WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell delivered the following floor speech today on Senator Alben Barkley. (Text as prepared for delivery.)



“Mr. President, a few months prior to this body’s convening last week, I was honored and humbled when my colleagues elected me to serve as the Republican Leader in the 110th Congress.



“I’m thankful for the trust my friends have placed in me. And I won’t break that trust.



“At such a time as this, and in such an historic chamber, my thoughts turn toward great Kentuckians of the past who have left their indelible mark on this body.



“Henry Clay served as Speaker of the House, Senator, and Secretary of State, despite losing three presidential campaigns.



“John Sherman Cooper served as the conscience of the Senate, and I have spoken on this floor before of the admiration and respect I will always have for the Senator who mentored me in my first job on Capitol Hill.



“But there is another famous Kentuckian who once dominated these Senate hallways that we should not forget.



“He was a key lawmaker during World War II, and close friend to presidents. A passionate orator, champion of the New Deal, and popular teller of tall tales. After his Senate service, he made famous the nickname “the Veep.”



“That man is Alben Barkley, the last, and until now, the only Senator from Kentucky to be elected his party’s leader.



“Senator Barkley served as majority leader for nearly 10 years, from 1937 to 1947, longer than anyone else before him. From 1947 to 1949 he served as minority leader, and in 1948 he was elected vice president to President Truman.



“But some of my colleagues may not know that Senator Barkley almost became the first President of the United States from Kentucky since Abraham Lincoln. He lost that opportunity by taking a courageous stand to put the Senate, the Senators he led, and principle ahead of political ambition.



“Like Lincoln, Alben Barkley was born in a log cabin, on his father’s tobacco farm in Graves County, Kentucky, in 1877. The Barkley family was not a family of means, and Alben grew up chopping wood, harvesting tobacco, and plowing fields. Swapping stories with his father’s hired hands, Alben began to develop his fun-loving, storyteller persona.



“When he got older, Alben worked odd jobs to make ends meet. One time at a shoe store, a man with exceptionally large feet walked in and said to Alben, “I’d like to see a pair of shoes that would fit me.” The sharp-witted tobacco farmer’s son retorted, “So would I!”



“Alben had to change jobs quite often.



“Becoming a lawyer in Paducah, Barkley’s political career began with a race for county attorney in McCracken County. The history books tell us he bought a one-eyed horse named “Dick” and stumped the whole county riding that horse.



“At 27 years old, he toppled the incumbent in the Democratic primary and easily won the general election in 1905, for Kentucky in those days was very much a one-party state.



“Barkley then won election as McCracken County judge before going to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1912. Kentucky voters re-elected Barkley, an avid progressive and devotee of President Woodrow Wilson, six times until sending him to this chamber in 1926.



“Barkley’s long shadow over history was fixed in the Senate, where he served from 1927 to 1949, and then after his vice presidency again from 1955 until his death in 1956.



“Here in the Senate, Barkley became known as a first-rate speechmaker and storyteller. Many can recall Senator Barkley’s saying: “A good story is like fine Kentucky bourbon…it improves with age and, if you don’t use it too much, it will never hurt anyone.”



“By 1933, Barkley was selected as an assistant to Senate Majority Leader Joseph Robinson of Arkansas. In 1937, Robinson died, clearing the way for Barkley’s election as leader—but the manner of Barkley’s election to the top spot would serve today as an object lesson to Senators of how not to get the job, and it hampered Barkley’s effectiveness as leader for several years.



“When the 75th Congress began, the Democrats held a whopping 76 seats in the Senate, leaving only 16 Republicans and four independents. Their majority was so large that freshman Democrats had desks on the Republican side of the chamber.



“Senators in those days referred to the lone outpost of Democrats on the wrong side of the aisle as the “Cherokee Strip,” because those unlucky members were off the reservation.



“But the Democratic Party was badly split in two. Half the caucus supported Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal policies, and the other half frequently undermined them.



“In the leader’s race, the first group lined up behind Barkley, and the latter behind Senator Byron “Pat” Harrison of Mississippi. Each Senator had pledges of support from enough Senators to win.



“Usually in the Senate, Mr. President, it is the vice president who breaks ties. But this close vote was broken by the president himself. The day after Robinson’s death, Roosevelt sent Barkley a letter that began, “My Dear Alben.” Roosevelt even referred to Barkley correctly, but cheekily, as the “acting majority leader.”



“Roosevelt preferred Barkley over Harrison because he knew he could count on Barkley to shepherd his New Deal policies through the upper chamber. Besides his public letter, FDR also dispatched aides to exert pressure on Senators to vote for Barkley.



“One week after Robinson’s death, all 75 Senate Democrats met to vote. With 74 votes tallied, Barkley and Harrison stood tied at 37 votes apiece.



“The 75th and final vote put Barkley over the top. Senator Barkley had won the election, Mr. President, but he had lost a much more important race with his colleagues.



“As the occupant of the chair and all of my friends in the chamber know, the Senate has the sole power to choose its own leaders and chart its own course of affairs, without interference from the executive branch. And every Senator guards that right very seriously.



“Many Senators took offense at the president’s influence in Senator Barkley’s election, and Barkley paid the price. His colleagues granted him the title of majority leader, but not the accompanying authority or respect.



“On his first day in the top post, Democratic Senators ignored his plea not to override a presidential veto, putting Barkley on the losing side of a 71 to 19 vote. The bill had originally been sponsored by Barkley himself, putting the leader in the humiliating position of losing a vote to sustain a veto of his own bill.



“Over the next few years, Barkley’s troubles mounted as he kept finding himself on the losing end of votes. Senators cruelly reminded him of how he had climbed to the top spot by mockingly referring to him as “Dear Alben.”



“Even worse, Washington journalists, seeing the leader unable to move his colleagues, dubbed him “Bumbling Barkley,” and the name stuck.



“In March 1939, Life magazine published a poll of Washington journalists rating the 10 “most able” Senators. Barkley’s one-time rival Pat Harrison ranked fifth. The Senate majority leader did not make the list.



“Despite setbacks, Senator Barkley plunged ahead to lead the Senate and to champion President Roosevelt’s New Deal. His colleagues began to melt under his considerable personal charm.



“In contrast with Robinson’s heavy-handed leadership style, Barkley often sat down with a colleague, disarmed him with humor or a funny story, and then made his case.



“Barkley led from the podium at his desk, speaking persuasively and knowledgeably on any and every bill. By 1940, much of official Washington realized that legislation was moving faster and more successfully through the Senate—and that Barkley deserved the credit.



“Barkley was crucial at negotiating compromise with his fellow Senators. As the war in Europe heated up and international affairs took up more of the Senate’s time, Barkley’s record of success continued.



“Historians note the vital role he played in passing the Lend-Lease Act, repealing the Arms Embargo Act and the Neutrality Act, and enacting the first peacetime military draft.



“As the Senate majority leader, Barkley eagerly embraced the responsibility to lead the charge for the administration’s legislation. But sometimes, the president took the loyal leader for granted.



“That ended, Mr. President, when Senator Barkley dramatically broke with his beloved president on a matter of principle.



“Barkley’s move may have angered Roosevelt. But by stepping out of the president’s shadow and throwing off the impression of servility that the mocking phrase “Dear Alben” implied, Barkley forever earned the respect and trust of his Senate colleagues.



“The principle Barkley made his stand on is one dear to my heart—keeping taxes low. By February 1944, America was at war with the Axis Powers, and President Roosevelt wanted to raise taxes considerably to pay for it. He requested a tax increase of $10.5 billion.



“Majority Leader Barkley knew that the Senate didn’t have nearly the appetite for higher taxes that the president did. A $10.5 billion tax hike simply could not pass.



“But Barkley did the best he could for his president, and successfully steered through the Finance Committee and onto the floor a bill to raise revenues by $2.2 billion.



“Barkley pleaded with Roosevelt to accept the bill as the best he could get and to sign it. He knew the Senate, and he knew his Senators. But the president dismissed the leader’s advice.



“Even though he knew it was coming, Roosevelt’s veto message stung Barkley. It was petty, and it was personal.



“The president wrote that, having asked the Congress for a loaf of bread, the final bill was “a small piece of crust.” Then his next words struck hardest of all. He declared the final bill as “not a tax bill but a tax-relief bill, providing relief not for the needy, but for the greedy.”



“After years of devotion and support to the President—often at the cost of the respect of his own colleagues—this insult to his integrity as a legislator, a leader, and a disciple of the New Deal was too much for Barkley.



“Overwhelmed with passion, Barkley dictated a speech to his secretary and walked out to the floor. Word had leaked of what was coming. Journalists packed the galleries, and many Senators took their seats to listen to their leader.



“For the first time Senator Barkley, Washington’s most famous raconteur, seemed to nervously stumble over his words. His voice cracked with emotion as he related his history of steadfast support for the Roosevelt administration.



“I dare say that during the past seven years of my tenure as majority leader, I have carried that flag over rougher terrain than was ever traversed by any previous majority leader,” Barkley explained.



“But…there is something more precious to me than any honor that can be conferred upon me by the Senate of the United States, or by the people of Kentucky…



“Or by the president of this Republic. And that is the approval of my own conscience and my own self-respect.”



“And with that Senator Barkley resigned as majority leader.



“Barkley had always believed the leader must have overwhelming support for the president’s position. Unable to give that, stepping down was his only choice.



“Nearly every Senator in the chamber rose for a thunderous ovation. The galleries stood as one to applaud as well. Longtime Senators said they could not remember the last time a speech received such a tremendous response, and Vice President Henry Wallace called it “the most dramatic occasion in the U.S. Senate over which I ever presided.”



“Within a day of Barkley’s declaration of independence, he received over 7,000 telegrams. Roosevelt saw when he was beaten and wrote a letter urging Barkley not to resign. But Mr. President, he needn’t have bothered.



“The next day, the Democrats unanimously re-elected Barkley to the leader’s post. “Make way for liberty!” shouted Texas Senator Tom Connally, expressing the joy of his colleagues that their leader, and by extension, the entire Senate, had stood up for the Senate’s independence as a co-equal branch.



“The Senate turned back Roosevelt’s veto 72 to 14, and this time Alben Barkley led his colleagues to win that vote. Senator Elbert Thomas of Utah summed up the newfound power and prestige of the majority leader.



“By his one-vote margin in the 1937 contest when he was first elected leader, the impression was given, and it has been the impression ever since, that he spoke to us for the president,” Thomas said. “Now he speaks for us to the president.”



“The majority leader and the president mended the breach soon after, and continued to work together. But you could say their relationship was never again the same.



“That summer, the Democratic National Convention nominated President Roosevelt to an unprecedented fourth term. But with Vice President Wallace deemed too liberal by most of the party and dumped from the ticket, the president needed a new running mate. Could it be Barkley?



“As the convention opened, Barkley emerged as a seeming front-runner. He had the respect and confidence of the delegates. The Kentucky delegation formally endorsed him.



“But ever since breaking with Roosevelt in February, the president had had “a certain intangible reserve” towards the majority leader. Roosevelt emphatically told his supporters Barkley was unacceptable as a running mate.



“Of course, Mr. President, we all know that the 1944 vice presidential nomination eventually fell to another Senator, Harry Truman of Missouri, who was hand picked by the president himself.



“And we all know that in April 1945, less than three months after taking the oath of office for his fourth term, Franklin Delano Roosevelt died. His health had been failing for some time, even back during the 1944 convention.



“Harry Truman became the 33rd President of the United States. Alben Barkley stayed on as Senate majority leader—and narrowly missed becoming the first president from Kentucky since Abraham Lincoln.



“Henry Clay, who once held Alben Barkley’s Senate seat, said “I would rather be right than be President.” Alben Barkley lived by that motto.



“He chose to stand for his personal sense of honor and the integrity of the Senate, knowing it could cost him the favor of the president and possibly the vice-presidential nomination. It did. But Alben Barkley never regretted it.



“In fact, Barkley kept his keen sense of humor. In a speech to newly elected Senators in 1945, Barkley warned them to run “for the tall and uncut” if they ever received a letter from the president that began with “Dear” followed by their first name.



“Like so many other revered figures who have occupied these chairs, Mr. President, Alben Barkley loved the Senate, and he fought to protect it. As the Senate majority leader, that was his duty, and he fulfilled it without hesitation.



“After four years as vice president to Truman, Barkley retired from politics, seemingly forever. But he longed to return to this chamber, which had seen his greatest successes and his most ignoble defeats. So he ran for and won re-election in 1954, ousting Republican John Sherman Cooper.



“Alben Barkley died on April 30, 1956. He left this world doing what he loved—giving a speech.



“In his final moments, he explained to a crowd of students at Washington and Lee University that as a newly elected Senator, he had refused a seat in the front row of this chamber, despite his decades of service.



“I’m glad to sit in the back row,” the 78-year-old Barkley said. “For I would rather be a servant in the House of the Lord than to sit in the seats of the mighty.”



“Those were Senator Barkley’s last words before he collapsed. The crowd’s applause was the last thing he would hear, before suffering a massive heart attack.



“Mr. President, I wanted to share the story of Alben Barkley with my colleagues because I know that as we all debate the issues of the day in the Senate, we are mindful not just of what is happening in our country today, but what has gone before. History, and men like Alben Barkley, has much to teach us.



“Politics in America today can often be a bruising exercise. But I take comfort in Alben Barkley’s reminder that even if that is true, we can and should put principle over the pursuit of power.



“We’ve just had a hard-fought election. I for one, Mr. President, have always enjoyed a good political contest.



“I appreciate the opportunity to present a set of principles and ideals to the people, and to hear their choice when they cast their votes.



“But while we spar in the arena of ideas, let’s not forget what we’re sparring for. The goal is not just to win, but to win because you stand for a cause that will better your countrymen and your country.



“Many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle understand that lesson well. It’s an honor for me to share this floor with them.



“I’m looking forward to continuing the contest in the time ahead. For now, we are ready to roll up our sleeves and get back to work on behalf of the American people.



“Mr. President, I yield the floor.”



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