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Alben W. Barkley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Alben W. Barkley | |
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| In office January 20, 1949 – January 20, 1953 |
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| President | Harry S. Truman |
| Preceded by | Harry S. Truman |
| Succeeded by | Richard Nixon |
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| In office March 4, 1927 – January 19, 1949 |
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| Preceded by | Richard P. Ernst |
| Succeeded by | Garrett L. Withers |
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| Born | November 24, 1877 Graves County, Kentucky |
| Died | April 30, 1956 (aged 78) Lexington, Virginia |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Dorothy Brower Barkley |
| Religion | Methodist |
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.
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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.
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.
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 courting 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.
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.
Barkley was popularly known as the Veep. His young grandson 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.
Also in his first year 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.
Truman gave up his reelection campaign in 1952 after losing the New Hampshire primary, opening the way for Barkley, who wanted to run. Rumors that the President was unsure of Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson and other candidates were reported by the press. But powerful union leaders felt him too old, at 74, for the nomination. He later withdrew from consideration.[1]
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.
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.
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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).
In 1954, Barkley became the fifth American to serve in the Senate after presiding over it as Vice President of the U.S. The others: John C. Calhoun, John C. Breckinridge, Hannibal Hamlin, Andrew Johnson. ("Senator Barkley?" Time Magazine, September 14, 1953.)
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% |
- Alben Barkley, That Reminds Me (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1954), autobiography
- Jane R. Barkley, I Married the Veep (New York: Vanguard, 1958), memoir
- 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.
- ^ "Alben W. Barkley", Mark O. Hatfield, with the Senate Historical Office. Vice Presidents of the United States, 1789-1993 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1997), pp. 423-429.
- Alben Barkley's Gravesite
- Washington & Lee Mock Convention
- Vice Presidents of the United States: Alben Barkley
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| Lodge • Curtis • Watson • Robinson • Barkley • White • Lucas • McFarland • Taft • Knowland • Johnson • Mansfield • Byrd • Baker • Dole • Byrd • Mitchell • Dole • Lott • Daschle • Lott • Daschle • Frist • Reid |
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| Underwood • Robinson • McNary • Austin • McNary • White • Barkley • Wherry • Bridges • Johnson • Knowland • Dirksen • Scott • Baker • Byrd • Dole • Daschle • Lott • Daschle • Lott • Frist • Daschle • Reid • McConnell |
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| Persondata | |
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| NAME | Barkley, Alben W. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Vice President of the United States |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 24, 1877 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Graves County, Kentucky |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1956-4-30 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Lexington, Virginia |
Categories: Articles with trivia sections from October 2007 | Vice Presidents of the United States | United States Senators from Kentucky | Members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky | United States presidential candidates | Democratic Party (United States) vice presidential nominees | Kentucky politicians | Prosecutors | Kentucky lawyers | Congressional Gold Medal recipients | University of Virginia alumni | People from Paducah, Kentucky | American Methodists | Deaths by myocardial infarction | 1877 births | 1956 deaths