Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Barksdale received a Bachelor of Science degree from United States Military Academy at West Point in 1966.
He was in the United States Army from 1966 to 1970, serving in the Vietnam War, and afterwards returned to studies.
He was a law clerk for Justice Byron White of the United States Supreme Court from 1972 to 1973.
[1] Barksdale entered the private practice of law, as an attorney for the firm of Butler, Snow, O'Mara, Stevens and Cannada in Jackson from 1973 to 1990.
[1] On November 17, 1989, President George H. W. Bush nominated Barksdale to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated by Judge Alvin Benjamin Rubin.