John Nance Garner

John Nance Garner (1868-1967), also known as “Cactus Jack”, was an outstanding
American politician and lawyer​, and served as ​the Vice President of Franklin D. Roosevelt from
1933 to 1941. Garner was born in 1868 in Texas and studied law in Clarksville. In his early
years, he ​was elected to the Texas House of Representatives as a democrat in 1898. ​In 1902,
Garner was elected to the U.S. House of Representative and served until 1933. In the Congress,
he supported bills on ​agricultural credit, road programs, currency expansion, and
anti-monopolistic measures. He also played an instrumental role in incorporating the graduated
income tax into the Underwood Tariff Act of 1913 and enactment of the Federal Reserve
System. He worked closely with Republican Speaker Nicholas Longworth to run the affairs of
the House by minimizing partisan disagreements("John Nance Garner." ​Dictionary of American
Biography​). Garner ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1932 but released his
delegates to Governor Roosevelt and ran as his Vice President. Garner became the Vice
President with Roosevelt’s electoral victory of 472 votes against Hoover’s 59 votes ("Historical
Election Results"). As vice-president, he worked effectively to support many New Deal
administrations during Roosevelt's first term and was an active advisers of the President. Garner
also played a significant role in the establishment of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
After being re-elected in 1936, ​Garner and Roosevelt ​split on policy matters which Garner
strongly opposed Roosevelt’s court packing proposal and the increasing power of the President.
Garner again sought the presidency in the ​1940 election​, but Roosevelt won the party's
presidential nomination. Garner was replaced as vice president by ​Henry A. Wallace​ and retired
from public office in 1941.​ ​(“​ ​John Nance Garner” ​Encyclopedia of World Biography​)
Although Garner was a Conservative Democrat, he believed that the Great Depression
was caused by lack of ​governing consensus, so he eventually grew supportive of federal
intervention in economic affairs and advocated government guarantees of banking deposits by
creating the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. He did not always agree with Roosevelt's
policies during the first term such as he had grave misgivings about the National Recovery Act,
but he encouraged other lawmakers to follow him in supporting the president in order to ensure a
stabilized government. However, as Roosevelt proposed more radical New Deal projects, Garner
objected to Roosevelt's determination to escalate the centralizing of the federal government,
expanding government regulation and spending programs, and "revolutionizing" the Democratic
party. ​He first opposed organized labor in Wagner’s Act, considering it a violation of business
owners' rights.​ ​Then as a strict traditionalist toward party affairs and a strict constructionist in
literal interpretations of the constitutional separation of powers, Garner was deeply concerned
about the threat to party unity posed by Roosevelt's controversial court packing proposal. He
feared the increasing power of the Executive branch and growing government deficits, which
finally prompted him to act independently in the 1940 presidential election(​Hatfield 387).