Vice Presidential Spotlight: John Nance Garner
August 14, 1932.
John Nance Garner was a politician from Uvalde County, Texas. After serving in the Texas Legislature, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1902. He ran for president in 1932, competing with Governor of New York Franklin D. Roosevelt for the party nomination. When it became clear at the Democratic National Convention that FDR had the support of the majority of the delegates, Garner’s campaign cut a deal with Roosevelt’s to exchange the support of the Texas delegation for the Vice-Presidential nomination. Soon after, Roosevelt was nominated as the Democratic candidate for president and Garner was nominated as his running mate, and the pair easily defeated the Republican ticket that November.
Like many southern Democrats, Garner was philosophically opposed to the New Deal, but did not often publically break ranks with the administration. In 1940, Henry A. Wallace was nominated for Vice President, and Garner returned to private life in Texas.
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