John Nance Garner
Illustration, not an archive object
Vice President of the United States · United States
On the regime page: Roosevelt administration
3 quotes, oldest first. Filter with other speakers.
“I don’t intend to spend the next four years counting the buttons on another man’s coat tails.”
Said about the vice presidency while Garner, then Speaker of the House, was a rival for the Democratic presidential nomination and before he agreed to join Franklin Roosevelt's ticket.
Quoted in Patrick Cox, "Not Worth a Bucket of Warm Spit," History News Network (Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin), citing Arthur "Bugs" Baer, Washington Herald, 30 June 1932 Source
“a no man's land somewhere between the legislative and executive branch”
Garner's own description of the office he held from 1933 to 1941, as reported by his biographer, who interviewed him over many years.
Garner on the vice presidency, quoted in Bascom N. Timmons, Garner of Texas: A Personal History (Harper, 1948), as cited in Patrick Cox, "John Nance Garner on the Vice Presidency", Briscoe Center for American History Source
Content note: Earthy language about the vice presidency. The words are shown as they were said or written. Why
“wasn't worth a pitcher of warm spit.”
Remark about the vice presidency widely attributed to Garner. The Time obituary (after his death on 7 November 1967) is the first print appearance the Briscoe Center found; earlier reports of the line (Tugwell, The Brains Trust, 1968; Alfred Steinberg and Theodore White, 1961) give "quart", "bucket" or "pitcher" of "warm spit" and biographer O. C. Fisher thought he probably said "warm piss".
Time magazine obituary of John Nance Garner, 17 November 1967, as quoted in Patrick Cox, "John Nance Garner on the Vice Presidency", Briscoe Center for American History Source
Disputed: no contemporary record of Garner saying it during his vice presidency; wording varies between "bucket", "pitcher" and "quart" and between "spit" and "piss". The Briscoe Center concludes there is little doubt he used some version of the line, possibly as early as 1932. The date given is that of the first print source found.
Often attributed, not verified
These words circulate under John Nance Garner’s name but could not be traced to a source. They are listed so readers can check them, not as John Nance Garner’s words.
“You are beat. You haven't got the votes.”
Found only in secondary summaries of the court-packing episode in web searches; no primary text (Garner's papers, Timmons's 1948 biography, or a contemporary newspaper) was located by this checker, so no wording is published as his. The Texas State Historical Association handbook confirms that Garner told the President the bill was dead, without quoting him.