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36. Richard M. Nixon: Vice Presidents with Octopuses on Their Heads
36. Richard Nixon
President: With Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953-1961
Party: Republican
State: California
In 1957, Nixon went to Latin America for a good will tour. It didn’t go well. Nixon’s motorcade was showered with rocks in Venezuela and Peru. When some guy spat in Nixon’s face in Lima, he kicked him in the shin.
35. Alben W. Barkley: Vice Presidents with Octopuses on Their Heads
35. Alben W. Barkley
President: Harry S Truman, 1949-1953
Party: Democrat
State: Kentucky
Barkley’s grandson reportedly came up with the nickname “Veep” when Barkley complained that the title “Vice President of the United States” was too long.
34. Harry S Truman: Vice Presidents with Octopuses on Their Heads
34. Harry S. Truman
President: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1945
Party: Democrat
State: Missouri
Harry S Truman only met with FDR twice during his brief tenure as VP and he wasn't informed on most of the major policy debates going on with the war, including the Manhattan Project. When FDR died in April 12, 1945, Truman had one of the steepest learning curves of any job in recent memory. The “S” in Truman’s name, by the way, doesn’t stand for anything.
33. Henry A. Wallace: Vice Presidents with Octopuses on Their Heads
33. Henry A. Wallace
President: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1941-1945
Party: Democrat
State: Iowa
Henry A. Wallace just missed out of being president. Wallace was dropped from the ticket during the 1944 election because he was considered too friendly to labor. Harry S Truman was picked instead. FDR died a mere 82 days into his fourth term of office.
32. John Nance Garner: Vice Presidents with Octopuses on Their Heads
32. John Nance Garner
President: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933-1941
Party: Democrat
State: Texas
Dubbed "Cactus Jack" by the press, John Nance Garner once described the role of the vice president as being "not worth a bucket of warm piss." When FDR decided to run for an unprecedented third term, Garner campaigned against him, hoping to get the job of president himself. He failed, making him the first VP to date to run against a sitting president. Not surprisingly, he was dropped from the ticket.
31. Charles Curtis: Vice Presidents with Octopuses on Their Heads
31. Charles Curtis
President: Herbert Hoover, 1929-1933
Party: Republican
State: Kansas
Charles Curtis is the last vice president to date to sport facial hair.
30. Charles G. Dawes: Vice Presidents with Octopuses on Their Heads
30. Charles G. Dawes
President: Calvin Coolidge, 1925-1929
Party: Republican
State: Illinois
Charles G. Dawes is the only vice president to date to ever have both won a Nobel Peace Prize and to have written a number one pop hit. He got the prize in 1925 for brokering the Dawes Plan for Détente between Germany and France after WWI and after Tommy Edward added lyrics to his song “It’s All in the Game," it topped the charts in 1958.
29. Calvin Coolidge: Vice Presidents with Octopuses on Their Heads
29. Calvin Coolidge
President: Warren G. Harding, 1921-1923
Party: Republican
State: Massachusetts
Calvin Coolidge’s nickname was “Silent Cal” and probably not a lot of fun to hang out with. He slept 10-11 hours a day and preferred to lunch in the corner of the Senate dining room facing the wall.
28. Thomas R. Marshall: Vice Presidents with Octopuses on Their Heads
28. Thomas R. Marshall
President: Woodrow Wilson, 1913-1921
Party: Democrat
State: Indiana
Thomas Marshall was known for his love of jokes. Upon winning the election, Marshall sent President Wilson a book inscribed “From your one and only vice.” Wilson didn’t find this funny. Marshall should have been swore in as president in 1919 after President Wilson suffered a massive, debilitating stroke. Yet the First Lady and Wilson's inner circle conspired to keep by the president's condition a secret from Marshall and from the world by essentially playing an 18-month game of Weekend at Bernie's.
27. James S. Sherman: Vice Presidents with Octopuses on Their Heads
27. James S. Sherman
President: William Taft, 1909-1912
Party: Republican
State: New York
James S. Sherman died a week before the 1912 election. He is the seventh and to date last veep to die in office.
26. Charles W. Fairbanks: Vice Presidents with Octopuses on Their Heads
26. Charles W. Fairbanks
President: Theodore Roosevelt, 1905-1909
Party: Republican
State: Indiana
Charles W. Fairbanks was a dull, uninspiring politican whose naked ambition for the White House was the source of jokes among the press. The Nation, one of many periodicals that regularly ridiculed Fairbanks, quipped,"No public speaker can more quickly drive an audience to dispair." He is the namestake for Fairbanks, Alaska, however, so at least he has that.
25. Theodore Roosevelt: Vice Presidents with Octopuses on Their Heads
25. Theodore Roosevelt
President: William McKinley, 1901
Party: Republican,
State: New York
If you ever want to feel like you’ve utterly wasted your life, look to Theodore Roosevelt. By the age of 42, he was already a war hero, a respected author, a cowboy, a governor of New York and a Vice President. Then, after William McKinley's assassination, he became the youngest president in American history. For fun, Roosevelt reportedly read two books a day and enjoyed skinny-dipping in the Potomac during winter.
24. Garret Hobart: Vice Presidents with Octopuses on Their Heads
24. Garret Hobart
President: William McKinley, 1897-1899
Party: Republican
State: New Jersey
President McKinley was such a close friend with Garret Hobart that he turned a chunk of his presidential salary over to Hobart to invest. Hobart died of a massive heart attack in 1899.
23. Adlai Stevenson I: Vice Presidents with Octopuses on Their Heads
23. Adlai Stevenson I
President: Grover Cleveland, 1893-1897
Party: Democrat
State: Illinois
Adlai Stevenson’s grandson was presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson II who lost twice to Dwight D. Eisenhower. Stevenson’s great grandnephew was McLean Stevenson who played Col. Henry Blake on the TV series MASH.
22. Levi P. Morton: Vice Presidents with Octopuses on Their Heads
22. Levi P. Morton
President: Benjamin Harrison, 1889-1893
Party: Republican
State: New York
Levi P. Morton was offered the number two spot by James A. Garfield but in a decision he no doubt later regretted, he declined. Had he accepted, he might very well have ended up president.
21. Thomas A. Hendricks: Vice Presidents with Octopuses on Their Heads
21. Thomas A. Hendricks
President: Grover Cleveland, 1885
Party: Democrat
State: Indiana
Thomas Andrew Hendricks died a mere nine months after taking office. President Cleveland didn't bother to replace him, a common practice in the 19th Century when veeps were more likely that presidents to die in office. In spite of his short tenure, Hendricks appears on the $10 "Tombstone" silver certificate, making him the only vice president who never became president to wind up on US currency.
20. Chester A. Arthur: Vice Presidents with Octopuses on Their Heads
20. Chester A. Arthur
President: James Garfield, 1881
Party: Republican
State: New York
Armed loony Charles Giteau shot President Garfield because he wanted Chester A. Arthur to be president, which made things a bit awkward when Arthur actually did become president, thanks to Giteau's actions.
19. William A. Wheeler: Vice Presidents with Octopuses on Their Heads
19. William A. Wheeler
President: Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877-1881
Party: Republican
State: New York
Upon learning that his running mate was going to be William A. Wheeler, Rutherford B. Hayes was troubled. “I’m ashamed to say,” he wrote to his wife, “Who is Wheeler?”
18. Henry Wilson: Vice Presidents with Octopuses on Their Heads
18. Henry Wilson
President: Ulysses S. Grant, 1873-1875
Party: Republican
State: Massachusetts
Henry Wilson suffered a fatal stroke while in a bathtub in the basement of the Capitol. Yes, there used to be bathtubs in the Capitol.