The name “Alben W. Barkley” shouldn’t be foreign to anyone who lives in west Kentucky.
Born into poverty to tenant farmer parents and the eldest of eight, the 51-year civil servant would spend his youthful years at a little crossroads between Lowes and Fancy Farm in Graves County. His post-secondary education came at Marvin College in Hickman County from 1922-27, and after a short stint at Emory College in Georgia, he’d later return back to the Purchase and grow into McCracken County’s provincial attorney.
The rest, as they often say, is history — a history that Kentucky Supreme Court District 1 Justice Shea Nickell eloquently retold to the Cadiz Rotary Club early last week.
A strong student of Barkley’s background and beliefs, Nickell noted the 35th Vice President of the United States’ name is all over west Kentucky: Barkley Lake, Barkley Lodge, Barkley Regional Airport, Barkley Drive, Barkley Museum, Emory’s speech and debate program “The Barkley Society,” Barkley Elementary School in Fort Campbell.
In that half-century of service to country, he earned 14 years in the U.S. House and 23 years in the U.S. Senate — assisting with the robust agendas of presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, before eventually ending up at Harry S. Truman’s side.
The term “VEEP” — though made extra-famous by the 2012-through-2019 show starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus — actually came from Barkley’s grandson, who Nickell said had a difficult time pronouncing the words “vice president” at an early age.
Before his vice presidency, however, Nickell said Barkley’s upbringing truly shaped his political, ideological and religious philosophies. He was raised Presbyterian, worked the fields alongside minority labor, often trudged to school barefoot with thin garments, and long listened to the blasphemes of alcohol use and gambling.
As such, Nickell said Barkley feverishly toiled for what was then a progressive Democrat agenda — one of social programs, work assistance and prohibition.
It was also one dedicated to civil rights — particularly of African Americans in a time of segregation.
West Kentucky’s topography, Nickell added, also shaped Barkley’s focus on federal development of natural disaster response.
Nickell said Barkley sought further post-secondary education after his time at Marvin College because he wanted to be a lawyer, and many of his faculty members had been graduates of Emory. Not able to afford even his first semester, Nickell added Barkley sold several pots and pans to local and regional farmers wives.
When word got back to him that the cookware was cracking in home fires, Nickell said Barkley returned “every dime made,” and his honesty drew the attention of “a local judge.”
A big reason Nickell continues to tell the story of Barkley, he said, is because it often inspires local youths and adults to find the next level of servant leadership. Having hailed from west Kentucky, Barkley is one of four Kentuckians to ever serve as vice president and the most recent, and his efforts have long brought a great sense of pride to the Purchase region.
Among the many Barkley relics in Nickell’s personal collection: a golden pocket watch, one that members of the McCracken County Fiscal Court gifted to the hopeful U.S. President — or at the very least, Supreme Court Justice — before he took his first trip to Washington D.C.
Inscribed on its casing are the names of magistrates and other local dignitaries from more than a century ago, still keeping time and watch all these years later.
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About Nickell: He has served as justice for Kentucky Supreme Court District 1 since winning a contested election in 2019, filling the remainder of retired Justice Bill Cunningham’s term, topping Christian County’s Whitney Westerfield for the position.
He ran for re-election unopposed this year, and will now serve a full eight-year term as the representative for Ballard, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Crittenden, Daviess, Fulton, Graves, Henderson, Hickman, Hopkins, Livingston, Logan, Lyon, Marshall, McLean, McCracken, Muhlenberg, Todd, Trigg, Union and Webster counties.
A Paducah Tilghman graduate, Nickell keeps office in McCracken County.
