Descended from a prominent political family, Beckham was chosen as the running mate of Democratic nominee William Goebel in the 1899 Kentucky gubernatorial election.

Taylor claimed the election had been stolen by the Democratic majority in the General Assembly, and a legal fight occurred between him and Beckham over the governorship.

His favorable stance of prohibition cost him the votes of four legislators in his own party, and in 1908, the General Assembly gave the seat to Republican William O. Bradley.

In 1914, Beckham secured the seat by popular election, but lost his re-election bid in 1920, largely due to his pro-temperance views and opposition to women's suffrage.

He continued to play an active role in state politics for another two decades, but never returned to elected office, failing both in his 1927 gubernatorial bid and his 1936 senatorial campaign.

He was born in Wickland, near Bardstown in Nelson County, Kentucky, son of William Netherton and Julia Tevis (Wickliffe) Beckham.

[1][2] His maternal grandfather, Charles A. Wickliffe, was governor of Kentucky from 1839 to 1840 and served as postmaster general in the administration of John Tyler.

[9] The Assembly was still deliberating on January 30, 1900, when Goebel was shot by an unknown assailant as he entered the state capitol building.

[10] The following day, as Goebel was being treated for his wounds at a local hotel, the General Assembly invalidated enough votes to give him the election.

[13] After the Supreme Court ruling, Taylor fled to Indianapolis, Indiana, fearing he would be implicated in Goebel's assassination.

[2] As governor, Beckham sought to unite his party and the state by supporting changes to the blatantly-partisan Goebel Election Law, which had been authored by his late running mate while the latter was a member of the General Assembly.

[2] He recommended passage of a law to set uniform school textbook prices, a reform that both he and Goebel had advocated during the gubernatorial campaign.

[2] The only major pieces of legislation passed during Beckham's term were a tax increase that added a half million dollars to the state's revenue and a child labor law that forbade children under fourteen to work without their parents' consent.

[18] His record of reconciliation and of supporting non-controversial reforms prevented significant opposition when he won the party's nomination.

[7] In his message to the legislature in 1904, Beckham again raised the issue of a uniform school textbook law, which had not passed during his first term.

[22] During the 1906 legislative session, Beckham urged investigation and prosecution of corrupt insurance companies by following the lead of New York attorney Charles Evans Hughes.

In particular, he recommended reducing the practice of deferred dividends, which allowed the insurance companies to keep large stores of cash on hand for illegal purposes.

[23] Beckham refused to send troops into the western part of the state to quell the ongoing Black Patch Tobacco Wars.

Beckham wanted the Senate seat, and if the primary was moved up two years, he could secure his party's nomination while he was still governor.

State Auditor Samuel Wilber Hager was Beckham's choice for governor and easily won the early primary over challenger N.B.

[28] In January 1908, he faced the legislature as the Democratic nominee for a seat in the US Senate by virtue of the primary that had been held two years earlier.

[29] Over the next six weeks, 25 more votes were taken, with neither man securing a majority, even though William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic nominee for president, campaigned for Beckham.

[29] On the 29th ballot, taken near the end of February 1908, Bradley finally secured a majority, after four Democrats crossed party lines to vote for him.

[1][31] In the latter position, he was influential in securing two large military training posts for Kentucky: Camp Zachary Taylor and Fort Knox.

[31] Though Camp Zachary Taylor was abandoned after World War I, Fort Knox became the home of the US Bullion Depository.

[31] After the United States entered World War I, Beckham continued to back Wilson and later supported the League of Nations.

[31] True to his prohibitionist stance, Beckham supported passage of the Eighteenth Amendment, which enacted Prohibition in the United States.

[33] He was opposed by a powerful political machine, known as the Jockey Club, whose main interest was securing legislation to allow parimutuel betting at the state's horse racetracks.

[35] Beckham was expected to be the Democrats' nominee for governor in 1935, but the death of his son in late 1934 had left him distraught, and his wife was opposed to another campaign.

[37] In 1933, Beckham's ally, Bingham, had been appointed ambassador to the Court of St. James's, in London, increasing his prominence and his influence.