John Nance Garner

**John Nance Garner IV** nicknamed **"Cactus Jack"** (November 22, 1868 – November 7, 1967) was the 44th speaker of the United States House of Representatives (1931-1933) and the 32nd Vice President of the United States (1933-1941). Garner once described the Vice-Presidency as being "not worth a bucket of warm piss," the last word of which is often sanitized to "spit." Also, he lived to be 98 years and 350 days old, which made him the longest-lived former vice president.

## Life

Garner was born near the village of Detroit, Red River County, in East Texas, on November 22, 1868. His parents were John Nance Garner III and his wife, the former Sarah Jane Guest.

Garner studied at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, for one semester before he dropped out and returned home. He was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He eventually studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1890, and began practice in Uvalde, Uvalde County, Texas.

During his vice presidency, Garner privately opposed President Franklin Roosevelt's support of the New Deal and World War II.

On the morning of Garner's 95th birthday on November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy called to wish the former vice president a happy birthday, just hours before his assassination in Dallas.

## Death

Garner died on November 7, 1967 in Uvalde, Texas from a heart attack, at the age of 98 years and 350 days, just 15 days before what would have been his 99th birthday. Since 1964, John Garner is the longest-lived vice president of the United States in the history, a record which was previously held by Benjamin Harrison's vice president, Levi P. Morton (who died in 1920, on his 96th birthday). He is interred in Uvalde Cemetery.

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **name**: John Nance Garner
- **image**: GARNER, JOHN NANCE. HONORABLE LOC hec.14879 (cropped).jpg
- **office**: 32nd Vice President of the United States
- **president**: Franklin D. Roosevelt
- **term start**: March 4, 1933
- **term end**: January 20, 1941
- **predecessor**: Charles Curtis
- **successor**: Henry A. Wallace
- **office1**: 39th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
- **term start1**: December 7, 1931
- **term end1**: March 3, 1933
- **predecessor1**: Nicholas Longworth
- **successor1**: Henry Thomas Rainey, Henry Rainey
- **office2**: Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, House Minority Leader
- **term start2**: March 4, 1929
- **term end2**: March 3, 1931
- **predecessor2**: Finis Garrett
- **successor2**: Bertrand Snell
- **office3**: Leader of the House Democratic Caucus
- **term start3**: March 4, 1929
- **term end3**: March 3, 1933
- **predecessor3**: Finis J. Garrett
- **successor3**: Henry Thomas Rainey
- **state4**: Texas
- **term start4**: March 4, 1903
- **term end4**: March 3, 1933
- **predecessor4**: Position established
- **successor4**: Milton H. West
- **state house5**: Texas
- **district5**: 91st
- **term start5**: January 10, 1899
- **term end5**: January 13, 1903
- **predecessor5**: Sam Jones
- **successor5**: Ferdinand C. Weinert
- **office6**: County Judge of Uvalde County, Texas, Uvalde County
- **term start6**: 1893
- **term end6**: 1896
- **predecessor6**: A. V. D. Old
- **successor6**: J. E. Cummings
- **birth name**: John Nance Garner III
- **birth place**: Red River County, Texas, Red River County, Fifth Military District, U.S.
- **death place**: Uvalde, Texas, U.S.
- **resting place**: Uvalde Cemetery
Uvalde, Texas, U.S.
- **party**: Democratic Party (United States), Democratic
- **children**: 1
- **education**: Vanderbilt University
- **signature**: John Nance Garner Signature2.svg
- **signature alt**: Cursive signature in ink