OK, let's go back a bit farther in time. Eisenhower's VP was Nixon, surely the butt of many a joke. Off the top of my head I don't remember WHO was Truman's VP, so I can only speculate about his standing with the press. But I believe Truman took quite a bit of abuse as Roosevelt's number two man. So did at least one of Roosevelt's previous vice presidents.

I won't follow the chain back any farther, but I, at least, think there's a trend here.