Bailey was a lawyer who represented timber and railroad companies before he was elected judge, then a part-time position.
His diaries and notes formed the basis for the movie script.
[citation needed] He was appointed by Governor Matthew M. Neely to serve the remaining two years of Ward Wylie's term in the West Virginia Senate after Wylie resigned to enter military service in World War II.
[1] In 1928 and 1948, he ran for governor but lost the primary election on both occasions.
His son, Robert D. Bailey Jr., served as Secretary of State of West Virginia from 1965 to 1969.