The Gentleman From Kentucky: J. C. W. Beckham

The Gentleman From Kentucky: J. C. W. Beckham

The Gentleman From Kentucky J. C. W. Beckham By Ray Hill John Crepps Wickliffe Beckham was the first U.S. senator to be popularly elected by the people of Kentucky.  Beckham was the leader of a powerful wing of the Bluegrass State’s Democratic Party and was an imposing figure in its politics for decades. J. C. W. Beckham was the scion of a well-known family that had been prominent in Kentucky’s politics for years. His mother’s father, Charles Wi…