and asked McKellar to attend all Cabinet meetings. In 1947 Truman successfully lobbied Congress to pass a new Presidential Succession Act, restoring both the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate to the succession ahead of Cabinet secretaries. By the time the law came into effect, McKellar was no longer in the position of President pro tempore, as the Republicans had gained the majority in the 80th Congress. Truman vetoed the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947 to restrict labor unions, which McKellar had favored. Truman selected Alben Barkley of Kentucky as his running mate in the 1948 presidential election. When Democrats regained control of the Senate following the 1948 elections, McKellar again became President pro tempore. He was second in line for the presidency (behind the Speaker of the House) from January 3, 1949 until January 20, 1949, when Alben Barkley took office as Vice President of the United States. McKellar also served as chairman of the Civil Service Committee, Post Office and Road Committee, and, most notably, the powerful Appropriations Committee from 1945–1947, and again from 1949–1953. Longevity McKellar is the only Tennessee senator to have completed more than three full terms. Except for McKellar, Tennessee has generally not joined in the Southern tradition of reelecting senators for protracted periods of service. Before the era of popular election of U.S. Senators, Senator William B. Bate was elected to a fourth term by the Tennessee General Assembly, but he died five days into this term, while Senator Isham G. Harris also died early in his fourth term. Senator Joseph Anderson was elected by the General Assembly to three full terms plus the balance of the term of William Blount, who had been expelled from the Senate. 1952 election In 1952 McKellar stood for a seventh term (the first Senator to do so), despite being 83. He was opposed for renomination by Middle Tennessee Congressman Albert Gore. McKellar's reelection slogan was "Thinking Feller? Vote McKellar", which Gore countered with "Think Some More – Vote for Gore." Gore defeated McKellar for the Democratic nomination in August in what was widely regarded as something of an upset. At this point in Tennessee history, the Democratic nomination for statewide office was still "tantamount to election." Most African Americans had been disenfranchised by discriminatory laws and practices, resulting in the Republican Party being active chiefly in East Tennessee. This had been