During his just concluded four-day tour of India, US Vice-President (V-P) James David Vance and his family visited the Akshardham temple, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visited Jaipur, where the 40-year-old V-P gave a public lecture. The visit ended with a family photograph before the Taj Mahal — and coincided with a terror attack in Pahalgam, J&K.
The first US V-P to visit India was another 40-year-old, Richard Nixon. In 1953, Republican candidate Dwight D Eisenhower became the US President, and his running mate, Nixon, became the V-P. In the US system, the V-P is the Senate’s presiding officer and, other than that, only holds a ceremonial position. However, Eisenhower carved out a greater diplomatic role for Nixon. He gave Nixon the responsibility of spreading the American sphere of influence in Asia and sent him on a two-month, 16-country goodwill tour. As part of this tour, Nixon reached India at the end of November 1953.