John Nance Garner

John Nance Garner
32nd Vice President of the United States
In office March 4, 1933 – January 20, 1941
President	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by	Charles Curtis
Succeeded by	Henry A. Wallace
44th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
In office December 7, 1931 – March 4, 1933
President	Herbert Hoover
Preceded by	Nicholas Longworth
Succeeded by	Henry T. Rainey
8th Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives
In office 1929–1931
Deputy	William Allan Oldfield (whip)
Preceded by	Finis Garrett
Succeeded by	Bertrand Snell
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 's Texas' 15th district
In office March 4, 1903 – March 4, 1933
Preceded by	new district
Succeeded by	Milton H. West
Personal details
Born	November 22, 1868(1868-11-22) Detroit, Red River County Texas, USA US
Died	November 7, 1967(1967-11-07) (aged 98) Uvalde, Texas US
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Mariette Rheiner Garner
Children	Tully Charles Garner
Alma mater	Vanderbilt University – dropped out
Religion	Methodist
Signature

John Nance Garner, IV (November 22, 1868 – November 7, 1967), was the 32nd Vice President of the United States (1933–1941) and the 44th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (1931–33).

Early life and family

Garner was born near the village of Detroit in Red River County in East Texas, to John Nance Garner, III, and his wife, the former Sarah Jane Guest. Garner attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, for one semester before dropping out and returning home. He was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He eventually studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1890, and began practice in Uvalde, Uvalde County, Texas. He was County Judge of Uvalde County from 1893 to 1896. (Although the County Judge in Texas is now primarily the chief administrative officer of a County, comparable to the Mayor of a City, the office is a Judicial position and the County Judge sits in small civil cases, misdemeanor criminal cases, and probate cases.) In the 1893 campaign for Uvalde County Judge, his Democratic primary opponent was Mariette Rheiner, a rancher's daughter. He married her two years later, and they had one child, Tully Charles Garner.

Texas politics

Garner was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1898 to 1902. While in the Texas Legislature, a bill came up to select a state flower for Texas. Garner fervently supported the prickly pear cactus for the honor and earned the nickname "Cactus Jack" for his effort. The Bluebonnet eventually won out and was chosen as the state flower.

Garner was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives in 1902 from a newly created Congressional District covering tens of thousands of square miles of rural South Texas. He was elected from the District fourteen subsequent times, serving until 1933. His wife served as his private secretary during this period.

John Nance Garner as a younger congressman.

Garner's hard work and integrity made him a respected leader in the House, and he was chosen to serve as minority floor leader for the Democrats in 1929, and then as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives in 1931.

Garner was a supporter of the federal income tax but opposed most tariffs except for those on wool and mohair, important to his Texas base. He also believed in rural investment, bringing much needed dollars to farmers of the Brush Country region of South Texas.^{[1][unreliable source?]}

Popular with his fellow House members in both parties, Garner held what he called his "board of education" during the era of prohibition, a gathering spot for lawmakers to drink alcohol, or as Garner called it, "strike a blow for liberty." The "board of education" was continued after prohibition had ended by future Democratic Speaker Sam Rayburn, a Tennessee native from Bonham, Texas.^[1] According to the historian Patrick Cox of the University of Texas, prohibition became a major but almost forgotten issue in the 1932 campaign in which Franklin D. Roosevelt, with Garner as his running mate, defeated the Republican Hoover-Curtis ticket.^[1]

Vice Presidency

In 1932, Garner ran for the Democratic Presidential nomination against Governor of New York Franklin Roosevelt. When it became evident that Roosevelt was the strongest of several candidates, although he had not yet received a majority of delegates (thanks to opposition figures and despite receiving most of the popular support), Garner cut a deal with Roosevelt, becoming his Vice-Presidential candidate. He was re-elected to the Seventy-third Congress on November 8, 1932, and on the same day was elected Vice President of the United States, making him the only man to serve as both Speaker of the House and President of the Senate on the same day (March 4, 1933). He was re-elected Vice President in 1936 and served in that office from March 4, 1933, to January 20, 1941. Garner once described the Vice-Presidency as being "not worth a bucket of warm piss."^[2]

During Roosevelt's second term, Garner's previously warm relationship with the President quickly soured, as Garner disagreed sharply with him on a wide range of important issues. Garner supported federal intervention to break up the Flint Sit-Down Strike, supported a balanced federal budget, opposed packing the Supreme Court with additional judges, and opposed executive interference with the internal business of the Congress.

During 1938 and 1939, numerous Democratic party leaders urged Garner to run for President in 1940. Garner saw himself as the champion of the traditional Democratic Party establishment, which often clashed with supporters of Roosevelt's New Deal. The Gallup Poll showed that Garner was the favorite among Democratic voters, presuming that Roosevelt would defer to the longstanding two-term tradition and not run for a third term. Time magazine characterized him on April 15, 1940:

Cactus Jack is 71, sound in wind & limb, a hickory conservative who does not represent the Old South of magnolias, hoopskirts, pillared verandas, but the New South: moneymaking, industrial, hardboiled, still expanding too rapidly to brood over social problems. He stands for oil derricks, sheriffs who use airplanes, prairie skyscrapers, mechanized farms, $100 Stetson hats. Conservative John Garner appeals to many a conservative voter.^[3]

Garner did not appeal to liberals, however. Union leader John L. Lewis testified before Congress that Garner was a "a labor-baiting, poker-playing, whiskey-drinking, evil old man."^[4]

Roosevelt quietly made it known that he would seek a third term. Even though this decision made it highly unlikely that Garner would win the nomination, he stayed in the race anyway, because he opposed much of what the President stood for, and opposed the idea of anyone having a third term as President. Roosevelt easily won re-nomination at the Democratic National Convention on the first ballot and chose Henry A. Wallace to be his running mate, leaving Garner without an office.

Later life and legacy

Garner stepped down as Vice President in January 1941, ending a 46-year career in public life. He retired to his home in Uvalde for the last twenty-six years of his life, where he managed his extensive real estate holdings, spent time with his great-grandchildren, and fished. Throughout his retirement, he was consulted by active Democratic politicians and was especially close to Harry S. Truman.

John Nance Garner Museum in Uvalde, Texas, undergoing renovation in 2010/2011

Garner Museum restoration is being financed by the Briscoe Center of the University of Texas.

On the morning of Garner's 95th birthday on November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy called from Fort Worth, to wish the former Vice President a happy birthday, just hours before his fateful trip to Dallas.

Garner died at the age of 98 years and 350 days, 15 days before his 99th birthday, making him the longest-living Vice President in United States history, a record which was previously held by Vice President Levi P. Morton. He is interred in Uvalde Cemetery.

Garner and Schuyler Colfax are the only two Vice Presidents to have been Speaker of the House of Representatives prior to becoming Vice President. As the Vice President is also the President of the Senate, this means that Garner and Colfax are the only people in history to have served as the presiding officer of both houses of Congress.

The popular Garner State Park, located 30 miles (48 km) north of Uvalde, bears his name, as does Garner Field just east of Uvalde. The women's dormitory at Southwest Texas Junior College in Uvalde bears Mrs. Garner's name.

See also

Texas portal

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Patrick Cox, University of Texas, "John Nance Garner", West Texas Historical Association joint meeting with the East Texas Historical Association at Fort Worth, February 26, 2010
2. ^ Blumenthal, Sidney (June 28, 2007). "The imperial vice presidency". Salon.com. http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2007/06/28/cheney/. Retrieved September 22, 2007. 
3. ^ see online
4. ^ Time Aug 7, 1939

Sources

• John Nance Garner at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• John Nance Garner at Find A Grave
• Champagne, Anthony. "John Nance Garner," in Raymond W Smock and Susan W Hammond, eds. Masters of the House: Congressional Leadership Over Two Centuries (1998) pp 144–80
• Timmons, Bascom N. Garner of Texas: A Personal History. 1948.
• Will, George. "In Cactus Jack's Footsteps". Jewish World Review Jan. 6, 2000.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Charles Curtis	Vice President of the United States March 4, 1933 – January 20, 1941	Succeeded by Henry A. Wallace
Preceded by Nicholas Longworth	Speaker of the United States House of Representatives December 7, 1931 – March 4, 1933	Succeeded by Henry T. Rainey
Preceded by Finis Garrett	Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives March 4, 1929 – December 7, 1931	Succeeded by Bertrand Snell
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by New district	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 15th congressional district March 4, 1903 – March 4, 1933	Succeeded by Milton H. West
Party political offices
Preceded by Joseph Taylor Robinson	Democratic Party vice presidential candidate 1932, 1936	Succeeded by Henry A. Wallace
Preceded by Finis Garrett	House Democratic Leader 1929–1931	Succeeded by Henry T. Rainey

Persondata
Name	Garner, John Nance
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	November 22, 1868
Place of birth	Red River County, Texas, US
Date of death	November 7, 1967
Place of death	Uvalde, Texas, US