The Veep

The Veep
(a brief Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

Have you heard the one about the mother who had two sons? One went to sea; the other became Vice President of the United States of America.

Neither was heard from again.

A storyteller of great repute, Alben Barkley was especially fond of telling that story. What's that? Who's Alben Barkley? Funny you should ask . . .

You've probably heard people in the media refer to the Vice President of the U.S. as "The Veep." There's even a TV show by that name. What you may not know is that Alben Barkley was the first Vice President of the United States to be called "The Veep" (suggested by his grandson while he was in office; it became a hit with the press and started its journey into enduring use)

There is some AMAZING stuff on Google about The Veep. He was a very interesting guy, politically speaking: District Attorney, Judge, House of Representatives, Senate (Majority Leader for 10 years during the FDR Presidency), and Veep. He was Truman's Vice President. It has been argued that Truman could not have won---SHOULD not have won---without Barkley on the ticket. And pretty much everyone knows how the Chicago Trib messed THAT one up.

At 71 on Inauguration Day, he was the oldest Vice President to hold the office. He was the last of the old time Vice Presidents to regularly preside over the Senate, one of the few Vice Presidents to regularly meet with the President's Cabinet, and the very first Vice President to become a member of the National Security Council. It was whispered that Truman could not have governed without him; and it may have been Truman who started that rumor!

The reason I have an interest in The Veep is that his home, when not in Washington, DC, was my hometown: Paducah, Kentucky. I grew up surrounded by all things Barkley; his name and visage were all about. There is, of course, a statue; but there’s also a street, highway, dam, and lake among other things. And, as you might expect, there are things about Alben Barkley that we Paducans just knew, but which are not common knowledge, even on Google.

There IS a lot of information about him on the Internet. But buried in all that information---buried pretty deep; I really had to look for it---is one thing NOT very well known about Alben Barkley: he was a man of faith, a longtime member of his church, and a great fan of reading the Bible. The Veep was also a prolific speaker, well regarded for his warmth and sincerity. He made so many speeches during the Truman Presidential campaign, the press dubbed him "Iron Man." And because he was a man of faith and well versed in the Bible, he was fond of quoting and paraphrasing scripture.

In 1952 when in the usual course of things he would have run for President, big labor let it be known that they could not support him because of his age; they wanted a candidate they could depend on to serve a full eight years; something that, at 74, they did not believe he could do. And so Barkley "retired" in 1952 . . . to host a national TV show on NBC ("Meet the Veep"), to write his memoirs, and, of course, to make many, many speeches!

But after a while he got bored with so little to occupy his time; so he ran for office in 1954; and, at 76 years of age, became the Junior Senator from Kentucky. Things were a little different from his "glory days" of being one of the most powerful people in the nation. On April 30, 1956, while speaking at Washington and Lee University in Virginia, Barkley was asked about this.

In response, Barkley, who was 78 at the time, reminded the audience, “I was a junior congressman, then I became a senior congressman, and then I went to the Senate and became a junior senator, then I became a senior senator, and then Majority Leader of the Senate, and then Vice President of the United States, and now I’m back again as a junior senator. I am willing to be a junior. I’m glad to sit on the back row, for I would rather be a servant in the house of the Lord, than to sit in the seats of the mighty.”

It seems fitting that this paraphrase of Psalm 84 should be among Alben Barkley’s last words. Immediately after speaking them, he collapsed from a heart attack and, shortly, passed away.


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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt

Proper 16 (21) (August 26, 2012)
1 Kings 8: (1,6,10-11), 22-30, 41-43
Psalm 84
Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18
Psalm 34:15-22
Ephesians 6:10-20
John 6:56-69

If you want to hear the end of Barkley’s last speech, access this URL on the Internet:
http://www.who2.com/blog/2010/05/one-minute-of-historical-audio-alben-w-barkley

Lord willing, I will be at Lex Break this Friday! So happy to be able to attend for a change :-) If you can join us, find us at a horseshoe-shaped table at Cafe Cappuccino (downtown Waco, on 6th near the Courthouse) at 8:00 for some scripture, discussion, and eats.

See you there?
Steve