Alben W. Barkley

Alben W. Barkley
Official portrait, 1949
35th Vice President of the United States
In office January 20, 1949 – January 20, 1953
President	Harry S. Truman
Preceded by	Harry S. Truman
Succeeded by	Richard Nixon
Senate Majority Leader
In office July 14, 1937 – January 3, 1947
Deputy	J. Lister Hill Sherman Minton J. Hamilton Lewis
Preceded by	Joseph Taylor Robinson
Succeeded by	Wallace H. White
Senate Minority Leader
In office January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949
Deputy	Scott W. Lucas
Preceded by	Wallace H. White
Succeeded by	Kenneth S. Wherry
Chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus
In office July 14, 1937 – January 3, 1949
Preceded by	Joseph Taylor Robinson
Succeeded by	Scott W. Lucas
United States Senator from Kentucky
In office January 3, 1955 – April 30, 1956
Preceded by	John Sherman Cooper
Succeeded by	Robert Humphreys
In office March 4, 1927 – January 19, 1949
Preceded by	Richard P. Ernst
Succeeded by	Garrett L. Withers
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 1st district
In office March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1927
Preceded by	Ollie M. James
Succeeded by	William Voris Gregory
Personal details
Born	Willie Alben Barkley (1877-11-24)November 24, 1877 Lowes, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	April 30, 1956(1956-04-30) (aged 78) Lexington, Virginia, U.S.
Resting place	Mount Kenton Cemetery
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Dorothy Brower ​ ​ (m. 1903; died 1947)​ Jane Rucker Hadley ​ (m. 1949)​
Children	3
Relatives	Stephen M. Truitt (grandson) Alben W. Barkley II (grandson)
Education	Marvin College (BA)
Signature

Alben William Barkley (/ˈbɑːrkli/; November 24, 1877 – April 30, 1956) was an American lawyer and politician from Kentucky who served as the 35th vice president of the United States from 1949 to 1953 under President Harry S. Truman. In 1905, he was elected to local offices and in 1912 as a U.S. representative. Serving in both houses of Congress, he was a liberal Democrat, supporting President Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom domestic agenda and foreign policy.^[1]

Endorsing Prohibition and denouncing parimutuel betting, Barkley narrowly lost the Kentucky Democratic gubernatorial primary in 1923 to fellow representative J. Campbell Cantrill. In 1926, he unseated Republican senator Richard P. Ernst. In the Senate, he supported the New Deal approach to handling the Great Depression in the United States. Democrats chose him to succeed Senate Majority Leader Joseph Taylor Robinson upon Robinson's death in 1937. His 1938 re-election bid was an intense, bitter victory against Governor A. B. "Happy" Chandler.^[2] When World War II focused President Franklin D. Roosevelt's attention on foreign affairs, Barkley gained influence over the administration's domestic agenda. He resigned as floor leader after Roosevelt ignored his advice and vetoed the Revenue Act of 1943.^[3] The veto was overridden by both houses and the Democratic senators unanimously re-elected Barkley to the position of Majority Leader.

Barkley had a good working relationship with Senator Harry S. Truman, who became vice-president and then president in 1945. With Truman's popularity waning entering the 1948 Democratic National Convention, Barkley gave a keynote address that energized the delegates. Truman selected him as his running mate for the upcoming election, and the Democratic ticket scored an upset victory against Thomas Dewey and Earl Warren of the Republican Party. Barkley took an active role in the Truman administration, acting as its primary spokesman, especially after the Korean War required the majority of Truman's attention. When Truman announced that he would not seek re-election in 1952, Barkley began organizing a presidential campaign, but labor leaders refused to endorse his candidacy because of his age, and he withdrew from the race. He is the most recent Democratic vice president to never receive the party's presidential nomination. He retired but was coaxed back into public life, defeating incumbent Republican senator John Sherman Cooper in 1954.^[4] Barkley died of a heart attack on April 30, 1956.^[5]