'''Albert Benjamin Chandler, Sr.''' (July 14, 1898 – June 15, 1991), known as '''A. B. “Happy” Chandler''', was a colorful [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[politician]] from his native Commonwealth of [[Kentucky]]. From 1939 to 1945, he was one of Kentucky's two [[U.S. Senator]]s, representing the state's Class II seat. 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, Albert "Ben " Chandler, III (born 1959), 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>[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/2397/albert-benjamin-chandler 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>Lowell H. Harrison, "Chandler, Albert Benjamin," in John E. Kleber (ed.). ''The Kentucky Encyclopedia,'' the University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-1772-0. Retrieved December 20, 2010, 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> Frank Boyett, "Yesterday's News: Happy reunion", ''The Henderson Gleaner,'' November 9, 2008.</ref> In 1901, Callie abandoned the family, and the brothers were reared by their father. 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>Vincent X. Flaherty, "The Life Story of Albert B. "Happy" Chandler," "The Life Story of Albert B. "Happy" Chandler," ''Baseball Guide and Record Book'' ([[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]]: Charles C. Spink and Son, 1946). 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/>