Dear Alben: Mr. Barkley of Kentucky (1979) By James K. Libbey

 

This summer I picked up several books – a $5 bag to be precise – at the McCracken County Library’s book fair. McCracken County includes Paducah, Kentucky, across the Ohio River and down a few miles from where I live. One of the books I selected while browsing was a biography of Alben Barkley, a name I recognized but actually knew little about. Lake Barkley in the Land-Between-the Lakes is named after Barkley, as is the regional airport in Paducah. I knew he was a longtime Congressman, and I was vaguely aware he was Vice-President under President Harry Truman.

The book is an interesting read.  Barkley grew up in western Kentucky, near Fancy Farm – home of a legendary annual political fair and picnic. He made his early career in Paducah – as County Judge Executive (in Kentucky this is the title given to the county administrator). Barkley won his first term in Congress during Woodrow Wilson’s presidency. Politically speaking it was a different era, Kentucky was reliably Democratic and patronage, not policy, was the name of the game. Barkley was a master of the patronage and spoils system. He also successfully secured federal funding for a bridge across the Ohio River from Paducah, KY to Brookport, IL -- a big boost for the local economy.

Eventually, Barkley moved up to become a U.S. Senator – and this is the part of his history that I knew nothing about. In due time he was selected as the Senate Majority Leader – as such, he served as the point man on legislation proposed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to lift the country out of the Great Depression – putting him at the heart of the New Deal -- and making him perhaps the most popular Democrat after FDR – and one of the few who could bridge the schism between northern progressives and southern conservatives in the party.  Many of his colleagues were ready to support Barkley as a presidential candidate in the 1948 election. However, FDR’s death had elevated Vice-President Harry Truman to the White House, and Barkley was unwilling to challenge an incumbent Democrat.

An aside:  Barkley’s maternal grandmother was a cousin to the first Adlai Stevenson, making Barkley a distant relative and contemporary of Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson II, who managed to win the 1952 Democrat Presidential nomination that many say was meant for Barkley.  Stevenson then went on to predictable defeat running against war hero General Dwight Eisenhower.  The first Stevenson by-the-way was Vice President under Grover Cleveland's second presidential term.

Recommendation:  Like many biographers, Libbey’s treatment of Barkley borders on idolatry – that said, it is a great read for political junkies, and those familiar with west Kentucky geography.