but the subject of today's speech the alben barkley. he affords particular insight into a frequently misunderstood government institution and that is party leadership in the united states senate. barkley was as we all know leader of the democrats in the nate from 1937 until 1949 n. fact, only three men have held hat position longer, joe robinson of arkansas and robert bird of west virginia. barkley enjoyed public speaking, perhaps a bit too much at times. once during a speech he lost track of time and was caught quizzically looking at his watch. barkley tried to figure out how long he had been speaking when a listener shouted barkley if your watch has stopped running, there is a calendar on the wall behind you. barkley quickly drew his speech to a close following that remark. hopefully i won't prompt any of you to look at your watch or at least not to look at a calendar. it's entirely fitting of course to have this talk take place here. barkley's long time home. and barkley's name has become synonymous with this city. alben barkley was
