John Nance Garner

John Nance Garner IV (1868–1953) was a Representative from Texas and the thirty-second Vice President of the United States (1933-53). He was known as Cactus Jack. He survived the presidency of Joe Steele by keeping his head down and his mouth shut even as Steele destroyed the American democracy. Upon Steele's death, Garner entered a three-way power struggle which he did not survive.

Garner was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives in 1902 from a newly created congressional district covering tens of thousands of square miles of rural South Texas. He was elected from the district fourteen subsequent times, serving until 1933.

Garner's hard work and integrity made him a respected leader in the House, and he was chosen to serve as minority floor leader for the Democrats in 1929, and then as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives in 1931.

In 1932, Garner ran for the Democratic Presidential nomination. However, it soon became clear that the two front-runners for the nomination were Joe Steel of California and New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt. However, when Roosevelt died in a fire in the governor's mansion (secretly set on Steele's orders), Garner agreed to become Steele's vice president. The ticket won handily.

Garner and Steele were elected to six terms. Throughout those 20 years, Garner realized that he could not stand against Steele as Steele subverted the American system and built a dictatorship. When Steele died in 1953, Garner assumed the office. He immediately ordered the deaths of Steele's key allies, the Hammer and J. Edgar Hoover. However, Hoover triumphed, and Garner was executed along with the Hammer.