Evening star., 1947-07-06
Tociturn Texan Will
Not Write His
Life Story
By Boscom N. Timmons

memoranda ana uata bearing on his
nearly 40 years of public life in
Washington.
A few items of correspondence
went to the University Of Texas
but the contents of stacks Of steel
files, which were a record Of most
Of his transactions from the first
administration Of Theodore Roose-
velt through the second admins
tration of Franklin D. Roosevelt,
have been emptied to make a huge
bonfire.
Moreover, the colorful Texan, who
released his 80 Texas and California
delegates at the Democratic Ma
tional Convention at Chicago in
1882 and gave Roosevelt just the
number of votes needed to win the
Democratic presidential nomination,
still refuses to give interviews on
any subject and insists he does not
intend to do so at any time in the
future.
When Mr.. Garner left Washing
ton in January, 1941, he received an
invitation to address the Texas
House of Representatives. Re-
spending he said:
Broke Silence During War
Prior to ending my services jan
uary 20, I decided definitely that I
would eliminate myself from all
public expressions for IL months.
In other words I want to isolate my
self for that time.
Many organizations, magazines,
journals, ETC., have sought my ex-
pressions upon whatever subject I
might care to discuss, and, of course,
I appreciate those, but once having
established a rule I must adhere
to it,"
A year later, three months after
the United States entered World
War II, the former Vice President
broke his silence and gave an inter-
view to this correspondent in which
he called for total mobilization and
predicted that the war would be
won in between three and four
years. It was won in three and a
half years.
That was the last interview he
has given.
He maintained a strict public 81
lence all during his eight years as
Vice President and has been quoted
directly on few matters since he left
the speakership more than IA years
ago.
Almost Seventy.nine
Mr.. Garner, approaching his 10th
birthday, lives in a comfortable
home he built here in 1918 when he
had decided to retire from Congress
and live a life of ease.
Mr.. Garner recalled to friends a
few days ago how he realized that
the defeat of the Democrats was in
evitable after the First World War
and notified his friends that he
would not stand for reelection in
1920. He had no desire to serve in
the minority in what looked like
long Republican rule. Archie Parr,
Jim Wells and other picturesque
Texas Democratic leaders talked
him out of that decision. He was
reelected.
Then in 1922 the Ku Klux Klan
was strong in Texas and was de-
termined to retire Garner from pub
lie life. He challenged the Klan
leaders and won. Then he went on
to be Democratic minority leader,
Speaker of the House of Repre-
sentatives and the only man except
Schuyler Colfax of Indiana to 60
directly from the Speakers chair to
the north end of the Capitol and
pick up the Vice Presidents gavel.
Colfax took that journey in 1869.
Liked Being Speaker
Mr.. Garner still insists that he
never wanted to make the change
from Speaker to Vice President.
The Speakers Office is one of great
power and usefulness, he points
out. On the other hand, while the
vice presidency is not a role of
impotency, it does not within itself
carry the great power and oppor-
tunity for usefulness.
His decision not to put his men,
oirs on paper means that he will
never tell why he released his CAL
ifornia and Texas delegates to
Roosevelt at Chicago in 1882 just at
the time when the Roosevelt forces
were showing signs of disintegra-
tion. The Texas delegates he had