The Atlantic

Pence in the Wings

President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis in the final weeks of the 2020 election puts the vice president under a microscope.
Source: Roslan Rahman / Getty

Updated on October 3, 2020, at 11:35 a.m. ET.

Above the fireplace in the vice-presidential residence hangs a plaque with a verse from the Bible: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

The passage is one of Mike Pence’s favorites, and the subtext is hard to ignore. His rise from beleaguered small-state governor to vice president of the United States has

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