Editing Alben W. Barkley (section)

===Later House career===
Barkley's party loyalty in the governor's race made him a formidable candidate to challenge Stanley, who by 1924 had angered members of both party factions, but Barkley had spent most of his funds in his campaign against Cantrill, and he did not want to risk his reputation as a party unifier by challenging a Democrat.<ref name=libbey44>Libbey in ''Dear Alben'', p. 44</ref> Instead, he decided to rebuild his war chest to unseat Kentucky's incumbent Republican senator, [[Richard P. Ernst]], in 1926.<ref name=libbey44 /> In the meantime, he refrained from using his influence in state races to avoid losing any goodwill with Kentucky voters.<ref name=libbey45>Libbey in ''Dear Alben'', p. 45</ref>

At the [[1924 Democratic National Convention]], Barkley again supported William G. McAdoo for president.<ref name=libbey45 /> Urban interests at the convention promoted [[Governor of New York|New York Governor]] [[Al Smith]], and a bitter convention fight ensued.<ref name=libbey45 /> During the course of 103 ballots, chairman [[Thomas J. Walsh]] needed a rest and temporarily yielded his position to Barkley.<ref name=libbey45 /> The convention was the first to be broadcast nationally, and Barkley's service as chair augmented his national recognition and appeal.<ref name=dab /> The two Democratic factions agreed to compromise, nominating [[John W. Davis]], who Libbey called a "competent nonentity"; Davis [[1924 United States presidential election|lost in the general election]] to incumbent [[Calvin Coolidge]].<ref name=libbey45 /> Barkley won another term in the House by a 2-to-1 margin over his Republican opponent in 1924, but Democratic divisions cost Stanley his Senate seat, and Barkley became even more convinced of the value of party loyalty.<ref name=libbey45 />