stay within the complex for an hour.

In April 2015, Meyer participated in a Get Moving! 10K fun run. This coincided with impeachment rumors swirling around Stuart Hughes.

Uzbek hostage crisis[]

See also: Uzbek hostage crisis

On November 4, 2014, several college-aged Americans backpacking in Uzbekistan were captured and held hostage.

President Stuart Hughes' senior adviser Kent Davisonclaimed that the administration would not intervene militarily until polls supported military intervention.

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VP Meyer and Defense Secretary Maddox at the Marine Base in Quantico; January 2015.

Rescue mission[]

In January 2015, a rescue mission was set for January 6. This coincided with Vice President Selina Meyerhaving to swear-in senators in the 114th United States Congress.

On January 6, Hughes, Secretary of Defense George MaddoxGeneral Mercer, and Meyer (via webcam) met in the Situation Room. All the hostages were successfully freed without any casualties. A Marine sergeant lost a leg during the mission.

Aftermath[]

In January 2015, top Hughes officials Kent Davison and Chief of Staff Ben Cafferty discovered that one of the hostages was a CIA operative, thus endangering the lives of the other hostages who were not spies. Hughes knew one of the hostages was a spy during the crisis.

Mike McLintock, who was briefly working for Davison at the time, inadvertently emailed Davison's polling consultations regarding the spy out of the administration, making Hughes' lie public. Meyer, who was in Finland at the time, claimed she stood with the president.

In February 2015, Hughes rejected a hard-wrought budget deal made by Meyer and Majority Leader Mary King. This led to a government shutdown, which Hughes intended to act as a diversion from the spy story.

In March 2015, Vice President Meyer participated in a TV interview with Janet Ryland. During the interview, Meyer avoided all questions regarding the spy story. Upon discovering that her political career is close to flatlining, Meyer lied about having full knowledge that one of the hostages was a spy. Meyer offered a heartfelt apology on behalf of the administration. Meyer's approval ratings skyrocketed following the interview, with people dubbing her the "no BS VP".

Congress began issuing a massive amount of subpoenas toward the Hughes administration. After State Department official Schmidt agreed to testify, the House Judiciary Committee began discussing an impeachment. The Senate, controlled by Hughes' party, turned on the president.

In April 2015, behind closed doors, Hughes announced he would not be seeking re-election in the 2016 presidential election, in a deal with party leadership to quash any impeachment efforts.

Foreign trips[]

See also: List of trips made by Selina Meyer

Finland[]

In January 2015, Meyer visited Helsinki on behalf of Stuart Hughes to finalize a trade agreement with Finnish Prime Minister Minna Häkkinen. Meyer was repeatedly asked about the "50 Ways to Win in Denver" song that Meyer had performed days earlier that was seen as "europhobic". Meyer's acting communications director Dan Egan apologized for the song, then apologized for assuming offense was taken towards the song.

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Meyer and Finnish Prime Minister Minna Häkkinen in Helsinki, Finland; January 2015.

During a reception, Meyer was sexually assaulted by Häkkinen's husband, Osmo. Meyer was also blindsided by a reporters question regarding the unfolding aftermath of the Uzbek hostage crisis wherein it was leaked that one of the hostages was a CIA operative. Meyer affirmed her allegiance towards the president.

United Kingdom[]

In December 2015, Meyer traveled to London to commemorate 100 years since World War I. Deputy Prime Minister Peter Mitchell held a reception at the U.S. ambassador's residence for Meyer. Meyer used the memorial service of the war to hold a Trans-Atlantic Security Organization meeting with the German chancellor.

Meyer's trip to United Kingdom was met with hostility when it was revealed that Meyer's personal trainer Ray Whelans had previously expressed hostility towards the obese in lengthy internet articles. Whelans was fired. Also during her trip to the United Kingdom, Meyer received the news that Edna Hughes had attempted to take her own life.

Controversies and incidents[]

See also: Controversies involving Selina Meyer

Secret Service agent reassignment []

While Meyer was discussing her nicknames with her staff in October 2013, she noticed that Secret Service Agent Martin Collins chuckled. Collins was subsequently reassigned. Reporter Leon West questioned Meyer's communications director Mike McLintock regarding this and claimed that it made the vice president appear "repugnant". McLintock claimed that Collins was reassigned for being "jocular and overfamiliar".

Collins' reassignment was widely mocked by the press. In November 2013, McLintock met Collins and accidentally referred to him as an "ape". Collins claimed to feel bullied and threatened by McLintock. As of December 2013, Collins was back on Meyer's security detail and continued to serve in her detail through 2015.

European song []

At the Vic Allen Foundation Dinner held in January 2015, Meyer sang a song titled "50 Ways to Win in Denver", which featured a section that went "Don’t be European, Ian; Say screw France, Lance". Days later, Meyer attended a summit in Helsinki, Finland, where she was confronted about the song. Meyer had Dan Egan, filling in for Mike McLintock as communications director, apologize for the song, and then apologize for the presumption of offense.

Relationship with personal trainer []

In November 2015, during Meyer's 2016 presidential campaign, campaign manager Dan Egan hired Ray Whelans to serve officially as Meyer's personal trainer. In actuality, he was hired as a "sex slave". While in London in December 2015, George Maddox staffer Jonah Ryan uncovered Whelans' online beliefs, which included a history of insensitive comments regarding the obese. Meyer was asked about this by reporters during a press conference with Deputy PM Peter Mitchell.

In October 2018, Mike McLintock's diary was leaked by Leon West. Among the things revealed in the leak was that Meyer had been engaged in a sexual relationship during the campaign.

Succession[]

Main article: Inauguration of Selina Meyer

In January 2016, months after announcing he would not run for re-election, Hughes resigned to take care of First Lady Edna Hughes, who had attempted suicide one month earlier. Sitting Vice President Selina Meyer was in New Hampshire at the time, campaigning for the New Hampshire primary, which she would lose days later. Upon finding out that Hughes was resigning, Meyer was flown back to D.C.

See also[]

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