I would rather be a servant in the House of the Lord than to sit in the seats of the mighty.

When Barkley entered the Senate chamber on February 23 word had spread that Roosevelt's veto had angered him. With Truman's popularity waning entering the 1948 Democratic National Convention Barkley gave a keynote address that energized the delegates. Barkley admitted his eventual desire for a Senate seat and countered that Hendrick had also frequently sought office: "When the Pope died some years ago nobody would tell Hendrick for fear he would declare for that office.

During his 1938 re-election bid his opponent A. "Happy" Chandler accused him of using Works Progress Administration employees to campaign for him; Barkley claimed Chandler used state employees in the same way. In 1905 he was elected county attorney for McCracken County Kentucky.