Until Dick Cheney's power grab, the vice president was viewed as a stand-in.

In America BC (Before Cheney), the veep was the understudy; he stood in ceremoniously when the president could not.

Traditionally male, the vice president attended state dinners and state funerals, and his credentials were vetted publicly only when the Big Guy died in office. Occasionally, the veep got to pull rank by breaking the tie vote in the Senate.

In America AC (After Cheney), our allies learned that the U.S. president didn't have to die or be incapacitated for the vice president to run the world's model democracy.

The U.S. president could become a titular head of state while a shadow government, run out of the vice president's office, could manipulate intelligence and commit U.S. troops to unnecessary wars that kill and maim thousands overseas.

He could cut short the hunt in Afghanistan and Pakistan for the most wanted mass murderer in our history, Osama bin Laden. He could redirect military might and millions to Iraq, a nation that has lots of oil but no weapons of mass destruction pointed at our shores.

He could spy on and punish his foes — including law-abiding American citizens — and his minions could leak misinformation that would have reporters jailed.

He could control parts of the judicial branch by signing off on misdeeds and mischief by high-level Justice Department officials claiming to serve at the pleasure of the president, when it is really to the vice presidential star chamber that they would be loyal.

In America AC, the vice president could arrange for the overthrow of sovereign nations, thereby having dictators bumped off and their spoils divided among neocons and other profiteers.

The vice president could insist —with table-pounding confidence — that only he is privy to information that eludes most intelligence agencies and that if not heeded, a mushroom cloud would explode on our shores.

In America AC, the vice president could set up domestic policies in secret, calling upon captains of industry, who later could be immune from sworn testimony and congressional oversight.

He could successfully invoke executive privilege, something not in the Constitution, to keep the public and the press in the dark. He could conduct the people's business the same way he conducts his private affairs. He could do this in either the White House or "an undisclosed location."

In America BC, the vice president was a stumbler (Gerald Ford), a bumbler (Dan Quayle), a malapropist (George H.W. Bush) or an android (Al Gore). The BC veep did what he was told, stayed the course and never strayed.

In America AC, the vice president led by fear and intimidation. People reported directly to him and often were advised against letting the incurious president sweat the details, especially while on his numerous vacations.

In America AC, the vice president could shoot rich friends and not only get away with it but also have them apologize publicly and profusely for the "accident." The vice president was untouchable, unaccountable and vindictive.

The Sept. 11 attacks revealed a president clueless about what to do for his country and a vice president eager to seize the day and many more.

Dick Cheney changed history, mostly for the bad. It is because of how he held this important office that whoever follows him will be vetted more carefully by the press and the public.

Whether a Republican or Democratic ticket wins the White House, Americans no longer will take the vice presidency for granted. With lessons learned and eyes wider, the vice president will be subjected to a microscope like never before.

We are a great nation but one that made great and grave mistakes in choosing who would lead us. Never again should we allow those mistakes to repeat because we were too lazy, too timid or too frightened to defend our nation from serious threats from within.

Rhonda Chriss Lokeman (RCLCreators@kc.rr.com) is a contributing editor to The Kansas City Star. To find out more about Rhonda Chriss Lokeman and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.