Albert Benjamin (Happy) CHANDLER, Congress, KY (1898-1991)

CHANDLER Albert Benjamin (Happy) , a Senator from Kentucky; born in Corydon, Henderson County, Ky., July 14, 1898; attended the public schools; attended Harvard University; served as a private in the United States Army 1918-1919; graduated from Transylvania College, Lexington, Ky., 1921, and from the law department of the University of Kentucky at Lexington 1924; admitted to the bar in 1925 and commenced practice of law in Versailles, Ky.; master commissioner of the Woodford circuit in 1928; member, State senate 1930-1931; receiver of the Inter-Southern Life Insurance Co., in 1932; lieutenant governor 1931-1935; Governor of Kentucky 1935 until his resignation October 9, 1939; appointed on October 10, 1939, as a Democrat and subsequently elected on November 5, 1940, to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Marvel Mills Logan; reelected in 1942 and served from October 10, 1939, until his resignation on November 1, 1945; resigned to become commissioner of organized baseball 1945-1950; engaged in the practice of law, tobacco farming, and the publication of a weekly newspaper; again Governor of Kentucky 1955-1959; unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate in 1963; named to the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame in 1957; commissioner, Continental Professional Football League 1965; trustee of the Ty Cobb Foundation, the University of Kentucky, and Transylvania college; served as Democratic National Committeeman from Kentucky; was a resident of Versailles, Ky., until his death, June 15, 1991; interment in churchyard of Pisgah Presbyterian Church, near Versailles.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives; Hixson, Walter L. 'The 1938 Kentucky Senate Election: Alben W. Barkley, "Happy' Chandler, and the New Deal." Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 80 (Summer 1982): 309-29; Chandler, Harry, with Vance H. Trimble. Heroes, Plain Folks, and Skunks: The Life and Times of Happy Chandler: An Autobiography. Chicago: Bonus Books, 1989.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present