John Nance Garner, “Cactus Jack” was Vice President during the dark days of the Great depression, and Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. 

He was born near Detroit Texas in 1868, the son of a former Confederate soldier. It has been recorded that his birth took place in a log cabin, and as his career advanced the cabin has become more and more primitive. But some historians say we should consider the fact that his mother‘s father owned the local bank and was a direct descendent of English Aristocracy when imagining Garner’s birthplace. As a youth he hoped to be a professional baseball player, but ill health following a bought with tuberculosis forced him to consider less physical pursuits. Because of an insufficient pre-college education he was refused admittance to the University of Texas. Later, after some vigorous preparation he was admitted to Vanderbilt University in Nashville Tennessee, but he had to quit during his first semester due to severe respiratory stress that interfered with his studies. When he returned home to Texas he worked at a Clarksville law firm and studied law in his spare time. In 1890 he passed the Texas state bar exam, and made Uvalde Texas his home. 

Garner’s first attempt at elected office failed when he ran for City Attorney, but he must have caught the eye of the local political machine because in 1893 he was appointed to fill a vacancy as a district Judge. When he ran as the incumbent his opponent was Mariette (Ettie) Rheiner, whom he married in 1895. In 1898 he was elected to the Texas state legislature. When the 1900 census determined that Texas would have an additional congressional district he managed to get a prominent spot on the committee to establish its boundaries. In 1903 John Nance Garner became the first person to represent Texas’s new congressional district in the House of Representatives. He would remain in that office for the next thirty years. 

Congressman Garner was very quiet during his early years, but he was still very helpful to his district resulting in a new Federal building and a post office. In 1909 he became the Democrat’s Party Whip, and during WWI he was the main liaison between the White House and the Congress. 

These were the times when congressmen advanced to prestigious committees through party loyalty and seniority. Garner’s perseverance finally paid off, and in 1920 he was made a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. He also became Chairman of the Democrat’s Committee on Committees, putting him charge of assigning Democrats their committee memberships. 

Garner was an outspoken opponent of the economic policies of Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon, and gained a following of Democrat supporters who eventually were able to get him elected as the Floor Leader. He learned to work with House speaker Nicholas Longworth and the two men often held bipartisan gatherings with members of Congress. [Nicholas Longworth’s wife was Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of Theodore Roosevelt, fifth cousin to Franklin Roosevelt, and noted member of Washington’s high society]. The election of 1930 put the Democrats in the Majority and John Nance Garner was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives. Garner would have enjoyed working with the former House Speaker, but unfortunately Nicholas Longworth died in December of 1931. 

One of Garner’s favorite meeting places was a small room in the Capitol building called “The board of education”. It was a place where members could meet in private and enjoy their favorite alcoholic beverages while ignoring the 18th amendment to the Constitution. 

During his thirty years in Congress Garner only introduced four major bills under his own name. He was a master of persuasion and some say manipulation. Once he got a doubtful supporter to agree with him, he would suggest that he be the sponsor of bill. He found that he got a lot more support with that method than if he had sponsored it himself. 

He thought that the Party had become too weak during its time in the minority so as the new Speaker he sought to unify the Democrats by reducing absences and reigning in the mavericks. His voting policy was, “If 2/3rds of the Democrats are for it then I’m for it”. 

Speaker Garner wanted to have bipartisan cooperation with President Hoover and supported The Reconstruction Finance Corporation. But it was difficult to find areas of mutual agreement and he did not have a good working relationship with Republican Floor leader Bertrand Small as he had with Longworth. In a final effort to come up with a bipartisan plan Garner managed to get the Federal Relief Spending Bill through Congress, which would provide massive public work programs, but it was vetoed by Hoover. 

In 1932 newspaper owner William Randolph Hearst began a campaign to make John Nance Garner the President. When he arrived at the Democrat’s convention Garner had 29 delegates. The big battle was between Al Smith (who lost in 1928), and New York’s Franklin Roosevelt. Not wanting a repeat of the 1924 convention he agreed to be on the number two spot with Roosevelt. Franklin Roosevelt welcomed Garner to the ticket and hoped that Cactus Jack’s homespun style would help in the rural South where he was low in the polls. But Garner didn’t feel it was necessary to campaign and told Roosevelt, “Hoover is out making speeches, and that’s enough for us.” 

After their landslide victory Roosevelt called Garner at his home in Uvalde asking for his opinion on legislation the administration intended to introduce. One of his major contributions was convincing Roosevelt to support the Vanderburg amendment to the Glass Steagall Banking Act, which led to the formation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or FDIC. 

When he came to Washington Garner went to the House of Representatives, and then received an emotional farewell as 400 members and 150 members-elect escorted the new Vice President to the Senate chamber. Garner already knew 19 of the Senators, and he still knew most of the members of the House. His leadership, friendships, and good working knowledge of the legislative process were a valuable asset when it came to passing New Deal legislation. When he attended cabinet meetings he was an active member earning the respect of the Secretaries. Postmaster Farley called him “Truly one of the great public men of our generation”. 

During the first term Garner was an active supporter of the New Deal even when it went against his old financially conservative point of view. He once told a congressman, when talking about Roosevelt, “It doesn’t matter what kind of fool you think he is; he’s your fool just as long as he’s President and the leader of your party”. 

Garner knew how to push through legislation. One of his favorite techniques was to call a vote, and then hit the gavel before any opposition could be organized. He was good at making deals especially in the “board of education’’, and wasn’t afraid to step down from the dais and personally lobby Senators on the floor.

But as the first term was coming to an end he found it harder to reconcile his differences with the President. At first Garner tried to down play any rift between himself and Roosevelt. He refused to be a spokesman for the administration fearing that any misquote or careless remark could be used to embarrass the administration. He also turned down an opportunity to earn $1,500 per show once a week on the radio. But it was getting more difficult to hide his opposition to some of Roosevelt’s programs. Garner had supported much of the New Deal but had his doubts when it came to the National Recovery Act. He also opposed the recognition of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the embargo clause of the Neutrality act. 

At the 1936 Democratic convention the rules had been changed and now only a simple majority was needed to nominate a President and a Vice President. This meant that Presidential candidates could now choose their own running mates. Roosevelt decided to stick with Garner and the two won almost every state’s electoral votes. 

In 1937 President Roosevelt had a plan to add six additional justices to the Supreme Court. Garner made no attempt to conceal his opposition to this plan. When the bill was introduced in the Senate he held his nose and turned his thumb down. He was now the leader of a coalition of conservative Democrats and Republicans who had the power to block any future “New Deal” legislation from FDR. Secretary of Interior Harold Ickes said Garner was, “sticking a knife in the Presidents back”. 

During the 1938 mid term elections Roosevelt hope to replace conservative Democrats with liberal Democrats who would be more favorable to New Deal legislation. Roosevelt also wanted help from labor to break the Garner deadlock in Congress. Union leader John L. Lewis called Garner, “A labor baiting, poker-playing, whiskey drinking, evil old man”. The plan failed and Garner remained well entrenched as the leader of the opposition. He had stopped attending cabinet meetings, which he called “prayer meetings”.

The Democrats in Texas had been planning to run Garner for President ever since 1938, not knowing that FDR would seek a third term. In 1940 Garner’s name appeared on some state Democrat primary ballots, but he was no match for Roosevelt and fell out of the race long before the convention. After his term ended he left for his home in Uvalde and never returned to Washington D.C. 

In 1957 during an interview he said he had always regretted accepting the Vice Presidency, and if he hadn’t he would still be Speaker of the House today. He once told Lyndon Johnson, “The Vice Presidency isn’t worth a bucket of warm spit”. 

President John Kennedy came to visit Garner and wish him a happy 95th Birthday. The two enjoyed talking and he told Kennedy, “You’re my president and I love you. I hope you stay there forever“. It was November 22nd 1963. 

John Nance Garner died in 1967. 



For those who think Franklin D Roosevelt was way out of line with his left wing liberal ideas you may think that Cactus Jack was a hero. For others who think that John Nance Garner was stopping much needed progressive legislation he may be considered a conservative old man out of step with the times. But no matter what your opinion he certainly earned his place in history.