VICE PRESIDENT ALBEN W. BARKLEY - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 06/04/1954 - HFSID 251695

ALBEN W. BARKLEY
The Former Vice President, Alben W. Barkeley signs a letter written to Ken Murray about appearing on the Ken Murray Show in September.
Typed Letter Signed: "Alben W. Barkley", 1p, 7¼x10½. Paducah, Kentucky, 1954 June 4. To Ken Murray, Hollywood. In full: "Let me thank you for your letter of May 26th concerning my little contribution to your program. I do not know where I will be in September but I hope I will be close enough to a television station to hear what it sounds like. I appreciate your courtesy in connection with this and wish you every success." ALBEN W. BARKLEY,the oldest U.S. Vice President (he started at 71 on January 20, 1949 and left office in 1953 at 75), Barkley was Democratic leader of the Senate from 1937 until his inauguration as Truman's Vice President in 1949. When Truman declined to run for reelection in 1952, Barkley sought the Democratic presidential nomination and finished fourth on the third ballot that nominated Adlai E. Stevenson. This was the last major party convention not to nominate a candidate on the first ballot. He returned to the Senate in 1955, dying in 1956. KEN MURRAY was a vaudevillian, actor and radio and television entertainer who hosted The Ken Murray Show, an hour-long variety show on Saturday nights on CBS (1950-1952) and a half-hour variety show on alternating Sundays (1953). On August 26, 1951 while serving as Vice President, Barkley became the first incumbent nationally elected official to appear on a television show--the first telecast of Man of the Week. On February 1, 1953, twelve days after his term as Vice President ended, Barkley got his own show, Meet the Veep, on NBC The show lasted seven months. It was Barkley's young grandson, Steven Truitt, who coined the nickname "Veep" for his grandfather from the abbreviation V.P. Lightly creased. Light ink transference below signature. Overall, fine condition.