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Mike Pence in the Rose Garden attending the National Day of Prayer ceremony.

By Cheriss May/NurPhoto/Getty Images.

Back in the early days of 2016, Donald Trumps eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., reportedly reached out to John Kasich with a tantalizing offer: if Kasich dropped his own presidential campaign and joined the Trump ticket as vice president, he would be the most powerful vice president in historyin charge of all foreign and domestic policy while Trump, presumably, would play to his strengths as a cheerleader, browbeater, and mere figurehead. Just as he made his money licensing his name, Trump would focus his diffuse energies on making America great again.

Its an intriguing picture of a presidency that might have been if Trump werent so bad at delegating authority. And it could be at the forefront of Vice President Mike Pences mind as the Trump presidency sinks deeper into scandal. As his boss grapples with a stalled legislative agenda and growing worries of a 2018 midterm election bloodbath, the otherwise diminished, frequently forgotten Pence appears to be stepping into the spotlight as he strives to shore up a Republican field made increasingly vulnerable by Trump himself. With Republican candidates suddenly facing uphill battles in usually reliable red districts and states, Pence is preparing to tour the country this summer to stump and fund-raise. He has an appetite to fight, so hes going to get out there and fight on the presidents behalf, Pence strategist Nick Ayers told Politico.

Its an extraordinary move for a vice president to make alone, without the president, so early in an administration. But nothing about the Trump administration is ordinary. And with the word impeachment now being whispered through Capitol Hill, its a move that is sure to further fuel speculation that Pences whistle-stop tour is another portent of his planning for a possible post-Trump era. As my colleague Abigail Tracy reported earlier this month, some Republicans are open to the ideaand already maneuvering to protect Pence in the event that Trump, one way or another, doesnt make it to the 2020 finish line. I think some of them are doing some scenario planning, some of them just want somebody that they know speaks their language, Republican strategist Rick Wilson said. So a lot of them are protecting him and keeping him sort of a little bit above the fray because they would like to have a backup plan just in case. Pence has done little to tamp down the rumors, filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to launch his own PAC, the Great America Committeethe first time a sitting vice president has established his own independent political arm.

If Pence does have designs on his bosss job, hes keeping his cards relatively close to his vest. A source close to Pence dismissed the idea that Pences move signaled a presidential bid, telling NBC News, Dont read into 2020 as anything other than his running for re-election as vice president in 2020 and supporting other candidates. And Pence has remained unflaggingly loyal to Trump, rarely deviating from the script. While delivering the keynote at an anniversary gala of the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthonys List, Pence, one of the most ardent anti-abortion politicians out there, spent most of his time praising Trump and describing his views on abortion, Politico notes. If anything, Pence seems too out of the loop, purportedly misinformed or sidelined on details of Trump scandals, from the firing of Mike Flynn to the timeline surrounding the dismissal of James Comey.

If Pence does have post-Trump ambitions, he is smart to keep them under wraps. The president notoriously dislikes any hint that his underlings are outshining him, once rebuking Steve Bannon for not pushing back against the perception that he, not Trump, is the real power behind the throne. And as several political strategists told Politico, it just isnt in Pences nature to steal the spotlight. But in an administration that has little energy left over to protect the Republican majority in the upcoming midtermsand with a president who is likely too toxic to be an effective campaignerPence, a former congressman and a quiet party insider, may have a new sandbox in which to experiment with the scope of his power.

Donald and Melania at a party at Marquee, a New York nightclub, in 2004.

The couple in New York City in 1999.

Melania (right) with fellow model Emma Eriksson during a 1995 photo shoot.

The couple with Donalds daughter Ivanka at the 2004 Met Gala.

The First Couple.

Donald and Melania at the Inaugural Luncheon, at the Capitol.

Melania in the White House before leaving for Mar-a-Lago on March 17.

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Donald and Melania at a party at Marquee, a New York nightclub, in 2004.

By Richard Corkery/New York Daily News/Getty Images.

The couple in New York City in 1999.

By Henry McGee/Zumapress.com.

Melania (right) with fellow model Emma Eriksson during a 1995 photo shoot.

By Al De Basseville/Splash News.

The couple with Donalds daughter Ivanka at the 2004 Met Gala.

By Evan Agostini/Getty Images.

Melania picks up her son, Barron, from school, in New York, in 2016.

From Probe-Media.com.

Melania with Donald at a campaign event in Detroit.

By Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

The soon-to-be First Couple is welcomed to the White House by the Obamas on Inauguration Day 2017.

By Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

The First Couple.

By Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images.

Donald and Melania at the Inaugural Luncheon, at the Capitol.

By Molly Riley/AFP/Getty Images.

Melania in the White House before leaving for Mar-a-Lago on March 17.

By Ron Sachs/DPA/Abaca.

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With Trump in Peril, Mike Pence Hits the Campaign Trail - Vanity Fair

European Western Balkans (press release)

Markovi to meet US Vice President Mike Pence Monday European Western Balkans (press release) PODGORICA Montenegrin Prime Minister Duko Markovi will meet in Washington the US Vice President Mike Pence on Monday, 5 June, on the occasion of handing the instrument of ratification for formal membership in NATO to the State Department, ... Pence to speak at Christian pro-Israel group's annual summitThe Jerusalem Post all 3 news articles »

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Markovi to meet US Vice President Mike Pence Monday - European Western Balkans (press release)

Gov. Mike Pence talks about how Jesus would want him to forgive Donald Trump (Screen cap).

Vice President Mike Pence is about to embark on a cross-country summer campaign tour just weeks after filing paperwork to establish his own campaign committee. He has claimed it is just about fundraising for loyal Republican candidates in 2018 but many speculate whether its about building his own war chest.

Pence is bouncing around Midwestern battleground states and conservative footholds like Georgia where a special election has Republicans running scared, according to Politico. But the trip comes as his boss is being crushed under the weight of scandals.

He has an appetite to fight so hes going to get out there and fight on the presidents behalf, longtime Pence strategist Nick Ayers told Politico.

It is not unusual for vice presidents to campaign while the president is leading the country. Former Vice President Joe Biden famously traveled to every corner of the country to raise money for Democratic candidates. However, few vice presidents serve under a leader navigating a significant influx of investigations.

We are in for a turbulent campaign cycle, as nearly all parties in power face during a new presidents first midterm, said George W. Bushs deputy political director Scott Jennings. But the question is, do you shrink in the face of a tough cycle or do you fight like hell to hold on. And Pence is going to fight like hell, it seems, which will hopefully embolden every candidate out there.

Politico nails Pence as a quiet and loyal foot soldier, calmly working behind the scenes to accomplish a right wing agenda. But that kind of behind his back work that makes President Donald Trump nervous. But thus far, Pences speeches have been about defending Trump to conservatives, not promoting himself.

Everything that has been done has been done to advance the presidents policies, Ayers explained.

On the left and in the media, some are diligently plugging away to show that Pence had to have known about campaign ties to Russia. MSNBCs Rachel Maddow has done deep dives into the Russia scandal, specifically showing the evidence stacking up against Pence.

Either they were criminally negligent or they werent and they knew, Maddow said in March.

Its something to pick someone manifestly unfit for the job of National Security Advisor to be National Security Advisor, thats one thing, she a few weeks later. It is another thing when you bring somebody on board to a top national security position while theyre also on the payroll of a foreign government! And you either dont notice or you dont care.

Politico claimed that Republicans are desperate for someone to fill a political void while Trump questions the loyalty of a party hes spoken out against.

Pences team swears hes not promoting his own agenda or candidacy. One Pence aide even evidenced the claim by swearing the first donation from Pences committee would be a hard money contribution of the federal maximum of $5,400 to Trumps reelection campaign. Staffers swear Pence will be a top tier surrogate that every campaign will want to have help raise money.

All of this will help him build relationships nationally that he barely had the time to create while on the ticket for four months last fall, said Republican strategist from Ted Cruzs campaign, Jeff Roe.

Political pundits on Morning Joe have alleged that Pence will be done by the end of the investigations into RussiaGate. They attribute it to retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn telling his own story.

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Mike Pence begins cross-country campaign tour as RussiaGate investigation zeros in on Trump - Raw Story

Vice President Mike Pence began Memorial Day activities by thanking a group that raises funds for wounded veterans.

The group, called Project Hero, raises money for physical and mental rehabilitation for wounded veterans and first responders. The group of bicyclists began its ride to Virginia Beach, Va., at the Pence's home in Washington.

"We are incredibly honored to host project hero back at the home of the Vice President," Pence told the roughly 70 to 80 cyclists, according to a pool report. "This is a day we remember those who served and did not come home. ... To be able to welcome you here on this most hallowed of days is profoundly humbling to Karen and I."

After touting the benefits of President Trump's executive order on veterans healthcare, Pence wished the riders luck.

"We wish you Godspeed, safe travels all the way to Virginia Beach and for Project Hero and all of those that it helps all the way to a full recovery in an America that cherishes all those who serve," Pence said.

This is the 10th ride for the group, which does this annually, and the fourth year in a row it has begun at the vice president's house.

The Pences, along with Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, were presented with Project Hero jerseys.

"That'll give me a year to fit into it," Pence joked, according to the pool report.

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Mike Pence thanks bike riders who raise money for wounded vets - Washington Examiner

Follow the chain of command without exception. Submit yourselves, as the saying goes, to the authorities that have been placed above you. Trust your superiors, trust your orders, and youll serve and lead well.

That was one of Vice President Mike Pences exhortations to the 2017 graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy last Friday. Now, we might debate the wisdom of this advice. After all,those officers willserve under a Commander-in-Chief who, as a presidential candidate, talked openly of giving military orders that many experts said would be illegal.

But this is a blog on Christianity and history, not law. As a Christian and a historian, I was most interested in the middle sentence from the paragraph quoted above.Why should these officers adopt Pences idea oforientation to authority? Because, as the saying goes, they should submit to the authorities placed over them.

As most of you already know, thesaying is actually scripture. Not a direct quotation, but Pences paraphrase of one or two passages from the New Testament:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. (Rom 13:1-2, NRSV)

Submit yourselves for the Lords sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. (1 Pet 2:13-14, NIV)

As I wrote at my own blog, Im not sure we should act as if the New Testament has any kind of authority over the religiously plural officer corps that protects a democratic republic that separates church and state. But Pence is hardly the first prominent American to make such public use of these Christian scriptures though what they mean has been hotly contested since even before the Republic won its independence.

For example, those verses appear multiple times in Mark Nolls In the Beginning Was the Word: The Bible in American Public Life, 1492-1783. Let me note just three such instances:

In his 1744 pamphlet on The Essential Rights and Properties of Protestants, clergyman-legislator Elisha Williams called Romans 13:1 a text often wrecked and tortured by such wits as were disposed to serve the designs of arbitrary power. He insisted that the [civil and religious authorities] power is a limited one; and therefore the obedience is a limited obedience. For Williams, Pauls admonition to the Romans had to be read in conversation with New Testament texts on individual freedom (e.g., Matt 23:8, 2 Cor 3:17).

Likewise, the Unitarian preacher Jonathan Mayhew marked the 100th anniversary of the execution of Charles I by preaching a lengthy expository sermon to argue that the thirteenth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans did not require colonists to passively obey the dictates of Parliament.

But in 1780, the New York clergyman Charles Inglis appealed to Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 (among other texts) in a sermon reversing Mayhews judgments. Later the first Anglican bishop of Nova Scotia (where many Loyalists fled in 1783), Inglis could scarcely believe that Bible-believing Christians could supportthe American Revolution:

But that professing Christians, who really believe in a divine Revelation, and acknowledge its Authoritythat they should be the Dupes of such Menthat they should make no Conscience of dishonouring the King, and rebelling against himthat they should knowingly trample on the Law of God, and act as if no such Law existedthat instead of obeying this Law, they should be Trumpeters of Sedition and Rebellion: This is astonishing indeed.

But instead of avoiding Romans 13 and I Peter 2, noted Tommy Kidd in a 2014 Anxious Benchpost,Patriot pastors (to their credit) took them on frequently and directly. They usually replied to Loyalist critics that the command to submit was never unconditional just as it is not unconditional in marriage, in church, or in any other social setting.

Moving into the 19th and early 20th centuries I was also curious to see how such texts figured in Lincoln Mullens Americas Public Bible project (introduced here by John), which indexes over 866,000 biblical quotations from newspapers published between 1837 and 1922 and digitized by the Library of Congress as Chronicling America. (That collection now ranges from 1789 to 1924.) 1 Peter 2:13-14 did not occur often enough to be includedin Americas Public Bible, but heres a chart of the frequency for Romans 13:1 and 2:

Used by permission of Lincoln Mullen

Though not unusual, neither verse cracks Lincolns top 10 decade lists. Even at its peak of popularity in the early 1840s, Romans 13:2 still appears only half as often as the single most popular verse for that time period (Luke 18:16, which generally is 5-20 times as common in the corpus as the two verses from Romans 13).

Not surprisingly, when Romans 13 did enter American public discourseat this time, it was usually as part of the national debate over slavery. In 1839, for example, a Congregationalist minister named William Mitchell quoted that passagein support of his argument that Civil government, however corrupt, is an institution of God. Orson S. Murray, the abolitionist editorof The Vermont Telegraph, was appalled:

No matter then how corrupt the governmentfrom the corrupt, hypocritical republic that establishes by law and holds in existence a most abhorrent and diabolical system of robbery, and lust, and murder, down through all the grades of aristocracy and monarchy, originating in, or originatingas a large proportion of them dopopery, Mahomedanism, and idolatry, in all their degrading, dehumanizing, man-destroying, God-dishonoring formsall, all these corrupt and corrupting institutions are the workmanship of an all-wise, and holy, and just God!!! The consummate absurditynot to say the involved shocking impiety and blasphemyof deliberately and intelligently holding to such sentiments, lies out on the face of the declaration. To expose them, it needs no argument or comment. I would not be understood as denouncing, outright, friend Mitchell, as a blasphemer. I am altogether willing to attribute the monstrous heresy to blindness of mindthe habit of taking upon trust long received opinionsrather than to perverseness of heart.

1851 poster Wikimedia/public domain

But in 1855 the editor of Richmonds Daily Dispatch asked why Northern preachers would advocate strict obedience to a temperance law while disdaining the Fugitive Slave Act:

The human law must accord with the Divine Law in order to render obedience a duty! They do not condescend to inform us who is to be the judge of that accordance. They dare not. Well knowing that the right of private judgment is one of the most valued rights of Protestantism, they are aware that their doctrine translated into plain English amounts to this: that if any and every man in the community chooses to consider any law unscriptural, it is their duty to disobey ita principle which, if carried into practice, would of course lead at once to rebellion and anarchy.

The true doctrine on this subject is set forth in the words of Inspiration itself: Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.

Romans 13 continued to appear in American newspapers after the Civil War (e.g., it was one of the texts read at the official service for Pres. James Garfield after his 1881 death), but it virtually disappears from the Chronicling America as the database enters the 20th century. Ive done a bit of digging at the American Rhetoric database and found only one speech that even indirectly alludes to these scriptures: Woodrow Wilson request for a declaration of war on Germany in 1917, in which that Presbyterian elder argued that Americans could fight for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments.

My sense is that Pence is unusual amongAmerican politicians of recent generations in revisitingsuch hotly contested rhetorical territory. Butif youre aware of other late 20th/early 21st century public uses of Romans 13:1-2 or 1 Peter 2:13-14, please share them in the comments section!

More here:
Mike Pence, Orientation to Authority, and Public Uses of Romans 13 - Patheos (blog)