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.

Marshall was born in North Manchester, Indiana and studied law at Wabash College. He was admitted to the bar and began his career as a lawyer in Columbia City, Indiana. He served as Governor of Indiana from 1909 - 1913.

He was elected, as a Democrat, Vice President of the United States on the ticket with Woodrow Wilson in 1912, was reelected in 1916 and served until 1921. When Wilson suffered a stroke in 1919, Marshall was advised to assume the presidency. He refused; there was no provision in the Constitution at that time for the removal of an incapacitated, as opposed to a dead, President, and he feared that such a move would divide the country.

Marshall is best known for introducing this phrase into the American lexicon: "What this country really needs is a good five-cent cigar." in a Senate debate in 1917.

Marshall died in Washington, D.C and is interred in Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana.