Alben W. Barkley

Alben W. Barkley
35th Vice President of the United States
In office January 20, 1949 – January 20, 1953
President	Harry S. Truman
Preceded by	Harry S. Truman
Succeeded by	Richard Nixon
United States Senator from Kentucky
In office March 4, 1927 – January 19, 1949
Preceded by	Richard P. Ernst
Succeeded by	Garrett L. Withers
In office January 3, 1955 – April 30, 1956
Preceded by	John Sherman Cooper
Succeeded by	Robert Humphreys
Personal details
Born	Alben W. Barkley (1877-11-24)November 24, 1877 Graves County, Kentucky
Died	April 30, 1956(1956-04-30) (aged 78) Lexington, Virginia
Resting place	Alben W. Barkley
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Dorothy Brower Barkley
Parent	Alben W. Barkley
Alma mater	University of Virginia

Alben William Barkley (November 24, 1877 – April 30, 1956) was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate from Paducah, Kentucky, and the thirty-fifth Vice President of the United States.

Early life and career

Barkley in 1913

Barkley was born Willie Alben Barkley in a log cabin near Lowes, Graves County, Kentucky. His parents, John Wilson Barkley and Electra Eliza (Smith) Barkley, were deeply religious tenant farmers. He graduated from Marvin College in 1897, where he excelled in speech and debate. He worked his way through college with a full-time janitorial job. Barkley later attended Emory College, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was a member of Delta Tau Delta Social Fraternity, graduated in 1900, and then attended the University of Virginia Law School. It was during this time that he legally changed his name from "Willie Alben" to "Alben William."

Barkley was admitted to the Kentucky bar in 1901 and commenced practice in Paducah, Kentucky. He was prosecuting attorney for McCracken County from 1905 to 1909 and judge of McCracken County Court from 1909 to 1913. He built a reputation as a progressive who sided with the farmers more than the townspeople. His energetic, folksy campaigning and strong oratorical skills made him a power in the local Democratic party, as he defeated three opponents in the 1912 primary and won the Congressional election.

Congressional career

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Barkley campaigning in Lexington, KY circa 1930

House of Representatives

Barkley was elected to the Sixty-third and to the six succeeding Congresses (1913 - 1927) representing Kentucky's 1st district in the U.S. House of Representatives. He gained statewide stature by leading a crusade against the coal and gambling special interests during his 1923 campaign for Governor of Kentucky. Barkley narrowly lost the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. However, that sole electoral defeat actually helped propel him into the U.S. Senate in 1926, because the race gave him name recognition throughout Kentucky and won him the title "Iron Man," for his ability to give as many as sixteen speeches a day on the campaign trail.

Senate

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Button from Barkley's 1944 campaign for Senate

Barkley was first elected to the United States Senate in 1926; he would be reelected in 1932, 1938, and again in 1944.

Barkley was the keynote speaker at the 1932 national Democratic convention. The following year, he became vice chairman of the Democratic Conference and assistant to Senate majority leader Joseph T. Robinson. After Robinson's death during the court-packing incident of 1937, Barkley narrowly defeated Pat Harrison of Mississippi in a 38-37 vote to become the new majority leader. He was aided by the vocal support of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the President's "Dear Alben" letter submitted to the Washington press corps, which highlighted Roosevelt's desire for Barkley to become majority leader. Barkley's most critical election came in the 1938 primary when he defended the New Deal against conservative Governor Albert B. "Happy" Chandler. After a bitter race in which Barkley's diligent campaigning was bolstered by Roosevelt's strong endorsement, Barkley handily defeated the sitting Governor, receiving 56% of the vote.

Barkley continued to serve as Senate majority leader from 1937 to 1947 and Senate minority leader from 1947 to 1949. He broke with Roosevelt in 1944 on tax issues. When Roosevelt vetoed a tax bill because the rates were too low, Barkley resigned his leadership position, and called for a veto over-ride. The veto was overridden and Barkley was unanimously returned as Majority Leader, clearly demonstrating that he, not the President, controlled the Senate.

Vice President: "The Veep"

Barkley was elected Vice President on the Democratic ticket with President Harry S. Truman in 1948 and was inaugurated January 20, 1949. His "prop-stops" by airplane initiated a new phase in presidential campaigning. He was 71 years old at the time of his election and inauguration, the oldest vice president to date.

In his first year as Vice President, Barkley became the only vice president to marry while in office. At the age of 71, he married Jane Hadley, a widow from St. Louis, capturing national attention.

Barkley was popularly known as "the Veep". His young grandson, Stephen Truitt, had suggested this abbreviated alternative to the cumbersome "Mr. Vice President." When Barkley told the story at a press conference, the newspapers printed it, and the title stuck. Barkley's successor as vice president, Richard Nixon, declined to continue the nickname, saying that it had been bestowed on Barkley affectionately and belonged to him.

In 1949, he returned to his alma mater, Emory University, to receive an LL.D. degree and deliver the commencement address, an occasion which became the first Emory event ever televised. Later that year, he received the Congressional Gold Medal.

In December 1950, the Paducah site (the location of the former Kentucky Ordnance Works) was chosen from a short list of eight locations for construction of a new gaseous diffusion plant. It was speculated that Vice President Barkley, a former Paducah, KY resident, may have helped tip the scales toward the selection of the Paducah site.

1952 Presidential campaign

Truman gave up his reelection campaign in 1952 after losing the New Hampshire primary. Barkley announced his bid on July 6. On July 20 the A.F.L and C.I.O announced they would not support his candidacy. The ranking A.F.L. official among the delegates to the Democratic convention, George M. Harrison, said "we can't sell Barkley to labor, not because of his record, but his age." Barkley was 74 at the time. Two days later, Barkley withdrew from consideration.

This is in marked contrast to later Vice Presidents, the majority of whom have succeeded to or at least campaigned hard for the presidency (the exceptions are Spiro Agnew, Nelson Rockefeller, Dan Quayle and Dick Cheney). Barkley's own withdrawal created a wide open race in both parties the likes of which would not be seen again until 2008. Ultimately, the nominees were Stevenson and former General Dwight Eisenhower, with Eisenhower winning the 1952 Presidential election.

Return to the Senate

He was again elected to the United States Senate and served from 1955 until his death the following year of a heart attack while giving a speech at the 1956 Mock Convention held at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. He died moments after declaring, "I would rather be a servant in the House of the Lord than to sit in the seats of the mighty." He was interred in Mount Kenton Cemetery, on Lone Oak Road, near Paducah, Kentucky. In his honor, the award-winning debating society at Emory University was renamed the Barkley Forum in 1960. Lake Barkley, a man-made lake on the Cumberland River at the Kentucky-Tennessee border, and Barkley Dam at the same lake, are also named in his honor. i love eggs lol

Electoral history

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Barkley visits Buchenwald, shortly after its liberation by American forces.

1944 Kentucky United States Senatorial Election

Alben W. Barkley (D) (inc.) 54.8%

James Park (R) 44.9%

1938 Kentucky United States Senatorial Election

Alben W. Barkley (D) (inc.) 62%

John P. Haswell (R) 38%

1932 Kentucky United States Senatorial Election

Alben W. Barkley (D) (inc.) 59.2%

M.H. Thatcher (R) 40.5%

1926 Kentucky United States Senatorial Election

Alben W. Barkley (D) 51.8%

Richard P. Ernst (R) (inc.) 48.2%

References

Primary sources

• Alben Barkley, That Reminds Me (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1954), autobiography
• Jane R. Barkley, I Married the Veep (New York: Vanguard, 1958), memoir

Secondary sources

• Davis, Polly. "Court Reform and Alben W. Barkley's Election as Majority Leader". Southern Quarterly 1976 15(1): 15-31.
• Davis, Polly Ann. "Alben W. Barkley's Public Career in 1944". Filson Club History Quarterly 1977 51(2): 143-157.
• Hixson, Walter L. "The 1938 Kentucky Senate Election: Alben W. Barkley, 'Happy' Chandler, and the New Deal". Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 1982 80(3): 309-329.
• Libbey, James K. Dear Alben: Mr. Barkley of Kentucky (1979), 110 page biography
• Libbey, James K. "Alben Barkley's Rise from Courthouse to Congress" Register of the Kentucky Historical Society (2000) 98(3): 261-278.
• Robinson, George W. "Alben Barkley and the 1944 Tax Veto". Register of the Kentucky Historical Society (1969) 67(3): 197-210.
• Sexton, Robert F. "The Crusade Against Pari-mutuel Gambling in Kentucky: a Study of Southern Progressivism in the 1920's" Filson Club History Quarterly 1976 50(1): 47-57.

External links

• Alben Barkley's Gravesite
• Washington & Lee Mock Convention
• Vice Presidents of the United States: Alben Barkley

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