Alben W. Barkley
Alben W. Barkley | |
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William Voris Gregory | |
Personal details | |
Born | Willie Alben Barkley November 24, 1877 Lowes, Kentucky, U.S. |
Died | April 30, 1956 Lexington, Virginia, U.S. | (aged 78)
Resting place | Mount Kenton Cemetery |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouses | |
Children | 3 |
Relatives | Stephen M. Truitt (grandson) Alben W. Barkley II (grandson) |
Education | Marvin College (BA) |
Signature | |
Alben William Barkley (
Endorsing
Barkley had a good working relationship with Senator
Early life and education
Willie Alben Barkley, the eldest of eight children of John Wilson Barkley (1854–1932) and Electa Eliza (Smith) Barkley (1858–1945), was born November 24, 1877.[6][7] His grandmother, midwife Amanda Barkley, delivered him in the log house she lived in with her husband, Alben, in Wheel, Kentucky.[8] Barkley's parents were tenant farmers who grew tobacco, and his father was an elder in the local Presbyterian church.[9] Barkley traced his father's ancestry to Scots-Irish Presbyterians in Rowan County, North Carolina.[10] Both parents were religious, opposed to playing cards and alcohol.[9] Occasionally, Barkley's parents would leave him in the care of his grandparents for extended periods.[11] During these times, his grandmother related stories of her relatives. Her childhood playmates included future U.S. Vice President Adlai Stevenson I and James A. McKenzie, a future U.S. representative from Kentucky.[11]
Barkley worked on his parents' farm and attended school in Lowes, Kentucky, between the fall harvest and spring planting.[12] Unhappy with his birth name, he adopted "Alben William" as soon as he was old enough to express his opinion in the matter.[13] In the difficult economy of late 1891, relatives convinced Barkley's father to sell his farm and move to Clinton, to pursue opportunities as a tenant wheat farmer.[14] Barkley enrolled at a local seminary school, but did not finish his studies before entering Marvin College, a Methodist school in Clinton that accepted younger students, in 1892.[15][16] The college's president offered him a scholarship that covered his academic expenses in exchange for his work as a janitor.[16] He allowed Barkley to miss the first and last month of the academic year to help on the family farm.[16] Barkley was active in the debating society at Marvin.[17] He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1897, and his experiences at Marvin persuaded him to convert to Methodism, the denomination with which he identified for the rest of his life.[13][16][18]
After graduation, Barkley went to Emory College (now part of Emory University) in Oxford, Georgia, the alma mater of several administrators and faculty members at Marvin.[19] During the 1897–1898 academic year, he was active in the debating society and the Delta Tau Delta fraternity, but he could not afford to continue his education and returned to Clinton after the spring semester.[20] He took a job teaching at Marvin College but did not make enough money to meet his basic living expenses.[6] He resigned in December 1898 to move with his parents to Paducah, Kentucky, the county seat of McCracken County, where his father found employment at a cordage mill.[21]
Early career
In Paducah, Barkley worked as a law clerk for
On December 19, 1904, Barkley declared his candidacy for
Taking office in January 1906, Barkley saved taxpayers over $35,000 by challenging improper charges to the county.[26] He prosecuted two magistrates for approving contracts in which they had a conflict of interest.[29] Even Republicans admitted that he performed well, and he was chosen president of the State Association of County Attorneys.[6][26] During the 1907 gubernatorial campaign, he was the Democratic county spokesman, and despite his previous support for the Gold Democrats, he backed William Jennings Bryan in the 1908 presidential election.[30] Friends encouraged him to run for county judge, a powerful position which controlled county funds and patronage, and he announced his candidacy on August 22, 1908.[12][31] After the chairman of the county's Democratic Club Executive Committee endorsed him, the incumbent judge, Richard T. Lightfoot, retired rather than challenge him.[31][32]
On January 16, 1909, Democrat Hiram Smedley, county clerk since 1897, was indicted for embezzlement.
At the Fiscal Court's January 1910 meeting, Barkley laid out an agenda to reduce the county's debt, improve its roads, and audit its books annually.[40] Despite the Republican majority on the Court, most of the measures he proposed during his term were adopted.[40] He appointed a purchasing agent and an inspector of weights and measures for the county, and allocated a salary for the county's almshouse keeper instead of relying on fees to fund the position.[40] He replaced the corvée system – wherein residents either paid a tax or donated labor to build and repair county roads – with private contracts.[41] The widening and graveling of county roads provided rural residents access to Paducah's amenities but reduced funds for programs such as free textbooks for indigents, and prevented Barkley from reducing the county's debt as planned.[42] When he named his father as the county's juvenile court probation officer, opponents charged him with nepotism.[41]
U.S. Representative (1913–1927)
Prompted by
Domestic matters
Initially conservative, working with Wilson (who was elected president) inspired Barkley to become more liberal.
A speaker for the
By 1919, James had died in office, and Governor Augustus Owsley Stanley was elected to his vacant seat.[56] The divisive prohibition issue and recent Republican gains in the state made the Democratic gubernatorial primary of particular interest.[57] Stanley was the leader of the party's anti-prohibitionists.[57] Prohibitionists, led by former governor J. C. W. Beckham, did not support James D. Black, who became governor when Stanley went to the Senate and was seeking re-election.[57] At the time of Black's election as lieutenant governor in 1915, he had sided with the prohibitionists; he was chosen to run with Stanley to balance the party's ticket, so the anti-prohibitionists did not entirely trust him either.[57] Attempting to unite the party and prevent a Republican victory, Black invited Barkley, who had not been linked to either leader despite his support for prohibition, to be temporary chairman of the 1919 state Democratic convention.[58] Barkley's convention address attacked Republicans and praised the Democrats' record without making reference to prohibition, but many in the Beckham faction refused to accept Black, and he was defeated in the general election by Republican Edwin P. Morrow.[59] Chairing the convention introduced Barkley to state political leaders outside the First District.[60]
World War I
Barkley supported U.S. neutrality in World War I and endorsed Wilson's plan to purchase merchant ships for the U.S. instead of paying foreign carriers to travel waters containing German U-boats.[61] His position was popular in his district, as 80% of the dark tobacco grown in western Kentucky was sold overseas, and higher shipping costs adversely affected profits.[61] The House authorized the purchase, but Republicans and conservative Democrats in the Senate regarded the idea as socialistic and blocked its passage with a filibuster.[61]
Wilson supporters, including Barkley, campaigned for his re-election in 1916, using the slogan "he kept us out of war".[62] By early 1917, Germany had lifted all restrictions on attacks on neutral shipping supplying Britain and France, outraging many Americans.[62] The publication in February of the Zimmermann Telegram, in which a German official proposed to Mexico that, if the U.S. entered the war, Mexico should declare war on them and the Germans would work to return Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico to Mexican control, also brought the United States closer to war.[63] Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war on April 2, 1917, and Barkley voted for the resolution when it came before the House two weeks later.[63] At 40 years old, he considered resigning his seat to enlist in the U.S. Army, but Wilson persuaded him not to do so.[63]
After the declaration of war, Barkley supported bills implementing conscription and raising revenue for the fight.[54] Between August and October 1918, he joined an unofficial congressional delegation that toured Europe, surveying the tactical situation and meeting with leaders there.[63] Like Wilson, he supported U.S. ratification of the Treaty of Versailles and participation in the League of Nations, but both measures failed after the election of a more conservative Congress in 1918.[64]
Relations with Harding administration
Barkley supported William Gibbs McAdoo for president at the 1920 Democratic National Convention, but the nomination went to James M. Cox.[65] He campaigned for Cox and his running mate, Franklin D. Roosevelt, but his speeches focused more on Wilson's progressive record than Cox's fitness for office.[65] Republican Warren G. Harding defeated Cox in the general election, and Barkley found common ground with him on issues such as the creation of the Veterans' Bureau and the passage of the progressive Sheppard–Towner Act.[66] Barkley thought the administration was too favorable to big business interests, however, and in 1922 he proclaimed that if Harding had returned the country to normalcy, "then in God's name let us have Abnormalcy".[67]
Gubernatorial election of 1923
By the time of his 1922 re-election bid, Barkley was the ranking Democrat on the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee.[67] In the election, he carried every First District county, including the Republican strongholds of Caldwell and Crittenden counties.[67] Despite the victory he lacked the political organization needed for higher office.[68] According to Barkley biographer James K. Libbey, the establishment of such an organization, and not necessarily a desire to become governor, may have motivated him to announce his candidacy for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination on November 11, 1922.[68] Critics charged that this was his intent, and he did little to deny it.[69]
Opposing Barkley in the primary was Congressman
Recognizing the need to broaden his appeal beyond western Kentucky, Barkley opened his campaign in the central Kentucky town of
Barkley campaigned across the state, earning the nickname "Iron Man" for making up to 16 speeches in a day.[13] His proposals for a statewide highway system and improvements in education were popular, but coal mining and horse racing interests, based mostly in eastern Kentucky, opposed him.[44][70] Counties east of a line from Louisville to Middlesboro generally supported Cantrill, while those west of the line mostly went for Barkley, who lost the primary by 9,000 votes (out of 241,000 cast), marking his only election loss.[77][78] He supported Cantrill in the general election, gaining goodwill within the Democratic Party.[79] Cantrill died on September 2, and the Democratic State Committee had to name his replacement.[78] Barkley was not acceptable to many of the members of the committee, and he refused to accept nomination by party leaders instead of the voters.[80] On September 11, the committee nominated Congressman William J. Fields, and Barkley supported him in the general election, which he won over Republican Charles I. Dawson.[78][80]
Later House career
Barkley's party loyalty in the governor's race made him a formidable candidate to challenge Stanley, who by 1924 had angered members of both party factions, but Barkley had spent most of his funds in his campaign against Cantrill, and he did not want to risk his reputation as a party unifier by challenging a Democrat.[81] Instead, he decided to rebuild his war chest to unseat Kentucky's incumbent Republican senator, Richard P. Ernst, in 1926.[81] In the meantime, he refrained from using his influence in state races to avoid losing any goodwill with Kentucky voters.[82]
At the 1924 Democratic National Convention, Barkley again supported William G. McAdoo for president.[82] Urban interests at the convention promoted New York Governor Al Smith, and a bitter convention fight ensued.[82] During the course of 103 ballots, chairman Thomas J. Walsh needed a rest and temporarily yielded his position to Barkley.[82] The convention was the first to be broadcast nationally, and Barkley's service as chair augmented his national recognition and appeal.[24] The two Democratic factions agreed to compromise, nominating John W. Davis, who Libbey called a "competent nonentity"; Davis lost in the general election to incumbent Calvin Coolidge.[82] Barkley won another term in the House by a 2-to-1 margin over his Republican opponent in 1924, but Democratic divisions cost Stanley his Senate seat, and Barkley became even more convinced of the value of party loyalty.[82]
U.S. Senator (1927–1949, 1955–1956)
Because of Barkley's role in crafting the Railway Labor Act, the Associated Railway Labor Organizations endorsed him to unseat Ernst even before he formally announced his candidacy on April 26, 1926.[83] Since the 1923 gubernatorial contest, he had distanced himself from Haly and promised the conservatives that he would not push a ban on parimutuel betting if elected.[84] Consequently, he had no opposition in the primary.[44] Congressman (and later Chief Justice) Fred M. Vinson managed his general election campaign.[84]
Coolidge supported Ernst, and Commerce Secretary
In the Senate, Barkley was assigned to the
Democrats considered nominating him for vice president that year, calculating that his party loyalty and appeal to rural, agricultural and prohibitionist constituents could balance a ticket headed by likely presidential nominee Al Smith, an urban anti-prohibitionist.[88] When the Kentucky delegation arrived at the 1928 Democratic National Convention, they approached Smith supporters with a view to pairing Barkley to their candidate.[88] They were received cordially, but Smith's advisors thought placing candidates with such differing views on the ticket would seem contrived to the electorate.[89] They did not tell Barkley of their decision until after he seconded Smith's nomination for president.[89] Smith then announced Arkansas senator Joseph T. Robinson as his preferred running mate.[89] The Kentuckians nominated Barkley in spite of Smith's preference, but the overwhelming majority of delegates voted for Robinson, and Barkley announced that Kentucky was changing its support in order to make the nomination unanimous.[89]
Barkley and his wife Dorothy took a vacation after the convention, returning to Kentucky in August 1928 to find that, in his absence, Barkley had been chosen state chairman of Smith's campaign.[90] He campaigned for Smith, but Herbert Hoover won a landslide victory.[91] After the election, Barkley led a coalition of liberal Democrats and Republicans that opposed Hoover's use of protective tariffs, a debate that took particular urgency following the Wall Street Crash of 1929.[92] Barkley opposed the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act, claiming it would cost Americans both jobs and exports, but Congress approved it, and Hoover signed it on June 17, 1930.[93] When Congress adjourned, Barkley accompanied Sherwood Eddy and fellow senators Burton K. Wheeler and Bronson M. Cutting to the Soviet Union in August 1930.[93] He was impressed by the industrial development brought about by Joseph Stalin's first five-year plan but did not advocate closer diplomatic ties with the Communist nation, as some of his colleagues did.[94]
Barkley maintained that Hoover's response to the continuing depression and the severe drought in 1930 were inadequate, and pointed out that the $45 million in loans to farmers that he approved amounted to less than half the losses sustained by Kentucky's farmers alone.[95] He was angered that Hoover refused to call a special legislative session to adopt relief measures after the regular congressional adjourned in early March 1931.[95] He planned a series of speeches condemning Hoover beginning in June, but was injured in an automobile accident on June 22, limiting his political activities for the remainder of the year.[96]
Second term and ascension to floor leader
External videos | |
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"Life and Career of Senator Alben Barkley", presentation by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), June 30, 2014, C-SPAN[97] |
Barkley supported Franklin D. Roosevelt for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1932, but facing a re-election bid himself, he did not announce his support, fearing that his message might not resonate with Kentucky voters.
Barkley was again the keynote speaker at the
Barkley and Mississippi Senator Pat Harrison were the leading candidates to succeed Robinson as Democratic floor leader when he died on July 14, 1937.[13][102] Harrison's tenure in the Senate was eight years longer than Barkley's, and he was supported by conservative Southern Democratic senators opposed to Roosevelt's court-packing plan.[13] Harrison had helped secure Roosevelt's nomination at the 1932 Democratic National Convention by convincing Mississippi governor Martin Sennet Conner to keep his state's delegation loyal to Roosevelt, but Roosevelt preferred Barkley because of his support of the New Deal.[109] A letter from Roosevelt praising Barkley's legislative accomplishments and addressed to "My Dear Alben" was seen as an endorsement.[110] Although Roosevelt remained publicly neutral, he pressured Illinois' William H. Dieterich and Missouri's Harry S. Truman to support Barkley instead of Harrison; Dieterich acquiesced, but Truman remained loyal to Harrison.[110] Many senators resented Roosevelt's interference in a traditionally legislative prerogative.[110] Ultimately, Barkley was elected by a single vote.[111]
Challenge by Happy Chandler
Barkley faced a primary challenge in his 1938 re-election bid from
The New York Times saw the primary as "the Gettysburg of the party's internecine strife" over control of the Democratic National Convention in 1940.[116] Early on, Chandler portrayed himself as a supporter of Roosevelt – since Roosevelt was popular in Kentucky – but opposed to the New Deal.[117] He pointed to his fiscal conservatism as governor, including reorganizing and downsizing the executive branch and reducing the state's debt.[113] Polls showing Barkley with a comfortable lead and an overwhelming victory by New Deal supporter Claude Pepper in Florida's May Senate primary convinced Chandler to shift his focus from the New Deal.[116] He criticized Barkley as "a stranger to the state" and obliquely referred to "fat, sleek senators who go to Europe and have forgotten the people of Kentucky except when they run for election".[117] Forty years old – 20 years Barkley's junior – he referred to Barkley as "Old Alben".[118]
Early in the contest, congressional business restricted Barkley's campaign to weekends, so he enlisted allies like Fred Vinson to speak on his behalf.[119][120] Chandler's political enemies such as former governor Ruby Laffoon, whom Chandler had crossed as lieutenant governor, and John Y. Brown, who felt that Chandler had broken a promise to support him for a seat in the Senate, also supported Barkley.[119] Although labor leaders had backed Chandler's gubernatorial bid, they endorsed Barkley because of Roosevelt's support for labor unions.[121] After the congressional session, Barkley resumed his "Iron Man" campaign style, making between 8 and 15 speeches each day and traveling, on average, 4,500 miles (7,200 km) per week.[122][119] This countered Chandler's implication that Barkley's age was a disadvantage, a charge that was further blunted when the younger Chandler fell ill in July, temporarily halting his campaigning.[119] Chandler indirectly charged that a Barkley supporter had poisoned his ice water, causing the illness.[123] Barkley ridiculed the suggestion, promising to appoint "an ice water guard" for his campaign.[123] During speeches, he would lift a glass of water to his lips, then mockingly inspect it and refuse to drink it.[123] Louisville police dismissed Chandler's claim as "a political bedtime story".[124]
Recognizing that the defeat of his hand-picked floor leader would be a repudiation of his agenda, Roosevelt began a tour of the state in Covington on July 8.[125] Chandler, the state's chief executive, was invited to welcome the president.[126] Although clearly campaigning for Barkley, Roosevelt made courteous remarks about Chandler in the spirit of party unity, but in Bowling Green, he chastised Chandler for "dragging federal judgeships into a political campaign".[112][127]
As nearly every 20th-century Kentucky governor had done, Chandler printed campaign materials with state funds, solicited campaign funds from state employees, and promised new government jobs in exchange for votes.
Barkley won the August 6 election by a vote of 294,391 to 223,149, carrying 74 of Kentucky's 120 counties, with large majorities in western Kentucky, the city of Louisville, and rural areas.[123][128] It was the first loss of Chandler's political career, and the worst suffered by a primary candidate in Kentucky's history to that time.[131] Barkley defeated his Republican opponent, Louisville Judge John P. Haswell, securing 62% of the general election vote.[132] Encouraged by Barkley's success, Roosevelt campaigned against conservative Democratic incumbents in southern states, but all of these candidates won, which damaged Roosevelt's image.[133]
Floor leadership
With his caucus divided between conservatives and liberals, Barkley failed to secure passage for Roosevelt's court-packing plan.[44] After the successive failures of several administration-backed domestic bills, the press dubbed the Senate Majority Leader "bumbling Barkley".[111] He was able to salvage an appropriations bill to cover overspending by the WPA, although it allocated much less funding than Roosevelt had wanted.[132] He helped secure the Hatch Act, and The Washington Daily News called a 1940 amendment that prohibited campaigning by federally funded state employees a "monument to Alben Barkley's persistence and parliamentary skill".[126][132] Despite this mixed record, Roosevelt believed some Democratic partisans hoped to nominate Barkley for president at the 1940 Democratic National Convention, but the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, deepened his resolve to seek a third term.[134]
Barkley disagreed with Roosevelt's selection of Agriculture Secretary Henry A. Wallace as his running mate; Libbey felt that "there is enough evidence from Barkley's tortuous private and public statements about the qualifications of Wallace to infer that Barkley wanted the vice presidency for himself", although he did not promote this idea to Roosevelt.[134] Barkley was chosen permanent chairman of the convention; chants of "We want Roosevelt" interrupted his July 16 speech for 20 minutes, indicating that he had created a popular mandate for Roosevelt's renomination, which occurred the next day.[135] Roosevelt went on to win an unprecedented third term in a landslide.[135]
Supporting Roosevelt's provision of aid to
Split with Roosevelt
In April 1943 a confidential analysis by
Tension developed between Roosevelt and Barkley during the war, however.[111] In 1943, Roosevelt refused to appoint Barkley to a vacancy on the Supreme Court, and Barkley criticized the War Production Board for awarding contracts for the production of war-related materials to large companies rather than small businesses.[24][138] Their most notable clash occurred in February 1944 when Roosevelt requested that Congress approve tax increases to generate over $10 billion in revenue for the war. Barkley and the Senate Finance Committee negotiated a bill containing only $2.3 billion in tax increases. Feeling the measure was insufficient, Roosevelt convened the "Big Four" on February 21 and told them he would veto it.[138] They urged him not to do so, assuring him that the bill they had drafted was the best one that they could pass.[138] Roosevelt vetoed the bill the next day, marking the first time a U.S. president vetoed a revenue bill.[111]
When Barkley entered the Senate chamber on February 23, word had spread that Roosevelt's veto had angered him.[140] He announced that he would resign as floor leader and encouraged his legislative colleagues to override the veto. He stated that Roosevelt's characterization of the bill as "providing relief not for the needy, but for the greedy" was "a calculated and deliberate assault upon the legislative integrity of every member of the Congress of the United States".[141] Roosevelt sent a letter to Barkley insisting he had not intended to impugn Congress' integrity and urging him not to resign. The next morning, Barkley resigned and left the Democratic Conference Room; minutes later, the caucus unanimously re-elected him. Many members who had seen Barkley as Roosevelt's advocate in Congress now looked upon him as Congress' advocate with Roosevelt.[111] Subsequently, Congress overwhelmingly overrode the veto.[141]
Barkley was among 12 nominated at the 1944 Democratic National Convention to be Roosevelt's running mate in the presidential election that year, receiving six votes.[142] Delegates favored replacing Vice President Henry Wallace on their ticket in favor of Barkley, but Roosevelt refused to consider him, telling a July 11 meeting of Democratic leaders that he was too old.[111][143] Instead, he took the recommendation of Democratic National Committee chairman Robert E. Hannegan and chose Harry S. Truman.[143] Despite his differences with Roosevelt, Barkley faced no serious challengers in the 1944 Democratic primary and defeated his Republican challenger, Fayette County Commonwealth's Attorney James Park, by a vote of 464,053 to 380,425.[144]
Buchenwald Concentration Camp
On April 11, 1945, U.S. forces liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp, established in 1937, where at least 56,545 people died. General Dwight D. Eisenhower left rotting corpses unburied so a visiting group of U.S. legislators could truly understand the horror of the atrocities. This group visited Buchenwald on April 24 to inspect the camp and learn firsthand about the enormity of the Nazi Final Solution and treatment of other prisoners.
The legislators included Barkley,
Truman succeeds Roosevelt
Truman ascended to the presidency when Roosevelt died in April 1945, just before the end of World War II.
In the 1946 elections, Republicans wrested control of both houses of Congress from the Democrats for the first time since the Great Depression and gained control of the majority of state governments.[111][149] The power of labor unions had expanded under Roosevelt and the Democrats, and when a 1946 railroad worker strike exacerbated a post-war recession, the Republican majorities – over Barkley's objection – curbed union power via the Taft–Hartley Act.[150] They also passed the Twenty-second Amendment, limiting the president to two terms, a posthumous slap at Roosevelt.[151]
Barkley's wife became an invalid due to heart disease.[24] Barkley had closed his law practice when he was elected to the Senate, so to pay for his wife's care, he supplemented his $10,000 annual salary with speaking engagements.[143] He was the Democratic Speakers Bureau's most requested orator, surpassing Truman.[149] A Pageant magazine poll of legislators chose Barkley and Republican Robert A. Taft as the hardest-working members of their respective parties.[149] The Barkleys sold their Washington, D.C. home and moved into an apartment to reduce expenses.[147] Marny Clifford, wife of Truman's Naval Advisor Clark Clifford, nicknamed Barkley "Sparkle Barkle" for his care of his wife, who died March 10, 1947.[147] When Barkley won the Collier Award in May 1948, he donated the $10,000 prize to the University of Louisville School of Medicine in his wife's honor.[149]
Civil rights bills, unpopular with Southern Democrats, were central to Truman's Fair Deal.[151] Because Barkley could still appeal to Southern Democrats, Truman asked him to be the keynote speaker at the 1948 Democratic National Convention for an unprecedented third time.[152] Because of the Republican resurgence and Truman's difficulty appealing to some Democrats, Republican nominee Thomas E. Dewey was expected to win the upcoming presidential election.[152] Democrats were energized by Barkley's keynote address, which promoted New Deal accomplishments and called the Republican-controlled 80th Congress a "do nothing" Congress.[153] He mentioned Truman only once, leading Truman to suspect that Barkley sought to supplant him as the party's presidential nominee, but no such attempt occurred.[111] Despite these suspicions and his contention that a ticket consisting of a Missourian and a Kentuckian lacked regional geographic balance, convention delegates persuaded Truman to take Barkley as his running mate.[111] Truman had wanted Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, but Douglas declined.[143]
Barkley was disappointed that he was not Truman's first choice as running mate, but over the next six weeks, he crisscrossed the country by plane, making over 250 campaign speeches in 36 states.[153][154] Playing off Barkley's keynote speech, Truman called a special congressional session on July 26, challenging Republicans to enact their agenda.[155] They were unable to pass any significant legislation, seeming to confirm Barkley's characterization of them as a "do-nothing Congress".[155]
Vice presidency (1949–1953)
In an upset victory, Truman and Barkley were elected over the Republican ticket by over 2 million votes, and Democrats regained majorities in both houses of Congress.[156] 71 years old at the time of his inauguration, he was (and still is) the oldest man ever elected vice president, breaking Charles Curtis' record at 69.[44][157] His grandson, Stephen M. Truitt, suggested the nickname "Veep" as an alternative to "Mr. Vice President".[158] The nickname was used by the press, but Barkley's successor, Richard Nixon, discontinued using it, saying it belonged to Barkley.[157]
Despite their personal differences, Truman and Barkley agreed on most issues.
Despite the Democrats' advantage in the Senate, conservative Democrats united with the Republican minority to oppose much of Truman's agenda, most notably, civil rights legislation.
On July 8, 1949, Barkley met Jane (Rucker) Hadley, a St. Louis widow approximately half his age, at a party thrown by Clark Clifford.[157][165] After Hadley's return to St. Louis, Barkley kept contact with her via letters and plane trips.[165] Their courtship received national attention, and on November 18, they married in the Singleton Memorial Chapel of St. John's Methodist Church in St. Louis, the event televised nationally.[166] Barkley is the only U.S. vice president to marry while in office.[44]
Barkley's most notable tie-breaking vote as vice president was cast on October 4, 1949, to save the
In 1949, Emory University chose Barkley to deliver its commencement address and awarded him an
Barkley tried to mentor Scott Lucas and Ernest McFarland, his immediate successors as floor leader, by teaching them to work with the vice president as he had during Truman's vice presidency, but Truman's unpopularity made cooperation between the executive branch and the legislature difficult.[162] After the U.S. entered the Korean War, Truman focused on foreign affairs, leaving Barkley to campaign for Democratic candidates in the 1950 midterm elections.[161] He traveled over 19,000 miles (31,000 km) and spoke in almost half of the states during the campaign.[170] He felt ill when he arrived in Paducah on election day, and a doctor diagnosed him with a "tired heart".[171] Returning to Washington, D.C., he spent several days in the Bethesda Naval Hospital, but was able to preside when the Senate opened its session on November 28.[171] Democrats lost seats in both houses but maintained majorities in each.[161]
On March 1, 1951 – exactly 38 years from his first day in Congress – Barkley's fellow congressmen presented him with the Congressional Gold Medal in honor of his legislative service.[172] Truman surprised Barkley, appearing on the Senate floor to present the medallion and a gavel made of timbers used to renovate the White House after the burning of Washington in 1814.[171]
In November 1951, Barkley and his wife ate Thanksgiving dinner with U.S. troops at Kimpo Air Base in Seoul.[173] On his 74th birthday, Barkley traveled to the front lines on a fact-finding mission for the president.[173] On June 4, 1952, he cast another notable tie-breaking vote to save the Wage Stabilization Board.[174]
Campaign for president
At the March 29, 1952
Barkley's distant cousin, Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson II (grandson of Adlai Stevenson I), was considered his primary competition for the presidential nomination, but had not committed before the convention.[176] Richard Russell Jr. and Tennessee senator Estes Kefauver were also interested in the nomination.[177] Kentucky's delegation to the 1952 Democratic National Convention announced that they would support Barkley, and Truman encouraged Missouri's delegates to do so.[176] Democratic National Committee chairman Frank E. McKinney, former chairman James Farley, and Senate Secretary Leslie Biffle also supported him.[178] Two weeks before the convention, Stevenson advisor Jacob Arvey told Barkley that Stevenson was not going to be nominated and favored nominating Barkley.[178] Barkley's advisors believed that Kefauver and Russell would knock each other out of the early balloting, allowing Barkley to capture the nomination.[177]
To dispel concerns about his age (74), failing eyesight, and heart problems, Barkley arrived in Chicago for the convention and briskly walked seven blocks from the bus station to his campaign headquarters.
Post-vice presidency (1953–1956)
Barkley's term as vice president ended on January 20, 1953.[18] After the election, he had surgery to remove his cataracts.[184] He contracted with NBC to create 26 fifteen-minute commentary broadcasts called "Meet the Veep".[184] Low ratings prompted NBC's decision not to renew the series in September 1953.[184] In retirement, Barkley remained a popular speaker and began working on his memoirs with journalist Sidney Shallett.[184] He re-entered politics in 1954, challenging incumbent Republican senator John Sherman Cooper.[185] In a 1971 study of Barkley's Senate career, historian Glenn Finch argued that Barkley was the only person who could beat Cooper.[186] Few issues differentiated the candidates, and the campaign hinged on party politics; visits to Kentucky by President Eisenhower, Vice President Richard Nixon, and Illinois senator Everett Dirksen on Cooper's behalf reinforced this notion.[184] Barkley resumed his Iron Man campaign style, campaigning for up to sixteen hours a day, countering the "too old" charge that had cost him the 1952 Democratic presidential nomination.[187] He won the general election by a vote of 434,109 to 362,948, giving Democrats a one-vote advantage in the Senate.[161][183]
Veteran
Death
In a keynote address at the
Personal life
Barkley joined the Broadway Methodist Episcopal Church, where he was a lay preacher, and several fraternal organizations, including
Legacy
A dam constructed by the
See also
- List of United States Congress members who died in office (1950–99)
References
- ^ James K. Libbey, Alben Barkley: A Life in Politics (2016) ch 1–7.
- ^ James K. Libbey, Alben Barkley: A Life in Politics (2016) ch 8–12.
- ISBN 9781623769734. Archivedfrom the original on January 8, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
- ^ Finch, p. 167
- ^ James K. Libbey, Alben Barkley: A Life in Politics (2016) ch 13–16.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Libbey in The Kentucky Encyclopedia, p. 52
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, pp. 1, 3
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 1
- ^ a b Libby in Dear Alben, p. 3
- ISBN 978-1588344717.
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 2
- ^ a b Finch, p. 286
- ^ a b c d e f g Hatfield, p. 2
- ^ Libbey in "Alben Barkley's Clinton Days", p. 343
- ^ Libbey in "Alben Barkley's Clinton Days", p. 346
- ^ a b c d Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 5
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 6
- ^ a b c "Barkley, Alben William". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- ^ Libbey in "Alben Barkley's Clinton Days", p. 358
- ^ Libbey in "Alben Barkley's Clinton Days", p. 360
- ^ Libbey in "Alben Barkley's Clinton Days", p. 361
- ^ a b Libbey in "The Making of the 'Paducah Politician'", p. 255
- ^ Libbey in "The Making of the 'Paducah Politician'", pp. 251–252
- ^ a b c d e f g "Alben William Barkley". Dictionary of American Biography
- ^ Libbey in "The Making of the 'Paducah Politician'", p. 266
- ^ a b c d e f Grinde in "Politics and Scandal", p. 37
- ^ a b Libbey in "The Making of the 'Paducah Politician'", p. 268
- ^ a b Grinde in "Gentle Partisan", p. 249
- ^ Libbey in "Alben Barkley's Rise", p. 264
- ^ Libbey in "Alben Barkley's Rise", pp. 261, 266
- ^ a b Grinde in "Politics and Scandal", p. 39
- ^ Libbey in "Alben Barkley's Rise", p. 266
- ^ Grinde in "Politics and Scandal", pp. 37–38
- ^ a b Grinde in "Politics and Scandal", p. 38
- ^ Grinde in "Politics and Scandal", p. 42
- ^ Libbey in "Alben Barkley's Rise", p. 270
- ^ Grinde in "Politics and Scandal", p. 45
- ^ Grinde in "Politics and Scandal", pp. 49, 51
- ^ Grinde in "Politics and Scandal", p. 50
- ^ a b c Libbey in "Alben Barkley's Rise", p. 271
- ^ a b Libbey in "Alben Barkley's Rise", p. 272
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 13
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 14
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Libbey in The Kentucky Encyclopedia, p. 53
- ^ a b c Libbey in "Alben Barkley's Rise", p. 276
- ^ Libbey in "Alben Barkley's Rise", p. 277
- ^ Libbey in "Alben Barkley's Rise", p. 278
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 20
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 22
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, pp. 22–23
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 27
- ^ a b c d e Sexton, p. 53
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 28
- ^ a b c Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 31
- ^ a b Grinde in "Gentle Partisan", p. 248
- ^ Grinde in "Gentle Partisan", pp. 250–251
- ^ a b c d Grinde in "Gentle Partisan", p. 251
- ^ Grinde in "Gentle Partisan", p. 252
- ^ Grinde in "Gentle Partisan", pp. 254–257
- ^ Grinde in "Gentle Partisan", p. 257
- ^ a b c Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 25
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 29
- ^ a b c d Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 30
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 32
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 33
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, pp. 33–34
- ^ a b c Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 34
- ^ a b c Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 37
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 36
- ^ a b Harrison and Klotter, p. 352
- ^ a b c Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 38
- ^ a b c d Klotter, p. 272
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 39
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 40
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 41
- ^ Hill, p. 120
- ^ Harrison and Klotter, p. 353
- ^ a b c Finch, p. 287
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 42
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 43
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 44
- ^ a b c d e f Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 45
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 46
- ^ a b c d Klotter, p. 284
- ^ a b Finch, p. 288
- ^ a b Harrison and Klotter, p. 355
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 50
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 52
- ^ a b c d Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 53
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 54
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 55
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, pp. 56–57
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 57
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, pp. 58–59
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 59
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 60
- ^ "Life and Career of Senator Alben Barkley". C-SPAN. June 30, 2014. Archived from the original on May 17, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, pp. 60–61
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 61
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 62
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 63
- ^ a b Finch, p. 289
- ^ Klotter, p. 299
- ^ Harrison and Klotter, p. 363
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 66
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 67
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 71
- ^ a b c Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 72
- ^ Finch, pp. 290–291
- ^ a b c Finch, p. 290
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Hatfield, p. 3
- ^ a b Harrison and Klotter, p. 369
- ^ a b c Klotter, p. 312
- ^ a b Finch, p. 291
- ^ Hixson, p. 313
- ^ a b Hixson, p. 316
- ^ a b Hixson, p. 314
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 78
- ^ a b c d e f Klotter, p. 313
- ^ Hixson, p. 315
- ^ Hixson, p. 327
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 79
- ^ a b c d Harrison and Klotter, p. 370
- ^ Hixson, p. 324
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 80
- ^ a b Hixson, p. 321
- ^ Hixson, p. 322
- ^ a b c Klotter, p. 315
- ^ Klotter, p. 314
- ^ Hixson, p. 317
- ^ Hixson, p. 326
- ^ a b c Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 81
- ^ Hixson, p. 329
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 82
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 83
- ^ a b c d Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 84
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, pp. 84–85
- ^ a b c d Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 85
- JSTOR 4634869. Archived from the original(PDF) on October 21, 2013.
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 86
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 87
- ^ Catledge, Turner (July 22, 1944). "Truman Nominated for Vice Presidency". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 6, 2013. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
- ^ a b c d Finch, p. 294
- ^ Finch, p. 293
- ^ "American Congressmen and reporters visit Buchenwald, April 24, 1945". www.scrapbookpages.com. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- ^ "American congressmen view the open ovens in the Buchenwald crematorium". collections.ushmm.org. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Archived from the original on March 7, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- ^ a b c d Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 90
- ^ a b c Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 91
- ^ a b c d e Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 92
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, pp. 92–93
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 93
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 94
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 95
- ^ a b Hatfield, p. 4
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 96
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 98
- ^ a b c d Hatfield, p. 1
- ^ Davis, p. 115
- ^ Davis, p. 121
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 100
- ^ a b c d e f Hatfield, p. 6
- ^ a b Hatfield, p. 5
- ^ a b c Davis, p. 116
- ^ a b c Davis, p. 117
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 101
- ^ Davis, p. 119
- ^ a b Davis, p. 118
- ^ "A History of Commencement at Emory". Emory University
- ^ a b "Alben William Barkley". University of Virginia
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- ^ a b c Davis, p. 123
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- ^ a b Davis, p. 125
- ^ a b c Davis, p. 126
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- ^ a b c Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 105
- ^ a b c Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 106
- ^ a b c Davis, p. 127
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- ^ Davis, p. 128
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 108
- ^ Libbey in Dear Alben, pp. 109–110
- ^ a b Davis, p. 130
- ^ a b c d e f Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 110
- ^ Harrison and Klotter, p. 402
- ^ Finch, p. 295
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- ^ a b c Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 113
- ^ "Senate – March 12, 1956" (PDF). Congressional Record. 102 (4). U.S. Government Printing Office: 4459–4461. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
- ^ a b Libbey in Dear Alben, p. 10
- ^ "Lake Barkley". Lake Productions, LLC.
- ^ Poore, "Challenger Pounds Home His Message"
- ^ "Alben Barkley Home, Effects to be Sold". Lexington Herald-Leader
- ^ a b Martin, "Attorney General Conway Concludes Investigation into Student Loan Company Involved with Bankrupt West Kentucky Law School"
Bibliography
- "Alben Barkley Home, Effects to be Sold". Lexington Herald-Leader. March 21, 1984. p. B1.
- "Alben William Barkley". Dictionary of American Biography. New York City: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1936. Archived from the original on March 22, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
- "Alben William Barkley". University of Virginia. Archived from the original on July 28, 2013. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- "Barkley, Alben William". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. United States Congress. Archived from the original on September 13, 2011. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- Davis, Polly Ann (April 1978). "Alben W. Barkley: Vice President". The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. 76 (2).
- Finch, Glenn (July 1971). "The Election of United States Senators in Kentucky: The Barkley Period". Filson Club History Quarterly. 45 (3).
- Grinde, Gerald S. (Summer 1980). "The Emergence of the 'Gentle Partisan': Alben W. Barkley and Kentucky Politics, 1919". The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. 78 (3). online
- Grinde, Gerald S. (April 1976). "Politics and Scandal in the Progressive Era: Alben W. Barkley and the McCracken County Campaign of 1909". Filson Club History Quarterly. 50 (2).
- ISBN 0-8131-2008-X. Archivedfrom the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
- Hatfield, Mark O. (1997). "Alben W. Barkley (1949–1953)" (PDF). Vice presidents of the United States, 1789–1993. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 24, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- Hill, Samuel S. (1983). Religion in the Southern States: A Historical Study. ISBN 0-86554-045-4. Archivedfrom the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
- "A History of Commencement at Emory". Emory University. Archived from the original on May 5, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- Hixson, Walter L. (Summer 1982). "The 1938 Kentucky Senate Election: Alben W. Barkley, 'Happy' Chandler, and the New Deal". The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. 80. online
- ISBN 0-916968-24-3. Archivedfrom the original on July 25, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
- "Lake Barkley". Lake Productions, LLC. Archived from the original on August 18, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
- Libbey, James K. Alben Barkley: A Life in Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2016). excerpt, standard scholarly biography
- Libbey, James K. (Autumn 1980). "Alben Barkley's Clinton Days". The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. 78 (4).
- Libbey, James K. (Summer 2000). "Alben Barkley's Rise from Courthouse to Congress". The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. 98 (3).
- Libbey, James K. (Summer 1998). "Alben W. Barkley: The Making of the 'Paducah Politician'". The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. 96 (3).
- Libbey, James K. (1979). Dear Alben: Mr. Barkley of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-0238-3. Archivedfrom the original on December 2, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
- Libbey, James K. (1992). "Barkley, Alben William". In John E. Kleber (ed.). The Kentucky Encyclopedia. Associate editors: ISBN 0-8131-1772-0. Archivedfrom the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- Martin, Allison Gardner (September 28, 2010). "Attorney General Conway Concludes Investigation into Student Loan Company Involved with Bankrupt West Kentucky Law School". U.S. Federal News Service. Archived from the original on April 9, 2016. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- Poore, Chris (November 3, 1993). "Challenger Pounds Home His Message". Lexington Herald-Leader. p. A1.
- Sexton, Robert F. (January 1976). "The Crusade Against Pari-mutuel Gambling in Kentucky: a Study of Southern Progressivism in the 1920s". Filson Club History Quarterly. 50 (1).
Further reading
Primary sources
- Barkley, Alben (1954). That Reminds Me. OCLC 456611.
- Barkley, Alben (1959). Veep: Former Vice President Alben W. Barkley Tells His Own Story. New York City: OCLC 692298110.
- Barkley, Jane Rucker Hadley (1958). I Married the Veep. New York City: Vanguard. OCLC 1368739.
Secondary sources
- Davis, Polly (1976). "Court Reform and Alben W. Barkley's Election as Majority Leader". Southern Quarterly. 15 (1): 15–31.
- Davis, Polly Ann (1977). "Alben W. Barkley's Public Career in 1944". Filson Club History Quarterly. 51 (2): 143–157.
- Libbey, James K. (2016). Alben Barkley: A Life in Politics. ASIN B015JUDXZO.
- Pietrusza, David (2011). 1948: Harry Truman's Improbable Victory and the Year that Changed America. Union Square Press. ISBN 978-1-4027-6748-7.
- Ritchie, Donald A. (1991). "Alben Barkley". In Richard A. Baker and Roger H. Davidson (ed.). First Among Equals: Outstanding Senate Leaders of the Twentieth Century. CQ Press.
- Robinson, George W. (1969). "Alben Barkley and the 1944 Tax Veto". Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. 67 (3): 197–210. online
External links
- United States Congress. "Alben W. Barkley (id: B000145)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Barkley Collection – Barkley's Papers at the University of Kentucky Archived September 6, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
- Newspaper clippings about Alben W. Barkley in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW