 Barkley supported William Gibbs McAdoo for president at the 1920 Democratic National Convention, but the nomination went to James M. Cox.He campaigned for Cox and his running mate, Franklin D. Roosevelt, but his speeches focused more on Wilson's progressive record than Cox's fitness for office.Republican Warren G. Harding defeated Cox in the general election, and Barkley found common ground with him on issues such as the creation of the Veterans' Bureau and the passage of the progressive Sheppard–Towner Act.