Editing Alben W. Barkley (section)

===Domestic matters===
[[File:Alben Barkley, photo portrait upper body, 1913.jpg|thumb|right|upright|alt=A man with dark, wavy hair wearing a dark jacket and tie and white shirt|Barkley in 1913]]
Initially conservative, working with Wilson (who was elected president) inspired Barkley to become more liberal.<ref name=hatfield2 /> On April 24, 1913, he first spoke on the House floor, favoring the administration-backed [[Revenue Act of 1913|Underwood–Simmons Tariff Act]] which lowered tariffs on foreign goods.<ref name=libbey20>Libbey in ''Dear Alben'', p. 20</ref> He endorsed Wilson's [[The New Freedom|New Freedom]] agenda, including the 1913 [[Federal Reserve Act]] and the 1914 [[Federal Trade Commission Act]].<ref name=libbey22>Libbey in ''Dear Alben'', p. 22</ref> Because of his support for the administration, he was assigned to the powerful [[United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce|Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee]] and became the first freshman to preside over a session of the House.<ref>Libbey in ''Dear Alben'', pp. 22–23</ref> As a member of the Interstate Commerce Commission, he supported the [[Clayton Antitrust Act]] and sought to end [[Child labor laws in the United States|child labor]] in interstate commerce through the [[Keating–Owen Act]] in 1916.<ref name=kye53 /><ref name=libbey27>Libbey in ''Dear Alben'', p. 27</ref> He also supported measures to extend credit to and fund road improvements in rural areas.<ref name=dab />

A speaker for the [[Anti-Saloon League]], Barkley co-sponsored the 1916 Sheppard–Barkley Act, which banned alcohol sales in Washington, D.C.<ref name=sexton53>Sexton, p. 53</ref><ref name=libbey28>Libbey in ''Dear Alben'', p. 28</ref> It was passed in 1917.<ref name=libbey28 /> He sponsored an amendment to the [[Food and Fuel Control Act|Lever Food and Fuel Act]] forbidding the use of grain – rendered scarce by [[United States in World War I|World War I]] and a poor harvest in 1916 – to make alcoholic beverages.<ref name=libbey31>Libbey in ''Dear Alben'', p. 31</ref> The amendment passed the House, but a [[conference committee]] amended it to allow production of beer and wine.<ref name=libbey31 /> Both measures increased Barkley's national visibility and set the stage for future prohibition legislation, including the [[Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Eighteenth Amendment]].<ref name=dab /> By 1917, the state Democratic Party was divided over prohibition, and the prohibitionist faction tried to enlist Barkley for the 1919 gubernatorial race.<ref name=partisan248>Grinde in "Gentle Partisan", p. 248</ref> The [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]] ''[[The Commercial Appeal|Commercial Appeal]]'' noted in late 1917 that Barkley had not declined the invitations, but his continued silence reduced the prohibitionists' enthusiasm.<ref name=partisan248 /> He also showed little interest in the faction's attempts to recruit him to challenge anti-prohibitionist Ollie James in the 1917 Democratic Senate primary.<ref name=partisan249 />

By 1919, James had died in office, and Governor [[Augustus Owsley Stanley]] was elected to his vacant seat.<ref>Grinde in "Gentle Partisan", pp. 250–251</ref> The divisive prohibition issue and recent Republican gains in the state made the Democratic gubernatorial primary of particular interest.<ref name=partisan251>Grinde in "Gentle Partisan", p. 251</ref> Stanley was the leader of the party's anti-prohibitionists.<ref name=partisan251 /> Prohibitionists, led by former governor [[J. C. W. Beckham]], did not support [[James D. Black]], who became governor when Stanley went to the Senate and was seeking re-election.<ref name=partisan251 /> At the time of Black's election as [[Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky|lieutenant governor]] in 1915, he had sided with the prohibitionists; he was chosen to run with Stanley to balance the party's ticket, so the anti-prohibitionists did not entirely trust him either.<ref name=partisan251 /> Attempting to unite the party and prevent a Republican victory, Black invited Barkley, who had not been linked to either leader despite his support for prohibition, to be temporary chairman of the 1919 state Democratic convention.<ref name=partisan252>Grinde in "Gentle Partisan", p. 252</ref> Barkley's convention address attacked Republicans and praised the Democrats' record without making reference to prohibition, but many in the Beckham faction refused to accept Black, and he was defeated in the [[1919 Kentucky gubernatorial election|general election]] by Republican [[Edwin P. Morrow]].<ref>Grinde in "Gentle Partisan", pp. 254–257</ref> Chairing the convention introduced Barkley to state political leaders outside the First District.<ref name=partisan257>Grinde in "Gentle Partisan", p. 257</ref>