"That's the American People"

The bride was composed, the groom was nervous and muffed his lines. In St. John's Methodist Church in St. Louis before a gathering in which newsmen outnumbered relatives two to one, Vice President Alben Barkley married Mrs. Carleton S. Hadley. She is 38; he will be 72 this week.

In spite of the standard fumbles at the altar, the U.S.'s beamish Vice President (the first to be married while in office) was as bubbling as ever. As the triumphant wedding music boomed out, hordes of twittering women converged on the entrance and television crews flicked on their lights. "I hate to go out there and face that mess," said the new Mrs. Barkley. "That's no mess, my dear," boomed the Veep. "That's the American people."

The American people showered them with rice, pinned them against the canopy in defiance of police lines, finally allowed them to get to their car. An elderly woman darted under the arm of a policeman and rapped peremptorily on the rear window. "All I want to do is shake hands with him," she told the cop defiantly. (The Veep rolled down a window and obliged.) Other women stormed into the church and briskly stripped the chancel of every last chrysanthemum, camellia and fern.

At the wedding reception at a friend's home, servants carrying trays of champagne and caviar stepped gingerly through a maze of television cables and microphone wires. The bridal couple was photographed in the music room, in the living room, in the dining room cutting the cake. Where were they going on their honeymoon? "Shangri-La," said Barkley promptly. Wouldn't it be cold this time of year? "We'll warm it up after we get there." Photographers pleaded with him to kiss his bride. "No kisses," said Barkley. "I'll save that for later." Said Mrs. Barkley to Mr. Barkley: "That's awfully fresh!"

Then the newlyweds climbed into the shiny black Oldsmobile convertible which Barkley had given his bride as a wedding present, and headed for Barkley's old Kentucky home (The Angles) and points south. They would be back in Washington, said the Veep, in time for the second session of the 81st Congress. In the meantime, "We are just going to strike out, stop when we please, where we please. Where we are going may not be a military secret, but it's a romantic one."

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