'''Albert Benjamin Chandler, Sr.'''', known as '''A. B. "Happy" Chandler''' (July 14, 1898 — June 15, 1991) was a colorful [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[politician]] from his native Commonwealth of [[Kentucky]]. From 1939 to 1945, he was one of Kentucky's two [[United States Senator]]s. He served two nonconsecutive terms as [[governor]] of Kentucky, from 1935 to 1939 and from 1955 to 1959. He was also a state senator and one-term lieutenant governor.
From 1945 to 1951, he was the second commissioner of [[Major League Baseball]]; in 1982, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. His grandson, Ben Chandler, later served as a Democratic [[U.S. Representative]] for Kentucky's 6th congressional district, based about [[Lexington, Kentucky|Lexington]] and including Chandler's residence in nearby Versailles (pronounced VER SAILS) in Woodford County.<ref name=findagrave?>Albert Benjamin “Happy” Chandler (1898-1991) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed July 31, 2021/</ref>
==Background==
Chandler was born in [[rural]] Coryden in Henderson County in western Kentucky, the son of Joseph Sephus Chandler (1870-1959) and the former Callie Saunders.<ref name=kye179>Harrison, p. 179</ref> Though no marriage records exist, Joseph Chandler allegedly rescued Callie from an orphanage and married her when she was fifteen.<ref name=boyett>Boyett, "Yesterday's News: Happy reunion."</ref> In 1901, Callie abandoned the family, and the brothers were reared by their father. <ref name=boyett /> In his autobiography, Chandler said that his mother's leaving them was his earliest memory.<ref name=boyett /> Years later, Chandler found his mother living in [[Jacksonville, Florida|Jacksonville]], [[Florida]], and learned that she had remarried and he had half-siblings.<ref name=boyett /> Robert Chandler, his full brother, died tragically at the age of thirteen when he fell from a cherry tree.<ref name=flaherty113>Flaherty, p. 113</ref>
An athlete at Transylvania University, then Transylvania College in Lexington, Chandler pondered whether to pursue a career in professional baseball but instead pursued a law degree at [[Harvard Law School]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], [[Massachusetts]]. Lacking financial means to continue, Chandler left Harvard after a year and instead completed his law degree at the [[University of Kentucky]] in Lexington in 1924.<ref name=findagrave/>