Alben Barkley | |
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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 |
United States Senator from Kentucky |
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In office January 3, 1955 – April 30, 1956 |
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Preceded by | John Sherman Cooper |
Succeeded by | Robert Humphreys |
In office March 4, 1927 – January 19, 1949 |
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Preceded by | Richard P. Ernst |
Succeeded by | Garrett L. Withers |
Senate Minority Leader | |
In office January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949 |
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Deputy | Scott W. Lucas |
Preceded by | Wallace H. White Jr. |
Succeeded by | Kenneth S. Wherry |
Senate Majority Leader | |
In office July 14, 1937 – January 3, 1947 |
|
Deputy |
J. Lister Hill Sherman Minton J. Hamilton Lewis |
Preceded by | Joseph T. Robinson |
Succeeded by | Wallace H. White Jr. |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 1st district |
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In office March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1927 |
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Preceded by | Ollie M. James |
Succeeded by | 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)
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) |
Dorothy Brower (m. 1903–47) Jane Rucker Hadley (m. 1949–56) |
Relations | Stephen M. Truitt (Grandchild) |
Children | 3 |
Education |
Emory University (BA) University of Virginia (JD) |
Signature |
"Life and Career of Senator Alben Barkley", presentation by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), June 30, 2014, C-SPAN |
Alben William Barkley (/ˈbɛərkli/; November 24, 1877 – April 30, 1956) was a lawyer and politician from Kentucky who served in both houses of Congress and as the 35th Vice President of the United States from 1949 to 1953. In 1905, he was elected county attorney for McCracken County, Kentucky. He was chosen County Judge/Executive in 1909 and U.S. Representative from Kentucky's First District in 1912. As a Representative, he was a liberal Democrat, supporting President Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom domestic agenda and foreign policy.
Endorsing Prohibition and denouncing parimutuel betting, Barkley narrowly lost the 1923 Democratic gubernatorial primary 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 addressing the Great Depression and was elected to succeed Senate Majority Leader Joseph T. Robinson upon Robinson's death in 1937. During his 1938 re-election bid, his opponent A. B. "Happy" Chandler accused him of using Works Progress Administration employees to campaign for him; Barkley claimed Chandler used state employees in the same way. Neither candidate was charged with any wrongdoing, but in 1939, Congress passed the Hatch Act, making it illegal for federal employees to campaign for political candidates.