Alben Barkley

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 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 tenant farmers who were very religious. He graduated from Marvin College, in Kentucky in 1897, where he excelled in speech and debate. He attended Emory College, in 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 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

Button from Barkley's 1944 campaign for Senate

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 the anti-gambling crusade, in cooperation with Protestant ministers. Barkley nearly secured the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1923, and he built a base that carried the Democratic primary for Senate in 1926.

U.S. Senator

He was elected to the United States Senate in 1926, and was reelected in 1932, 1938, and again in 1944. He served from 1927 until he became Vice President in 1949.

Senate Democratic Leader

In 1937 he defeated Pat Harrison of Mississippi for Senate Majority Leader by 38-37, by stressing his loyalty to Franklin D. Roosevelt, especially on the Court Packing incident of 1937. His most critical election came in the 1938 primary when he defended the New Deal against conservative Gov. Albert B. "Happy" Chandler. After a bitter campaign, Barkley won with 56% of the vote, drawing his support from farmers and workers, while the middle class voted against him.

He was Senate majority leader from 1937 to 1947 and 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 an over-ride. The veto was overridden and Barkley was unanmiously returned as Majority Leader, clearly demonstrating that he, not the President, controlled the Senate.

Vice President

He was elected Vice President on the Democratic ticket with President Harry S. Truman in 1948 and was inaugurated January 20, 1949, for the term ending January 20 1953. He was 71 years old at the time of his election and inauguration, the oldest vice president to date. 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. Barkley is also the only vice president to marry while in office.

Barkley was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1949.

File:Staggers-truman1948.jpg

A whistle stop train tour in Keyser, West Virginia, in 1948. From left to right: President Harry S. Truman at the microphone, Congressional candidate Harley Orrin Staggers, and vice presidential candidate Alben W. Barkley.

The May/December Romance

At the age of 71, he married a widow half his age, capturing the national attention at the time.

1952 Presidential Campaign

Truman gave up his reelection campaign in 1952 after losing the New Hampshire primary, opening the way for Barkley, who wanted to run but was not able to build enough support from crucial factions in the party such as labor. He lost the Democratic nomination to Adlai Stevenson.

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 1950. 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.

Trivia

According to comedian George Burns in his book All My Best Friends, the topic of "Vice-President Barkley's vacation" was invoked by a circle of entertainers which included Jack Benny, George Jessel, Groucho Marx, and Eddie Cantor when they wanted to avoid being critical of each other or when they didn't want to admit that they hadn't seen or heard each other's recent performances (pp. 177-178).

Electoral history

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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Senate Majority Leader

preceded by
Joseph T. Robinson

dates
1937 – 1947

succeeded by
Wallace H. White Jr.

Senate Minority Leader

preceded by
Wallace H. White Jr.

dates
1947 – 1949

succeeded by
Kenneth S. Wherry

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