Do you remember John Nance Garner? No? He was the 32^nd vice president, serving from 1933 to 1941 under FDR. Before that, he served in the US House for 30 years and two terms in the Texas “Lege,” as Texans call it, before that. In the best tradition of crusty Texans, he was known as “Cactus Jack,” a plain-talking, colorful original. A Democrat, he was of the old school and thinking a third term improper, ran against FDR. Losing, he retired to his Texas ranch near Uvalde, where he died in 1967.

Those that remember him at all mostly remember him for his best known, pithy one-liner when he said the vice presidency was not worth “a bucket of warm spit.”  Various sources have him referring to a quart or pitcher, but out of politeness, none mention which four-letter substance, which begins with “p” and ends with “s,” he really meant.

When history has its chance to pronounce on the value of the vice presidencies of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, if they’re honest, their worth in that office will surely be in the same bucket. After all, even Barack Obama warned never to underestimate Biden’s ability to “f**k things up, and Secretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush and Obama, Robert Gates said Biden has “been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.” In only one example, even Barack Obama wanted to take out Osama Bin Ladin. Biden was reportedly the sole high official opposing it. Kamala Harris’ greatest contribution as Vice President was adding unprecedented examples of nonsensical word salad to posterity. That and a cackle that rivaled a chorus of wailing cats in heat.

Obama, and certainly Biden, chose their Vice Presidents for reasons other than their stunning intellects and political abilities. Biden was surely chosen because he could never pose a political threat to Obama nor upstage him in any way. Biden chose Harris because she was semi-black and female, certainly not for the political acumen and ability to attract votes of a woman who didn’t win a single delegate and had to drop out before Iowa in her run for the Democrat nomination. 

Graphic: X Screenshot

Donald Trump, on the other hand, chose J.D. Vance, a self-made man, a former Marine, a man born to a dysfunctional family, who lived in poverty, who actually wrote his own biography, became a lawyer and venture capitalist and was elected to the Senate. When Trump chose him, Democrat/socialist/communist (D/s/c) media propaganda arm pundits painted him as a lightweight, an unlikeable, inarticulate MAGA lunatic.

It didn’t work.

It turned out Vance is likeable, very smart, very articulate, very well-informed, and to D/s/cs, distressingly normal. He confounded the D/s/cs that wanted to destroy him. He got his law degree from Yale and served in Iraq during that war.  He has three bi-racial children, two boys and a girl.  His Indian wife, Usha, served as a law clerk for Justices Roberts and Kavanaugh, as a DC appeals court judge and as a trial lawyer at a major law firm. 

He initially didn’t care for Trump, but changed his mind as he gained experience. Trump reciprocated by supporting his bid for the Senate. What most scares D/s/cs about Vance, apart from his obvious political ability, is he’s only 40 and he lacks Trump’s personality quirks but has his popular appeal.

That matters because Donald Trump, who has no lack of ego, has always recognized and used talent. He knows how to delegate, how to hire the best people—yes, he made mistakes in that his first term—support them and leave them alone to do their jobs.

Vance is not going to repeat Nance’s pithy—notice what I did there?—one-liner about the Vice Presidency. He’s going to be doing real work, and if Trump and his advisors are particularly smart, he’ll be formulating swamp draining and rebuilding plans with Trump and will then be put in charge of supervising cabinet heads, agency heads and anyone else necessary to see those changes are implemented. He’ll be the guy in charge of rooting out foot draggers and D/s/c operatives in every bureaucracy determined to undermine Trump’s orders and reforms. He’ll ensure DEI is obliterated, not just renamed and stealthily revived when no one is looking. Marine determination will come in handy there, as will his experience as a lawyer, businessman and Senator. He’ll be given the authority to drop the hammer when necessary, and he won’t hesitate.

It has taken about 84 years, but Donald Trump and JD Vance just might make the vice presidency worth much more than that legendary bucket, and in so doing, put Vance and “America first” in the White House for the next 12 years, which just might be enough to restore the republic.

Somewhere, John Nance Garner might be smiling.

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Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.