United States Vice - Presidents

Alben Barkley

1877-1965

During Alben Barkley’s term as Vice President The USSR was blockading Berlin, North Korea invaded South Korea, and the US detonated its first hydrogen Bomb. 

He was born in 1877 in a log house near Lowes in Grave Country Kentucky, the son of a poor tobacco farmer. He was named Willie Alben Barkley, but when he was old enough he changed his name to Alben William Barkley. He would later explain that he didn’t think a robust Kentucky boy could go through life with a name like Willie or even consider a career in politics. 

His family moved to a wheat farm in Hickam County in 1891. He worked his way through Marion College in Clinton Kentucky teaching in the intermediate department and graduated in 1897. He had one year at Emory University in Atlanta Georgia, and also attended the University of Virginia Law School, but due to lack of funds didn‘t graduate.

He returned to Kentucky and worked as a clerk at a Paducah law office where he met Democratic representative Charles Wheeler. Wheeler invited Barkley to study at his private library. Barkley passed the Kentucky bar in 1898 and opened a law office. With a recommendation from Wheeler, he was appointed a circuit court reporter. In addition to practicing law Barkley had become a popular public speaker in his community during his lay ministry for the local joint Methodist-Episcopal Church. 

In 1904 he was elected County Attorney for McCracken. He had over 300 successful prosecutions, and when businesses charged the county too much for their services he challenged them and saved the county thousands of dollars. In 1909 he was elected county Judge. 

In 1912 he ran for a seat in the U.S. House of representatives and advocated federal support for the building of highways. His opponent called him a socialist, but with the help of farmers, and the popularity of Woodrow Wilson in his district he won. He would be reelected to seven consecutive terms. He served on the Interstate commerce commission, and supported the Clayton Anti-Trust Act. 

In 1923 he lost the race to become Governor of Kentucky but the campaign did give him statewide recognition, and earned him the name “Iron Man” when he gave over 16 speeches a day. 

In 1926 he was elected to the Senate, and in 1930 he became the assistant to Majority leader Joseph Robinson (The Democrats’ vice presidential candidate in 1928). Barkley was popular with his fellow Democrats and was asked to be the Keynote speaker at the 1932 convention and again in 1936. 

In 1937 Senator Robinson died; Barkley got an endorsement from President Franklin Roosevelt and was elected Senate majority leader. He played a vital role in passing New Deal legislation, but reminded his colleagues that he wasn’t just a yes man and had been a liberal and a progressive long before he ever heard of Frankin Roosevelt. Even though the Democrats outnumbered the Republicans 76 to 16 Barkley could not guarantee a majority behind Roosevelt because of the conservative Democrats headed by Vice President John Nance Garner. 

During World War II Alben Barkley served as a member of the “BIG Four” a group of top advisors, which included the new Vice President Henry Wallace, Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn, and House Majority leader John McCormick (McCormick was Speaker when John Kennedy was assassinated). He saw himself as a leader of the President’s forces, and helped pass Roosevelt’s wartime legislation. 

In 1944 he objected to the President’s veto of a two-billion-dollar tax increase. Roosevelt said it was insufficient and called it, “Not for the needy but for the greedy”. Barkley had worked with the finance committee to pass the legislation and resented the President’s accusations. He urged the Senate to override the veto, and then resigned as Majority leader in protest. He was unanimously re-elected, but it permanently dampened his relations with Roosevelt. 

When it became obvious that Henry Wallace would not be on the ticket in 1944 Barkley was a popular first choice to run with Roosevelt, but the President preferred the lesser-known Senator from Missouri Harry S. Truman. When Truman became President he and Barkley buried their differences and worked together on legislation in support of domestic and foreign policies, but it wasn’t easy since the Republicans had gained a majority both the Senate and the House in the1946 elections. 

When the Democrats met for their convention in 1948 Barkley rallied the delegates with speech bashing the Republicans. When it ended Barkley had only mentioned Truman once during the two-hour speech leading some to speculate that Barkley may have hoped to get the nomination for himself. Truman, who referred to Barkley as “Old man Barkley” thought that he was too old, and their states too close to give regional balance to the ticket. But the pro-Barkley forces at the convention were finally able to convince Truman and Truman-Barkley went off to campaign against New York Governor Thomas Dewey. Barkley’s opponent for Vice President would be California Governor Earl Warren (Future Supreme Court chief Justice). 

Another speaker at the 1948 convention was a candidate for Senator from Minnesota Hubert H Humphrey. When he said that human rights should have priority over states rights the delegates from the Southern States walked out. A new party was organized calling themselves “The States Rights Democrats” and they were nicknamed “the Dixiecrats” their candidate for president was South Carolina’s Governor Strom Thurmond. Former Vice President Henry Wallace was a candidate for the new “Progressive Party”. 

With the Democrats split between North and South, and Henry Wallace pulling “leftist” votes away from Truman it looked like Dewey would win. Truman toured the nation speaking from trains and Barkley was making “Prop stops” flying around the country in a small private plane. He gave over 250 speeches in 36 states. He proved he was not too old to run in a national campaign. 

When Alben Barkley was sworn in as Vice President he was 72 years old, but he wasn’t going to have time to relax like some past Vice Presidents. He liked the joke about the woman with two sons, one ran away and went to sea, the other was elected Vice President of the United States, neither one was ever heard from again. But that was not the case with Barkley, Truman appointed him to be a member of the National Security Council, and often consulted with him on both domestic and foreign issues. As Vice President Harry Truman had very little contact with Roosevelt and had not been briefed on the emerging conflicts between the US and USSR, or the Manhattan project. He probably resented being kept “in the dark”, and that may be why he kept his own vice president so well informed. 

Barkley became the first Vice President to get married while in office when he wed 38-year-old Jane Hadley. 

His young grandson had trouble saying “Vice President of the United States” so he gave his grandpa the nickname “The Veep”. When Barkley told the press they loved it and continued to call him “The Veep”. Richard Nixon didn’t use the nickname when he became the Vice President. 

Barkley’s term was a tense and dangerous time for America. In 1949 NATO was founded to defend Western Europe from the Communist led by the USSR. The Soviets finally agreed to end their blockade of Berlin due to the success of the Berlin airlift. In 1950 Truman fired General McArthur for failing to follow White House policy in Korea. 

Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin started a wave of investigations, accusations, and blacklisting by claiming that communists worked in the State department. A member of his committee, Congressman Richard Nixon of California, claimed to have “evidence” found in a pumpkin that proved State Department worker Alger Hiss had lied under oath. 

In 1951 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were accused of giving nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. They were sentenced to death for espionage when the Judge blamed them for the lives lost in Korea. 

By 1952 both the USSR and US had nuclear weapons. The nuclear stalemate became known as “The Cold War”. Truman has been admired by some as a strong leader who helped America thought those critical times, others have highly criticized Truman for backing down to Communist pressure and for not giving Macarthur a free hand in Korea.

I wonder if Alben Barkley ever thought about the responsibility of possibly having to use the H-bomb if something had happened to Truman? 

In 1952 Barkley entered race for the Democratic nomination, but quit when labor refused to endorse him because of his age. In 1954 he ran for Senator in Kentucky and defeated the incumbent Republican. His victory was enough to give the Democrats the majority and Lyndon Baines Johnson of Texas became Senate Majority Leader. The grateful Democrats remembered their old majority leader and offered him a seat in the front row. But Barkley declined and said he would sit back with the other freshman Senators. 

He was invited to a mock-convention in Lexington Kentucky in 1956. He said in his speech, “I would rather be a servant in the house of the Lord than to sit in the seats of the mighty.” Suddenly he was stricken and fell dead. 

From a humble birth in a Kentucky log cabin to Senate Majority leader to Vice President. I don’t think Barkley could have beaten Eisenhower, but if had been a little younger I think he would have been a stronger candidate than Stevenson. 

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