No need to be frightened!Joe Richman (of "Radio Diaries") had a fascinating report on the original "Veep," Alben Barkley. He was Harry Truman's vice president from 1948 to 1952.
Barkley died in an odd, yet fitting manner. After Truman left the White House, Barkley returned to the Senate, where he had served for decades.
The former Senate majority leader found himself sitting in the back row with the other junior senators. In 1956, Barkley gave a speech on the irony of finding himself among these D.C. newbies.
The speech ended when he died.
You can hear Barkley's last words by clicking on this blog entry's title, or here. (If you have trouble playing the sound file, listen to NPR's online version. The moment of truth occurs 6 minutes and 22 seconds into it.)
Postscript: I almost forgot one of my favorite Barkley quotes: “If you have to eat crow, eat it while it’s hot.”
2 comments:
Unfortunately I was not able to download the sound strip because required downloading Quick-Time Player for Apple and I use Vista.
Sorry about that; I've added a link to the end of the entry that should help.
Thanks for reading!
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