Alben W. Barkley
Encyclopedia
Alben William Barkley was an American
politician in the Democratic Party
who served as the 35th Vice President of the United States
(1949-1953), under President
Harry S. Truman
.
Prior to the Vice Presidency, Barkley served in the U. S. Senate
from Kentucky
for over twenty years, and was Majority Leader
of that body from 1937 to 1947.
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 Oxford, Georgia
. He was a member of Delta Tau Delta
social fraternity, graduated in 1900, and then attended the University of Virginia School of Law
. 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 the 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. He defeated three opponents in the 1912 congressional primary, won the Congressional election, and became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
According to Alben Barkley's memoir, That Reminds Me, he was married to Dorothy Brower in 1903. They had three children, David (Bud), "Sis" (Marian) and "Wahwee" (Laura Louise, who married a nephew of General Douglas McArthur). In later years, Dorothy suffered from a heart condition, and Alben Barkley donated money to the University of Louisville School of Medicine, to find treatment for heart disease.
She died in 1947, and her daughter Sis (Mrs. Max O'Rell Truitt) took over hostessing duties until Alben Barkley remarried, during his term as Vice President.
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. As a member of the House Barkley helped foster the Prohibition Amendment and the Volstead Act.
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. 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.
in 1926; he would be reelected in 1932, 1938, 1944, and 1954.
Barkley was the keynote speaker at the 1932 Chicago National Democratic Convention which chose Franklin Roosevelt as its party nominee for President. Barkley also served as keynoter at the 1936 and 1948 Democratic National Conventions in Philadelphia. In December 1933, he became vice chairman of the Democratic Conference and assistant to Senate majority leader
Joseph T. Robinson. He and Robinson worked to pass New Deal legislation, such as the Securities and Exchange Act, National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act, and the Social Security Act, through the Senate in 1934–1936. After Robinson's death during the court-packing controversy 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.
When the Senate majority leader’s job opened up in 1937, Barkley went after it. Nose counts put him in a tie with Mississippi's Pat Harrison
. Harrison’s campaign manager asked Theodore G. Bilbo
, the other member from Mississippi, to consider voting for his fellow Mississippian. Bilbo, a race-baiting demagogue whose base was among tenant farmers, hated the upper-class Harrison, who represented the rich planters and merchants. Bilbo said he would vote for Harrison only if he were personally asked. Harrison replied, “Tell the son of a bitch I wouldn’t speak to him even if it meant the presidency of the United States.” When the ballots were in, Barkley won by one vote, 38-to-37, and Harrison's reputation as the senator who wouldn’t speak to his home-state colleague remained intact.
Barkley served as Senate majority leader from 1937 to 1947 and Senate Minority Leader from 1947 to 1949. He shepherded Roosevelt's domestic and war proposals through the Senate, sponsoring financing for World War II and the lend-lease
bill, which prevented Great Britain from capitulating to the Nazis. However, 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 override. The veto was overridden and Barkley was unanimously returned as Majority Leader, clearly demonstrating that he, not the President, controlled the Senate.
During the 1944 Democratic convention, Barkley was passed over for the Vice Presidential nod in favor of Senator Harry S. Truman
of Missouri. In spite of any prejudice, Barkley unwaveringly supported the Roosevelt/Truman ticket and continued his legislative service. Barkley worked extensively with Truman after Truman became President upon the death of Roosevelt in April 1945. During this time, Barkley continued to play an influential role in the Senate, helping to ensure passage of the United Nations Charter through that body. He also served as chairman of the Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack and member of the Congressional Nazi War Crimes committee. His experiences in post-war Germany, his religious conviction, and his relationship with fellow Kentuckian and U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Louis D. Brandeis, led him to later support the formation of Israel
as a recognized nation-state.
Barkley's first wife, Dorothy Brower Barkley, died of a long illness in 1947. In spite of such personal hardships, Barkley's public persona soared. He was ranked as the most popular Democrat, and vied with General Dwight D. Eisenhower
as Look magazine
's most "fascinating" American.
in Philadelphia following a rousing keynote address that garnered some support for his nomination as President. President Truman was widely considered an unpopular candidate for re-election against Governor Thomas Dewey
of New York.
Despite their underdog status, Truman and Barkley continued to campaign doggedly. Barkley coined the term "Give 'em hell, Harry" as Truman was leaving Washington on his "whistle-stop" train across the country. Barkley's "prop-stops" by airplane also initiated a new phase in presidential campaigning by air.
Barkley was 71 years old at the time of his inauguration on January 20, 1949, the oldest Vice President to date.
In many ways, Barkley was the last of the old-time vice presidents, the last to preside regularly over the Senate, the last not to have an office in or near the White House, the last to identify more with the legislative than the executive branch. However, Barkley was a new kind of vice president in other respects. Barkley was the only Vice President to marry while in office. At the age of 71, he married Jane Hadley Barkley
, a widow from St. Louis, capturing national attention. Mrs. Hadley was 34 years his junior, age 37 at the time of their marriage. Because of his legislative experience, Truman insisted on his being the first Vice President to be included in all cabinet-level meetings. He was the first Vice President to become a member of the National Security Council
, as mandated by the National Security Act of 1947
. Truman declared that Vice President Barkley, because of his extensive legislative experience, "was in a class by himself. He had the complete confidence of both the President and the Senate." By executive order and with the counsel of Barkley, President Truman proclaimed a new coat of arms, seal, and flag for the Office of Vice President
.
Barkley was popularly known as "the Veep". His young grandson, Stephen M. 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. However, the term has continued to be used as shorthand for Vice President.
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 1950, Barkley granted the right to the Emory University
debate team to rename itself the Barkley Forum
.
. 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 later campaigned for the presidency. (The exceptions are Spiro Agnew
, Nelson Rockefeller
and Dick Cheney
). Barkley's own withdrawal created a wide open race. Ultimately, the nominees were Adlai E. Stevenson II and former General Dwight Eisenhower, with Eisenhower winning the 1952 Presidential election
.
As the junior Senator from Kentucky, Barkley sat on the back row away from his traditional spot in the front row while majority leader. He served in the Senate 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'm glad to sit on the back row, for I would rather be a servant in the House of the Lord than to sit in the seats of the mighty." Barkley's body lay in state in Washington, D.C. 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. The Alben W. Barkley Distinguished Chair was also created in the Department of Political Science at Emory University
, which is held by Alan I. Abramowitz, a notable American politics and elections scholar. 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.
In 1953, 26 oral history interviews were conducted with Alben Barkley and are available at the University of Kentucky's Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History
.
|-
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician in the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
who served as the 35th Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
(1949-1953), under President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
.
Prior to the Vice Presidency, Barkley served in the U. S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
for over twenty years, and was Majority Leader
Party leaders of the United States Senate
The Senate Majority and Minority Leaders are two United States Senators who are elected by the party conferences that hold the majority and the minority respectively. These leaders serve as the chief Senate spokespeople for their parties and manage and schedule the legislative and executive...
of that body from 1937 to 1947.
Early life and career
Lowes, Kentucky
Lowes is a census-designated place in Graves County, Kentucky, United States. Lowes is northwest of Mayfield. The 2010 United States Census reported that Lowes’s population is 98.-Notable people:...
, Graves County, Kentucky
Graves County, Kentucky
Graves County is a county located in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. It was formed in 1824. As of 2000, the population was 37,028. Its county seat is Mayfield. The county is named for Major Benjamin Franklin Graves, soldier in the War of 1812...
. 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
Oxford College of Emory University
Oxford College is a two-year residential college specializing in the foundations of liberal arts education, and is one of nine divisions of Emory University. The college is located on Emory University's original 1836 campus in Oxford, Georgia, 38 miles east of the main Atlanta campus...
, in Oxford, Georgia
Oxford, Georgia
Oxford is a city in Newton County, Georgia, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 1,892. It is the location of Oxford College of Emory University. The entire town is also designated as a shrine of the United Methodist Church. Additionally, Confederate soldiers are...
. He was a member of Delta Tau Delta
Delta Tau Delta
Delta Tau Delta is a U.S.-based international secret letter college fraternity. Delta Tau Delta was founded in 1858 at Bethany College, Bethany, Virginia, . It currently has around 125 student chapters nationwide, as well as more than 25 regional alumni groups. Its national community service...
social fraternity, graduated in 1900, and then attended the University of Virginia School of Law
University of Virginia School of Law
The University of Virginia School of Law was founded in Charlottesville in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as one of the original subjects taught at his "academical village," the University of Virginia. The law school maintains an enrollment of approximately 1,100 students in its initial degree program...
. 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
Paducah, Kentucky
Paducah is the largest city in Kentucky's Jackson Purchase Region and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Tennessee River and the Ohio River, halfway between the metropolitan areas of St. Louis, Missouri, to the west and Nashville,...
, Kentucky. He was the prosecuting attorney for McCracken County
McCracken County, Kentucky
McCracken County is a county located in the Jackson Purchase, the extreme western end of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 65,514. The county seat, largest city, and only incorporated community is Paducah....
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. He defeated three opponents in the 1912 congressional primary, won the Congressional election, and became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
According to Alben Barkley's memoir, That Reminds Me, he was married to Dorothy Brower in 1903. They had three children, David (Bud), "Sis" (Marian) and "Wahwee" (Laura Louise, who married a nephew of General Douglas McArthur). In later years, Dorothy suffered from a heart condition, and Alben Barkley donated money to the University of Louisville School of Medicine, to find treatment for heart disease.
She died in 1947, and her daughter Sis (Mrs. Max O'Rell Truitt) took over hostessing duties until Alben Barkley remarried, during his term as Vice President.
House of Representatives
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
(1913–1927) representing Kentucky's 1st district in the U.S. House of Representatives. As a member of the House Barkley helped foster the Prohibition Amendment and the Volstead Act.
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. 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
Barkley was first elected to the United States SenateUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
in 1926; he would be reelected in 1932, 1938, 1944, and 1954.
Party leaders of the United States Senate
The Senate Majority and Minority Leaders are two United States Senators who are elected by the party conferences that hold the majority and the minority respectively. These leaders serve as the chief Senate spokespeople for their parties and manage and schedule the legislative and executive...
Joseph T. Robinson. He and Robinson worked to pass New Deal legislation, such as the Securities and Exchange Act, National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act, and the Social Security Act, through the Senate in 1934–1936. After Robinson's death during the court-packing controversy of 1937, Barkley narrowly defeated Pat Harrison
Pat Harrison
Byron Patton "Pat" Harrison was a Mississippi politician who served as a Democrat in the United States House of Representatives from 1911 to 1919 and in the United States Senate from 1919 until his death....
of Mississippi in a 38–37 vote to become the new majority leader. He was aided by the vocal support of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
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
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
against conservative Governor Albert B. "Happy" Chandler
Happy Chandler
Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler, Sr. was a politician from the US state of Kentucky. He represented the state in the U.S. Senate and served as its 44th and 49th governor. Aside from his political positions, he also served as the second Commissioner of Major League Baseball from 1945 to 1951 and...
. 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.
When the Senate majority leader’s job opened up in 1937, Barkley went after it. Nose counts put him in a tie with Mississippi's Pat Harrison
Pat Harrison
Byron Patton "Pat" Harrison was a Mississippi politician who served as a Democrat in the United States House of Representatives from 1911 to 1919 and in the United States Senate from 1919 until his death....
. Harrison’s campaign manager asked Theodore G. Bilbo
Theodore G. Bilbo
Theodore Gilmore Bilbo was an American politician. Bilbo, a Democrat, twice served as governor of Mississippi and later was elected a U.S. Senator . A master of filibuster and scathing rhetoric, a rough-and-tumble fighter in debate, he made his name a synonym for white supremacy...
, the other member from Mississippi, to consider voting for his fellow Mississippian. Bilbo, a race-baiting demagogue whose base was among tenant farmers, hated the upper-class Harrison, who represented the rich planters and merchants. Bilbo said he would vote for Harrison only if he were personally asked. Harrison replied, “Tell the son of a bitch I wouldn’t speak to him even if it meant the presidency of the United States.” When the ballots were in, Barkley won by one vote, 38-to-37, and Harrison's reputation as the senator who wouldn’t speak to his home-state colleague remained intact.
Barkley served as Senate majority leader from 1937 to 1947 and Senate Minority Leader from 1947 to 1949. He shepherded Roosevelt's domestic and war proposals through the Senate, sponsoring financing for World War II and the lend-lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
bill, which prevented Great Britain from capitulating to the Nazis. However, 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 override. The veto was overridden and Barkley was unanimously returned as Majority Leader, clearly demonstrating that he, not the President, controlled the Senate.
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
of Missouri. In spite of any prejudice, Barkley unwaveringly supported the Roosevelt/Truman ticket and continued his legislative service. Barkley worked extensively with Truman after Truman became President upon the death of Roosevelt in April 1945. During this time, Barkley continued to play an influential role in the Senate, helping to ensure passage of the United Nations Charter through that body. He also served as chairman of the Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack and member of the Congressional Nazi War Crimes committee. His experiences in post-war Germany, his religious conviction, and his relationship with fellow Kentuckian and U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Louis D. Brandeis, led him to later support the formation of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
as a recognized nation-state.
Barkley's first wife, Dorothy Brower Barkley, died of a long illness in 1947. In spite of such personal hardships, Barkley's public persona soared. He was ranked as the most popular Democrat, and vied with General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
as Look magazine
Look (American magazine)
Look was a bi-weekly, general-interest magazine published in Des Moines, Iowa from 1937 to 1971, with more of an emphasis on photographs than articles...
's most "fascinating" American.
Vice President: "The Veep"
Barkley was nominated for Vice President at the 1948 Democratic National Convention1948 Democratic National Convention
The 1948 Democratic National Convention was held at Convention Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 12 to July 14, and resulted in the nominations of incumbent Harry S Truman for President and U.S. Senator Alben W...
in Philadelphia following a rousing keynote address that garnered some support for his nomination as President. President Truman was widely considered an unpopular candidate for re-election against Governor Thomas Dewey
Thomas Dewey
Thomas Edmund Dewey was the 47th Governor of New York . In 1944 and 1948, he was the Republican candidate for President, but lost both times. He led the liberal faction of the Republican Party, in which he fought conservative Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft...
of New York.
Despite their underdog status, Truman and Barkley continued to campaign doggedly. Barkley coined the term "Give 'em hell, Harry" as Truman was leaving Washington on his "whistle-stop" train across the country. Barkley's "prop-stops" by airplane also initiated a new phase in presidential campaigning by air.
Barkley was 71 years old at the time of his inauguration on January 20, 1949, the oldest Vice President to date.
In many ways, Barkley was the last of the old-time vice presidents, the last to preside regularly over the Senate, the last not to have an office in or near the White House, the last to identify more with the legislative than the executive branch. However, Barkley was a new kind of vice president in other respects. Barkley was the only Vice President to marry while in office. At the age of 71, he married Jane Hadley Barkley
Jane Hadley Barkley
Elizabeth Jane Rucker Hadley Barkley was Second Lady of the United States, as the second wife of Vice President Alben Barkley. She was known as Jane Hadley Barkley.-Early life:...
, a widow from St. Louis, capturing national attention. Mrs. Hadley was 34 years his junior, age 37 at the time of their marriage. Because of his legislative experience, Truman insisted on his being the first Vice President to be included in all cabinet-level meetings. He was the first Vice President to become a member of the National Security Council
United States National Security Council
The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...
, as mandated by the National Security Act of 1947
National Security Act of 1947
The National Security Act of 1947 was signed by United States President Harry S. Truman on July 26, 1947, and realigned and reorganized the U.S. Armed Forces, foreign policy, and Intelligence Community apparatus in the aftermath of World War II...
. Truman declared that Vice President Barkley, because of his extensive legislative experience, "was in a class by himself. He had the complete confidence of both the President and the Senate." By executive order and with the counsel of Barkley, President Truman proclaimed a new coat of arms, seal, and flag for the Office of Vice President
Office of the Vice President of the United States
The Office of the Vice President includes personnel who directly support or advise the Vice President of the United States. The Office is currently headed by the Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States, currently Bruce Reed...
.
Barkley was popularly known as "the Veep". His young grandson, Stephen M. Truitt
Stephen M. Truitt
Stephen M. Truitt is an American lawyer in Washington DC, retired from the Pepper Hamilton law firm.Although retired from Pepper Hamilton, Truitt continues to practice general civil litigation as a solo...
, 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. However, the term has continued to be used as shorthand for Vice President.
In 1949, he returned to his alma mater, Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
, 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 1950, Barkley granted the right to the Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
debate team to rename itself the Barkley Forum
Barkley Forum
The Barkley Forum, named after Emory alumnus and former United States Vice-President Alben W. Barkley, is the intercollegiate debate and forensics organization at Emory University. Debate at Emory began in the 1830s...
.
1952 Presidential campaign
Truman gave up his reelection campaign in 1952 after losing the New Hampshire primaryNew Hampshire primary
The New Hampshire primary is the first in a series of nationwide political party primary elections held in the United States every four years , as part of the process of choosing the Democratic and Republican nominees for the presidential elections to be held the subsequent November.Although only a...
. 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 later campaigned for the presidency. (The exceptions are Spiro Agnew
Spiro Agnew
Spiro Theodore Agnew was the 39th Vice President of the United States , serving under President Richard Nixon, and the 55th Governor of Maryland...
, Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st Vice President of the United States , serving under President Gerald Ford, and the 49th Governor of New York , as well as serving the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations in a variety of positions...
and Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
). Barkley's own withdrawal created a wide open race. Ultimately, the nominees were Adlai E. Stevenson II and former General Dwight Eisenhower, with Eisenhower winning the 1952 Presidential election
United States presidential election, 1952
The United States presidential election of 1952 took place in an era when Cold War tension between the United States and the Soviet Union was escalating rapidly. In the United States Senate, Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin had become a national figure after chairing congressional...
.
Return to the Senate and final speech
After retiring, Barkley hosted a national political television show ("Meet the Veep" on NBC), had numerous speaking engagements, and began writing his memoirs. He decided to again run for the U.S. Senate in 1954, to help Lyndon Johnson secure a Democratic majority in that body and become Majority Leader. Barkley easily defeated Republican incumbent John Sherman Cooper.As the junior Senator from Kentucky, Barkley sat on the back row away from his traditional spot in the front row while majority leader. He served in the Senate from 1955 until his death the following year of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
while giving a speech at the 1956 Mock Convention held at Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States.The classical school from which Washington and Lee descended was established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, about north of its present location. In 1776 it was renamed Liberty Hall in a burst of...
in Lexington, Virginia
Lexington, Virginia
Lexington is an independent city within the confines of Rockbridge County in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 7,042 in 2010. Lexington is about 55 minutes east of the West Virginia border and is about 50 miles north of Roanoke, Virginia. It was first settled in 1777.It is home to...
. He died moments after declaring, "I'm glad to sit on the back row, for I would rather be a servant in the House of the Lord than to sit in the seats of the mighty." Barkley's body lay in state in Washington, D.C. He was interred in Mount Kenton Cemetery, on Lone Oak Road
U.S. Route 45
U.S. Route 45 is a north–south United States highway. US 45 is a border-to-border route, from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. A sign at the highway's northern terminus notes the total distance as ....
, near Paducah, Kentucky.
In his honor, the award-winning debating society at Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
was renamed the Barkley Forum
Barkley Forum
The Barkley Forum, named after Emory alumnus and former United States Vice-President Alben W. Barkley, is the intercollegiate debate and forensics organization at Emory University. Debate at Emory began in the 1830s...
in 1950. The Alben W. Barkley Distinguished Chair was also created in the Department of Political Science at Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
, which is held by Alan I. Abramowitz, a notable American politics and elections scholar. Lake Barkley
Lake Barkley
Lake Barkley, a reservoir in Livingston, Lyon, and Trigg counties in Kentucky and extending into Stewart and Houston counties in Tennessee, was impounded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1966 upon the completion of Barkley Dam. Both the lake and the dam are named for Vice President Alben...
, a man-made lake on the Cumberland River
Cumberland River
The Cumberland River is a waterway in the Southern United States. It is long. It starts in Harlan County in far southeastern Kentucky between Pine and Cumberland mountains, flows through southern Kentucky, crosses into northern Tennessee, and then curves back up into western Kentucky before...
at the Kentucky-Tennessee border, and Barkley Dam at the same lake, are also named in his honor.
In 1953, 26 oral history interviews were conducted with Alben Barkley and are available at the University of Kentucky's Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History
Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History
The Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky actively collects oral history interviews concentrating on 20th and 21st century Kentucky history, and maintains a collection of over 8,000 interviews made up of over 100 projects. The Center's emphasis has been on political,...
.
Electoral history
- United States Senate election in Kentucky, 1926
- Alben W. Barkley (D) 51.8%
- Richard P. ErnstRichard P. ErnstRichard Pretlow Ernst was a U.S. Senator from Kentucky who served from 1921 to 1927. He was a Republican. Ernst graduated from Centre College in 1878 and got his law degree from the Cincinnati Law School in 1880. That year, he was admitted to the bar and began practicing law in Cincinnati, Ohio...
(R) (inc.) 48.2%
- United States Senate election in Kentucky, 1932
- Alben W. Barkley (D) (inc.) 59.2%
- Maurice ThatcherMaurice ThatcherMaurice Hudson Thatcher was a U.S. Congressman. Thatcher was elected to Congress in 1922 from Kentucky. He served until 1933.- Biography :...
(R) 40.5%
- United States Senate election in Kentucky, 1938
- Alben W. Barkley (D) (inc.) 62%
- John P. Haswell (R) 38%
- United States Senate election in Kentucky, 1944
- Alben W. Barkley (D) (inc.) 54.8%
- James Park (R) 44.9%
- United States Senate election in Kentucky, 1954
- Alben W. Barkley (D) 54.4%
- John Sherman Cooper (R)(inc.) 45.5%
Primary sources
- Alben Barkley, That Reminds Me (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1954), autobiography
- Alben Barkley, Veep: Former Vice President Alben W. Barkley Tells His Own Story (Folkways RecordsFolkways RecordsFolkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
, 1959), oral history - 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.
- Pietrusza, David 1948: Harry Truman's Improbable Victory and the Year that Changed America, Union Square Press, 2011.
- 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 1920s" Filson Club History Quarterly 1976 50(1): 47-57.
External links
- NPR's All Things Considered: Remembering Truman's Veep
- WKMS Radio Influential Kentucky politicians series: Alben Barkley
- C-SPAN's American Political Archive on Barkley
- Alben Barkley's Gravesite
- Washington & Lee Mock Convention
- Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky
- Vice Presidents of the United States: Alben Barkley
- Barkley Collection - Barkley's Papers at the University of Kentucky
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