‘Cactus Jack’ Garner also appears in JFK legacy

Texans gather every year on Nov. 22 to toast the birthday of John Nance “Cactus Jack” Garner and to memorialize John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK), who died on Nov. 22, 1963. These two pillars of American governmental leadership are forever linked in U.S. history.

Garner served as vice president for the first eight years of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration from 1933-1941.

 

Garner was at his home in Uvalde, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963, celebrating his 95th birthday with a bunch of folks, when a telephone call came in at 10:15 a.m. from a swanky hotel in Fort Worth. President Kennedy was on the line. He wanted to express his personal birthday wishes to Cactus Jack.

Kennedy said he regretted that he could not attend the birthday bash…he had to ride in a motorcade in Dallas.

 

A huge supporter of President Kennedy, Garner mentored fellow Texan Lyndon Baines Johnson, who was Kennedy’s vice president.

 

Garner kept a framed photo of JFK in his living room in plain view of a pair of television sets where Cactus Jack could watch two Major League Baseball games at the same time.

Garner said he felt that President Kennedy, who was 46 years old in 1963, might turn out to “be one of the great presidents of this country.” On that historic phone call, Garner was overheard saying: “You’re my president, and I love you. I hope you stay in there forever.”

More than two hours later, President Kennedy was shot in the head about 12:30 p.m. by assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and died at a Dallas hospital at 1 p.m. 

When word reached Uvalde that Kennedy had been killed, Garner family members said Cactus Jack was “shaken badly.” 

Kennedy admired Garner, a “cigar-chomping master persuader and negotiator,” who steered “New Deal” legislation through Congress early in Roosevelt’s administration. These programs were designed to rescue the nation from the grips of the “Great Depression.” 

Garner said he was glad to leave office in 1941 and return to Uvalde. He once said: “Worst damnfool mistake I ever made was letting myself be elected vice president. Should have stuck with my old chores as Speaker of the House. I gave up the second most important job in the government for one that didn’t amount to a hill of beans. I spent eight long years as Mr. Roosevelt’s spare tire.” 

Dr. Patrick L. Cox, a Texas historian, said irony is found in the knowledge that Garner was the first vice president “who made things happen. Garner revolutionized the position from figurehead to vital member of the executive branch.”

 

One of Garner’s accomplishments was the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, which led to the creation of rural cooperatives. The Texas State Historical Society reported that 2% of Texas farms had electricity in 1936; by 1965, only 2% of farms didn’t.

As a member of Congress for 30 years, Garner was notorious for his poker-playing, whiskey-drinking, cigar-smoking lifestyle. 

In Uvalde, he continued those habits. Freelance writer Anne Dingus quoted Cactus Jack as saying: “I’m living a good Christian life. I don’t get drunk but once a day.”

 

On his farm, Garner raised sheep and grew pecans. Garner was an outdoorsman who enjoyed to fish and hunt. 

Dingus also reported: “At age 69, Garner shot an eight-point buck on a hunting trip and lugged it back to camp himself. He habitually retrieved beer bottles thrown aside by fellow hunters so he could redeem them for cash.” 

That was Cactus Jack. He died two weeks before his 99th birthday on Nov. 7, 1967.