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'Cactus Jack' Was Waiting In Wings

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 3, 2008

What if the assassin's bullet had hit its intended victim, President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt? Americans would have turned anxious eyes to Vice President-elect John Nance Garner.

A native of Red River County, Texas, Garner was an accomplished congressman. His selection as Roosevelt's running mate had more to do with cigar-filled back rooms than divine inspiration. Newspaper titan William Randolph Hearst had floated Garner's name as a presidential candidate in 1932. At the Democratic convention, Garner threw his support to FDR, who rewarded the Texan.

Garner never enjoyed his eight years as vice president, saying famously that the post was "not worth a bucket of warm spit."

"Mr. Garner" - as he insisted his children and wife call him - was also unhappy with the flurry of New Deal legislation in the 1930s. He believed that "too many laws" were the root of America's ailments.

John "Cactus Jack" Garner died in 1967, just short of his 100th birthday.

Gary R. Mormino

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