Collection Title: Jackson Purchase Oral History Project – Politics and Government
Series Number: OH173
Interviewee: Bailey, Clay Wade
Interviewer: Landy, Marc
Date interviewed: July 1973, November 8, 1973 and January 16, 1974
Processed by: Processed by Benjamin J. Drake in August 2012.
Date processed: April 26, 2012
Description: 5 sound discs (154 minutes)
Abstract: Clay Wade Bailey discusses the inner working of government in the State of Kentucky from the 1920s to the early 1970s. He reflects upon the political careers of Earle C. Clements, Happy Chandler, Alben Barkley and other significant leaders in Kentucky. He describes key political issues, such as the sales tax, budget issues and the Clements' Truck Scandal. He also mentions the campaigns of defeated gubernatorial candidates Harry Lee Waterfield and Henry Ward. The interviews conclude with his examination of the Governors and Lieutenant Governors from 1950 to 1971.
Biographical / Historical note: Clay Wade Bailey was a journalist covering the Kentucky State Capital for forty-six years, mainly for the Covington Kentucky Post, the Lexington Herald, and the Evansville Press. He was born on September 22, 1905 in Little Sandy, Elliott County, Kentucky and was raised at the Masonic Widows and Orphans Home in Louisville. He attended Sue Bennett College in London, Kentucky. During his career journalism many politicians sought his insights and advise on the inner workings of State politics in Frankfort. He suffered a stroke in 1973 and died on February 19, 1974.
General information: No user access to original recordings. Use audio user copies, digital derivatives, transcripts, and/or tape indexes. This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Permission for reproduction must be requested from Murray State University.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Bailey, Clay Wade, 1905-1974.
Kentucky – Politics and government.
Journalists – Kentucky.
Frankfort (Ky.) – History.
