 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 sought to keep Marshall uninformed about the president 's condition to prevent him from easily assuming the presidency . Many people , including cabinet officials and Congressional leaders , urged Marshall to become acting president , but he refused to forcibly assume the presidency for fear of setting a precedent . Without strong leadership in the executive branch , the administration 's opponents defeated the ratification of the League of Nations treaty and effectively returned the United States to an isolationist foreign policy . Vice President Marshall is also the only known Vice President of the United States to have been the target of an assassination attempt . 
