A brief history of disastrous vice presidential choices

By selecting Sarah Palin as his vice presidential candidate, John McCain has, to put it mildly, rolled the dice in spectacular fashion.

In the fast-moving, often bizarre Palin melodrama, of particular interest is how Republican operatives and campaign surrogates are spinning her nomination as the most perfectly sensible choice. ("Her state is close to Russia! She commands the Alaska National Guard!")

Of course, it's far too early to pronounce Palin an outright mistake, but it seems fair and reasonable to take a look back at other highly dubious VP choices for other instances when the vetting process wasn't given its proper due:

The Problem: Probably one of the strangest characters from American history that you've never heard of, Johnson earned his slot on the ticket by killing Shawnee chief Tecumseh at the Battle of Thames. He later earned his ignominy when he took one of his slaves as his common-law wife. Oh, and the issue he championed most feverishly while serving as vice president? Johnson wanted to mount an expedition to the North Pole, so that Americans could be the first to drill to the center of the earth, which he believed to be hollow. What did Johnson intend to do once America got to the center of the earth? Why did they have to go all the way to the North Pole to dig a hole? Did anyone ever think to ask him what the hell he was talking about before making him the second most powerful man in the country?

The Outcome: Van Buren dropped Johnson when he ran for reelection, preferring to run by himself.