From the Annals of “Warm Piss” – In 1933, John Nance Garner of Uvalde was sworn in as Vice President of the United States.  Nicknamed “Cactus Jack” he was the first Texan to hold the position.  Garner had been Speaker of the House and a candidate for President in 1932.  Although he had considerable support at the Democratic National Convention, when it became clear that Franklin Roosevelt would get the nomination, Garner made a deal to be nominated as Vice-President.  Garner was born in 1868 in a log cabin near Detroit.  After dropping out of Vanderbilt, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1890 and moved to Uvalde, where he joined the law firm of Clark and Fuller. Garner was elected to the position of Uvalde County Judge and served as a state senator before heading for Washington as a congressman in 1903. Garner quickly rose through the party ranks. By 1909 Garner had become party whip, and he became speaker of the House in 1931. Garner was a master of congressional politics and he was influential in getting New Deal legislation enacted.  His schism with Roosevelt came over the infamous court-packing plan. Garner became a leader of the conservative Democrats. After being reelected Vice President in 1936, he worked against further New Deal legislation. His estrangement from Roosevelt probably led to his famous description of the Vice-Presidency as being “not worth a bucket of warm piss” (often euphemized as “warm spit”.) After retiring from public life in 1940, Garner spent the rest of his years in Uvalde in relative seclusion.