What do you think?
Rate this book
He Almost Changed the World: The Life and Times of Thomas Riley Marshall
Largely forgotten by history, Thomas Riley Marshall served as Vice President in the administration of President Woodrow Wilson. Born and raised in Indiana, Marshall came from a prominent local family and was well-educated, but struggled against his own personal demons. Rescued from professional oblivion by his devoted wife Lois, Marshall began a meteoric political career that in less than five years took him from the life of a small town lawyer to the Vice Presidency of the United States. It was in that position that Marshall faced one of the most difficult choices to confront an American politician. With the fate of the world resting on the success or failure of the Treaty of Versailles and the proposed League of Nations, President Woodrow Wilson suffered a debilitating stroke that undoubtedly qualified as the type of disability that, under the United States Constitution, should have led Marshall to assume the powers of the presidency. Marshall's decision is just one aspect of the fascinating life of Vice President Thomas Riley Marshall.
340 pages, Paperback
First published January 24, 2007
18 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 3, 2019
Destiny gave Thomas R. Marshall a chance to be an agent for change, but not wanting to be seen as
an interpreter he didn't take it. It also exposed a flaw in our Constitution that took decades after
Marshall left this mortal coil to correct.
Thomas Riley Marshall was born in Indiana in 1854 two years before the man with whom he served
with as Vice President was born. He was Woodrow Wilson's Vice President for both of his terms in
office. But before that he was an Indiana Democrat through and through. He ran a couple of times
for local office a few times after graduating Wabash College and clerking in order to be a lawyer.
He was engaged to a woman named Kate Hooper who died suddenly. This left Marshall a wreck of a
human being. He was plagued by alcoholic demons for well over a decade until he met another woman Lois Kinsey who brought him out of it. She was almost 20 years younger than him, but it
was true love. They married and legend has it they never spent more than two days apart.
Marshall renewed his interest in politics and developed a relationship with Tom Taggart who was
the Democratic boss of Indiana. The Hoosier state was at that time post Civil War a genuine two
party state and both parties nominated candidates for Vice President and in one case President
Benjamin Harrison in those years. Marshall turned several nominations for office until 1908 when
he ran and won for Governor. He'd been stumping the state for Democratic candidates for years
and his trial work always brought him publicity. He won even though the GOP carried the state for
William Howard Taft for president.
Marshall who had not always been liberal in his views gradually became more progressive and gave
Indiana such an administration. He was like Lincoln who pardoned many a death sentence as president. Marshall kind of unofficially didn't believe in capital punishment.
Come 1912 and Boss Taggart had his Indiana delegation pledged to Governor Marshall as a favorite
son. The main contest was between Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey and Speaker of the
House Champ Clark. Wilson prevailed after multiple ballots and then the convention chose Marshall as his running mate.
With Theodore Roosevelt as the Progressive candidate splitting the GOP vote with Taft, Woodrow
Wilson came up the middle as the 28th president of the USA. He like so many others up to that
point kept his Vice President at arm's length. Wilson could be a snob intellectually and had a low
opinion of those who were not Ph'Ds like himself. A quality that was exponentially exacerbated
after his 1919 stroke.
For his part Marshall was content to do his constitutional duty and preside over the Senate. He
entered Bartlett's Quotations when after a windy Senator gave a long oration of what this country
needs. Marshall dryly observed that "what this country needs is a good 5 cent cigar".
Marshall did loyally support Wilson's New Freedom reforms and his foreign policy up to and including our entry into World War 1. When peace came and the Senate balked at ratifying the
treaty of Versailles Wilson went on a speaking tour across the country. In Pueblo, Colorado Wilson"had the first indications of the stroke to come that left him an invalid in the last two years
of his administration.
Author Bennett leaves no doubt that Marshall should have seized office. Wilson was in no condition to perform his duties and wife Edith though healthy even less so. Edith Wilson shared all
her husband's opinions and prejudices and exacerbated them if anything. Marshall knew when to
compromise and make a deal. History was the loser.
Marshall lived for four more years after he left office dying in 1925. He's a likeable sort with no
great pretensions about himself. The kind that make good leaders when destiny calls.
an interpreter he didn't take it. It also exposed a flaw in our Constitution that took decades after
Marshall left this mortal coil to correct.
Thomas Riley Marshall was born in Indiana in 1854 two years before the man with whom he served
with as Vice President was born. He was Woodrow Wilson's Vice President for both of his terms in
office. But before that he was an Indiana Democrat through and through. He ran a couple of times
for local office a few times after graduating Wabash College and clerking in order to be a lawyer.
He was engaged to a woman named Kate Hooper who died suddenly. This left Marshall a wreck of a
human being. He was plagued by alcoholic demons for well over a decade until he met another woman Lois Kinsey who brought him out of it. She was almost 20 years younger than him, but it
was true love. They married and legend has it they never spent more than two days apart.
Marshall renewed his interest in politics and developed a relationship with Tom Taggart who was
the Democratic boss of Indiana. The Hoosier state was at that time post Civil War a genuine two
party state and both parties nominated candidates for Vice President and in one case President
Benjamin Harrison in those years. Marshall turned several nominations for office until 1908 when
he ran and won for Governor. He'd been stumping the state for Democratic candidates for years
and his trial work always brought him publicity. He won even though the GOP carried the state for
William Howard Taft for president.
Marshall who had not always been liberal in his views gradually became more progressive and gave
Indiana such an administration. He was like Lincoln who pardoned many a death sentence as president. Marshall kind of unofficially didn't believe in capital punishment.
Come 1912 and Boss Taggart had his Indiana delegation pledged to Governor Marshall as a favorite
son. The main contest was between Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey and Speaker of the
House Champ Clark. Wilson prevailed after multiple ballots and then the convention chose Marshall as his running mate.
With Theodore Roosevelt as the Progressive candidate splitting the GOP vote with Taft, Woodrow
Wilson came up the middle as the 28th president of the USA. He like so many others up to that
point kept his Vice President at arm's length. Wilson could be a snob intellectually and had a low
opinion of those who were not Ph'Ds like himself. A quality that was exponentially exacerbated
after his 1919 stroke.
For his part Marshall was content to do his constitutional duty and preside over the Senate. He
entered Bartlett's Quotations when after a windy Senator gave a long oration of what this country
needs. Marshall dryly observed that "what this country needs is a good 5 cent cigar".
Marshall did loyally support Wilson's New Freedom reforms and his foreign policy up to and including our entry into World War 1. When peace came and the Senate balked at ratifying the
treaty of Versailles Wilson went on a speaking tour across the country. In Pueblo, Colorado Wilson"had the first indications of the stroke to come that left him an invalid in the last two years
of his administration.
Author Bennett leaves no doubt that Marshall should have seized office. Wilson was in no condition to perform his duties and wife Edith though healthy even less so. Edith Wilson shared all
her husband's opinions and prejudices and exacerbated them if anything. Marshall knew when to
compromise and make a deal. History was the loser.
Marshall lived for four more years after he left office dying in 1925. He's a likeable sort with no
great pretensions about himself. The kind that make good leaders when destiny calls.
Displaying 1 of 1 review