April 30, 1956:
Sen. Alben Barkley, the Kentucky Democrat who was elected vice president under Harry Truman in 1948 and who briefly pursued his party's presidential nomination in '52 after Truman decided not to run again, dies of a heart attack at 78.
Barkley, the Senate minority (and former majority) leader, was the keynote speaker at the 1948 Democratic convention when he was selected to join the Truman ticket. Then 71 years of age, he was the oldest person ever to become VP.
He returned to the Senate in the 1954 elections.
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