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John Nance Garner - 32nd Vice President
Party: Democrat
Term:March 4, 1933 - Jan 20, 1941
Age at Inauguration: 64
Life Span: Nov 22, 1868 - Nov 7, 1967 [97]
President:Franklin Roosevelt

  • John Garner was called Cactus Jack and often invited fellow congressmen to his office for drinks and poker
  • A former Speaker of the House he once stated taking the vice presidency was "the worst damn fool mistake I ever made"
  • He served two terms with Roosevelt but declined to run for a third term and encouraged FDR to do the same saying he wouldn't vote for his own brother for a third term
  • He refused to socialize on the Washington scene and said the vice presidency was an eight to five job, the rest
    of the day was his
  • Garner is most noted for saying the vice presidency wasn't worth "a warm bucket of spit," although reporters allegedly changed the spelling of the last word for print
  • On his ninety-fifth birthday he received a congratulatory call from President Kennedy who was in Texas that day,
    November 22, 1963
  • Garner had told the president he hoped he would stay in office forever, but Kennedy was killed later that day
    Presidential Assassinations