In 1955, he allegedly punched New York Congressman Adam Clayton Powell over a school construction bill rider. Powell's rider would have prevented federal education funds from being allocated to states with segregated schools; Bailey opposed the rider, which was defeated. One Congressman told reporters that Bailey had hit Powell and knocked him to the floor. Bailey denied it, and stated that while Powell and he had argued, no punches were thrown.[2]
Bailey was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-ninth Congress (January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1947).
He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1946 to the Eightieth Congress.
State tax statistician in 1947 and 1948.
Bailey was elected to the Eighty-first and to the six succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1963).
He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1962 to the Eighty-eighth Congress. Bailey did not sign the 1956 Southern Manifesto and voted in favor of Civil Rights Act of 1960 and the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,[3][4] but did not vote on the Civil Rights Act of 1957.[5] He was a resident of Clarksburg, West Virginia. He died in Charleston, West Virginia, July 13, 1965. He was interred in Greenlawn Cemetery, Clarksburg, West Virginia.