THE VICE-PRESIDENCY: The Merry Widower

A Washington newshen bustled up to Vice President Alben Barkley and asked coyly: "Veep, my editor would like to know what La Dame Hadley has that we don't have—except maybe you?" Barkley promptly seized good-looking, thirtyish Ruth Montgomery and bussed her smack on the lips. "There is your answer, kid!" cried the Veep. Chortling, he added: "I'll tell you something you've got that she hasn't got—a husband."

The New York Daily News's Montgomery was talking about Mrs. Carlton (Jane) Hadley, the comely, 37-year-old St. Louis widow whom Barkley had managed of late to see most every weekend. But the nation's...