Thomas R. Marshall

Thomas Riley Marshall (March 14, 1854 – June 1, 1925) was an American politician who served as the twenty-eighth Vice President of the United States of America under Woodrow Wilson from 1913 to 1921.

Legacy

Marshall is best known for a phrase he introduced to the American lexicon. During a Senate debate in 1917, a particularly bellicose Senator catalogued what he felt the country needed: "What this country needs is more of this; what this country needs is more of that." Marshall leaned over to a clerk and quipped, "What this country needs is a really good five-cent cigar."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The story may be apocryphal, but Marshall was known for having a quick wit. Upon his election as vice president, Marshall sent President-elect Woodrow Wilson a book, inscribed "From your only Vice." He was known to greet citizens walking by his office on the White House tour by asking them to "be kind enough to throw peanuts at me." Upon hearing of his nomination as Vice President (he was not present at the convention), Marshall quipped that he wasn't surprised, as "Indiana is the mother of Vice Presidents, home of more second-class men than any other state."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One of his favorite jokes was about a woman with two sons, one of whom ran away and went to sea and the other was elected Vice President of the United States. Neither was ever heard of again.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~