"Don't Call Me Willie" - Alben Barkley, Truman's Vice President

Vice Presidents of The United States Podcast

Hog caller and stump speaker Alben Barkley defied all expectations. The son of a tobacco farmer with little money to spare became Vice President and sometimes, a contender for President. Senator and Majority Leader he prospered from his ability to speak. It even almost got him in trouble with the President he served, Harry Truman. The Original "Veep," the term first used with Barkley, he modernized the Vice Presidency but managed to keep a 19th-century style at the same time. He died the way he lived, on the stump.