Portal:Kentucky/Selected biography/7
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alben W. Barkley (November 24, 1877 – April 30, 1956) was a Democrat member of the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate from Paducah, Kentucky, and the thirty-fifth Vice President of the United States. Barkley was born Willie Alben Barkley in a log cabin near Lowes, Graves County, Kentucky
Barkley was elected Vice President on the Democratic ticket with President Harry S. Truman in 1948 and was inaugurated January 20, 1949. His "prop-stops" by airplane initiated a new phase in presidential campaigning. He was 71 years old at the time of his election and inauguration, the oldest vice president to date. In his first year Vice President, Barkley became the only vice president to marry while in office. At the age of 71, he married Jane Hadley, a widow from St. Louis, capturing national attention.
