Alben W. Barkley (1877–1956) was the 35th vice president of the United States, serving from 1949 to 1953. He was elected the U.S. representative from Kentucky's first district in 1912 as a liberal Democrat, supporting President Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom domestic agenda and foreign policy. In 1927 he entered the U.S. Senate, where he supported the New Deal, and was elected to succeed Joseph T. Robinson, Senate Majority Leader, upon Robinson's death in 1937. He resigned as majority leader after President Franklin D. Roosevelt ignored his advice and vetoed the Revenue Act of 1943, but the veto was overridden and he was unanimously re-elected to the position. Barkley had a better working relationship with Harry S. Truman, who ascended to the presidency after Roosevelt's death in 1945. At the 1948 Democratic National Convention, Barkley gave a keynote address that energized the delegates. Truman selected him as a running mate for the upcoming election, and the two scored an upset victory. (Full article...)