Thomas R. Marshall.pdfVIP

Thomas R. Marshall This article is about the vice president of the United States. For the rugby player, see Thomas RogerMarshall. Thomas Riley Marshall (March 14, 1854 – June 1, 1925) was an American Democratic politician who served as the 28th Vice President of the United States (1913–1921) under Woodrow Wilson. A prominent lawyer in Indiana, he became an active and well known member of the Indiana Democratic Party by stumping across the state for other candidates and organizing party rallies that later helped him win election as the 27th Governor of Indiana. In office, he proposed a contro- versial and progressive state constitution and pressed for other progressive era reforms. The Republican minority used the state courts to block the attempt to change the constitution. His popularity as governor, and Indiana’s status as a crit- ical swing state, helped him secure the Democratic vice presidential nomination on a ticket with Wilson in 1912 and win the subsequent general election. An ideologi- cal rift developed between the two men during their first term, leading Wilson to limit Marshall’s influence in the administration, and his brand of humor caused Wilson to moveMarshall’s office away from theWhite House. Dur- ing Marshall’s second term he delivered morale-boosting speeches across the nation during World War I and be- came the first vice president to hold cabinet meetings, which he did while Wilson was in Europe. While he was president in the United States Senate, a small num- ber of anti-war senators kept it deadlocked by refusing to end debate. To enable critical wartime legislation to be passed, Marshall had the body adopt its first procedu- ral rule allowing filibusters to be ended by a two-thirds majority vote—a variation of this rule remains in effect. Marshall’s vice presidency is most remembered for a leadership crisis following a stroke that incapacitated Wilson in October 1919. Because of their personal dislike for him, Wilson’s advisers and wife sou