John Nance Garner III, known among his contemporaries as "Cactus Jack", was an American Democratic politician and lawyer from Texas. He served as the 39th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1931 to 1933 and as the 32nd vice president of the United States under Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1941. Garner and Schuyler Colfax are the only politicians to have served as presiding officers of both chambers of the United States Congress as speaker of the House and vice president of the United States.
Garner, c. 1930s
Alternate portrait of Garner, c. 1930s
Painting of Vice President Garner, c. 1939
Garner's grave in Uvalde Cemetery
Vice President of the United States
The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice president is also an officer in the legislative branch, as the president of the Senate. In this capacity, the vice president is empowered to preside over the United States Senate, but may not vote except to cast a tie-breaking vote. The vice president is indirectly elected together with the president to a four-year term of office by the people of the United States through the Electoral College. Since the passage of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the US Constitution, the vice president may also be appointed by the president to fill a vacancy, via majority confirmation by both the Senate and the House.
Vice President of the United States
John Adams, the first vice president of the United States
Though prominent as a Missouri Senator, Harry Truman had been vice president only three months when he became president; he was never informed of Franklin Roosevelt's war or postwar policies while serving as vice president.
1888 illustration of John Tyler receiving the news of President William Henry Harrison's death from Chief Clerk of the State Department Fletcher Webster