Well, tomorrow is the hallowed day where all political history nerds annually pay tribute to Vice President Alben Barkley of Kentucky, who served in the administration of President Harry S. Truman. We do so because it was on April 30, 1956 that the former VP experienced perhaps the greatest death in modern political history. After serving as a Congressman, a junior Senator, senior Senator, Senate Majority leader, Vice President and more, Barkley retired.  Then he got bored and ran again for the Senate and won, becoming the "lowly" junior Senator from his state once again. On stage, speaking to university students -- in the Veep's final address -- he uttered the immortal words: "I'm glad to sit on the back row, for I would rather be a servant in the House of the Lord than to sit in the seats of the mighty."  Mere seconds later, he collapsed and died on the stage. It is simply a political death that cannot be topped.  Here is the radio coverage of his last words, where one can listen to the drama unfold as Barkley's body hits the stage and an announcer calls for a doctor.  Barkley's former boss, the great Harry S. Truman, put it best when reached by the media that day: “He died working in the harness.  That's the way I hope to go.” Note: Today’s entry is a day ahead as tomorrow we will mark a Right Honourable birthday -- always a priority on “Art’s History”. caption id="attachment_553068" align="aligncenter" width="440" U.S. Vice President Alben Barkley/caption Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist.  He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy.  A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.