[1] Barker authored several bills that became national models and addressed a fiscal crisis in the state during his time as speaker.

Among these was the establishment of the Rainy Day fund, Victims Bill of Rights, which became a national model, safe homes for women and children, and increased funding for the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, He was ousted from office during his fourth term, due to political infighting.

[3] He served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army's First Infantry Division and returned to Oklahoma to found Muskogee Restaurant Supply.

[5] As speaker, he inherited a fiscal crisis brought on by the collapse of the oil boom and a severe depression in the agricultural sector.

[6] Barker addressed the crisis by diversifying Oklahoma's revenue base and a series of tax increases.