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The ticket handily defeated incumbent [[Herbert Hoover (Joe Steele)|Herbert Hoover]] that [[United States Presidential Election, 1932 (Joe Steele)|November]].<ref>Ibid., pg. 38-39.</ref> On Election Night, Garner (who was likely in his cups) gave a victory speech in Steele's hometown of [[Fresno (Joe Steele)|Fresno]], where he promised that the country would be unrecognizable once Joe Steele was done.<ref>Ibid., pg. 39.</ref> This statement proved darkly prophetic.
 
The ticket handily defeated incumbent [[Herbert Hoover (Joe Steele)|Herbert Hoover]] that [[United States Presidential Election, 1932 (Joe Steele)|November]].<ref>Ibid., pg. 38-39.</ref> On Election Night, Garner (who was likely in his cups) gave a victory speech in Steele's hometown of [[Fresno (Joe Steele)|Fresno]], where he promised that the country would be unrecognizable once Joe Steele was done.<ref>Ibid., pg. 39.</ref> This statement proved darkly prophetic.
   
  +
After inauguration, Garner was quickly marginalized by Steele.  The fact that the office of the vice president was limited in itself didn't help.  Already a man with a reputition for hard drinking, Garner spent most of his time in office in a bar near the White House.<ref>Ibid., pgs. 96-98.</ref>  He was accutely aware of just what sort of a man Steele was, but was determined not to get on Steele's bad side.
After inauguration, Garner was quickly marginalized by Steele.
 
   
 
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 on March 5, 1953, Garner assumed the office of President. He took various tentative steps to undo Steele's authoritarian machine, including reassigning Steele's three key aids, [[Lazar Kagan]], [[Stas Mikoian]] and [[Vince Scriabin]] to ambassadorships to distant countries. He also secured the resignation of the entire cabinet, save for Secretary of State [[Dean Acheson (Joe Steele)|Dean Acheson]] and Secretary of War [[George Marshall (Joe Steele)|George Marshall]]. However, Scriabin had no interest in going quietly to [[Mongolia#Mongolia in Joe Steele|Outer Mongolia]], and used his remaining connections in Congress to begin an impeachment against Garner. In addition, either Scriabin or Director of the [[GBI]] [[J. Edgar Hoover (Joe Steele)|J. Edgar Hoover]] cause the deaths of Acheson (aircraft crash) and Marshall (poisoning) prior to Garner's impeachment.
 
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 on March 5, 1953, Garner assumed the office of President. He took various tentative steps to undo Steele's authoritarian machine, including reassigning Steele's three key aids, [[Lazar Kagan]], [[Stas Mikoian]] and [[Vince Scriabin]] to ambassadorships to distant countries. He also secured the resignation of the entire cabinet, save for Secretary of State [[Dean Acheson (Joe Steele)|Dean Acheson]] and Secretary of War [[George Marshall (Joe Steele)|George Marshall]]. However, Scriabin had no interest in going quietly to [[Mongolia#Mongolia in Joe Steele|Outer Mongolia]], and used his remaining connections in Congress to begin an impeachment against Garner. In addition, either Scriabin or Director of the [[GBI]] [[J. Edgar Hoover (Joe Steele)|J. Edgar Hoover]] cause the deaths of Acheson (aircraft crash) and Marshall (poisoning) prior to Garner's impeachment.

Revision as of 23:03, 30 June 2015

John Nance Garner
John Nance Garner
Historical Figure
Nationality: United States
Year of Birth: 1868
Year of Death: 1967
Cause of Death: Natural Causes
Religion: Methodist
Occupation: Politician
Spouse: Mariette Rheiner Garner
Children: Tully Charles Garner
Fictional Appearances:
Joe Steele
POD: 1878;
Relevant POD: July, 1932
Novel or Story?: Both
Type of Appearance: Direct
Date of Birth: 1868

John Nance Garner IV nicknamed "Cactus Jack" (November 22, 1868 – November 7, 1967) was an American Democratic politician and lawyer from Texas. He served in both the Texas legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives. He was the forty-fourth Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (1931-33) and the thirty-second Vice President of the United States (1933-41) under Franklin D. Roosevelt. A conservative Southerner, Garner opposed the sit-down strikes of the labor unions and the New Deal's deficit spending. He broke with Roosevelt in early 1937 over the issue of enlarging the Supreme Court, and helped defeat it on the grounds that it centralized too much power in the President's hands.

Garner made his own bid for the Democratic nomination in 1940. However, Garner's general conservatism turned off many Democrats. At the convention that summer, Roosevelt was able to arrange a "spontaneous" call for his renomination and won on the first ballot. Roosevelt also selected Henry Wallace as his running mate.

Garner retired to Texas, where he became something of an elder statesman for a number of Democratic politicians until his death in 1967.

John Nance Garner in Joe Steele

John Nance Garner IV was a Representative from Texas, the thirty-second Vice President of the United States (1933-53), and briefly the 33rd President. 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 lost, becoming the second president to be impeached, and the first to be convicted and removed from office. His removal also resulted in the end of the office of the President of the United States.

While Garner was an early candidate for Democratic Presidential nomination in 1932, the two front-runners for the nomination were Joe Steele of California and New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt. Steele convinced Garner to keep the Texas delegation to the Democratic National Convention on board for Steele. In exchange, Steele offered the vice presidency.[1] Garner didn't have much use for the office, but agreed. However, it was Roosevelt's death in a mysterious fire in the Executive Mansion in Albany that clinched Steele nomination.[2] Garner nonetheless received the number two spot on the ticket.[3]

The ticket handily defeated incumbent Herbert Hoover that November.[4] On Election Night, Garner (who was likely in his cups) gave a victory speech in Steele's hometown of Fresno, where he promised that the country would be unrecognizable once Joe Steele was done.[5] This statement proved darkly prophetic.

After inauguration, Garner was quickly marginalized by Steele.  The fact that the office of the vice president was limited in itself didn't help.  Already a man with a reputition for hard drinking, Garner spent most of his time in office in a bar near the White House.[6]  He was accutely aware of just what sort of a man Steele was, but was determined not to get on Steele's bad side.

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 on March 5, 1953, Garner assumed the office of President. He took various tentative steps to undo Steele's authoritarian machine, including reassigning Steele's three key aids, Lazar Kagan, Stas Mikoian and Vince Scriabin to ambassadorships to distant countries. He also secured the resignation of the entire cabinet, save for Secretary of State Dean Acheson and Secretary of War George Marshall. However, Scriabin had no interest in going quietly to Outer Mongolia, and used his remaining connections in Congress to begin an impeachment against Garner. In addition, either Scriabin or Director of the GBI J. Edgar Hoover cause the deaths of Acheson (aircraft crash) and Marshall (poisoning) prior to Garner's impeachment.

Literary Comment

In the short story, Garner ascends to the presidency, but then orders the execution of The Hammer and J. Edgar Hoover. The Hammer likewise orders the execution of Garner and Hoover. Hoover also orders the deaths of Garner and the Hammer, but triumphs. Garner is executed, and Hoover takes his place. Garner's fate in the novel, wherein he's impeached, convicted, and removed from office, but is still very much alive at the end of it all, is one of the rare instances where the novel is actually more upbeat than the story.

See Also

References

  1. Joe Steele, pg. 2.
  2. Ibid., pgs. 16-21.
  3. Ibid., pg. 39.
  4. Ibid., pg. 38-39.
  5. Ibid., pg. 39.
  6. Ibid., pgs. 96-98.