John L. McClellan | |
|---|---|
 McClellan in 1970 | |
| 37thDean of the United States Senate | |
| In office January 3, 1975 – November 28, 1977 Serving with James Eastland | |
| Preceded by | George D. Aiken |
| Succeeded by | James Eastland |
| United States Senator fromArkansas | |
| In office January 3, 1943 – November 28, 1977 | |
| Preceded by | Lloyd Spencer |
| Succeeded by | Kaneaster Hodges Jr. |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromArkansas's6th district | |
| In office January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1939 | |
| Preceded by | David D. Glover |
| Succeeded by | William F. Norrell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Little McClellan February 25, 1896 Sheridan, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Died | November 28, 1977(1977-11-28) (aged 81) Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 5 |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1917–1919 |
| Rank | First Lieutenant |
| Unit | Signal Corps |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
John Little McClellan (February 25, 1896 – November 28, 1977) was an American lawyer andsegregationist politician.[1] A member of theDemocratic Party, he served as aU.S. representative (1935–1939) and aU.S. senator (1943–1977) fromArkansas.
At the time of his death, he was the second most senior member of the Senate and chairman of theSenate Appropriations Committee.[2] He is the longest-serving senator in Arkansas history.[3]
John Little McClellan was born on a farm nearSheridan, Arkansas to Isaac Scott and Belle (née Suddeth) McClellan.[3] His parents, who were strongDemocrats, named him afterJohn Sebastian Little, who served as aU.S. Representative (1894–1907) andGovernor of Arkansas (1907).[2] His mother died only months after his birth, and he received his early education at local public schools.[4] At age 12, after graduating fromSheridan High School, he began studying law in his father's office.[5]
He was admitted to the state bar in 1913, when he was only 17, after theArkansas General Assembly approved a special act waiving the normal age requirement for certification as a lawyer.[2] As the youngest attorney in the United States, he practiced law with his father in Sheridan.[5] Also in 1913, McClellan married Eula Hicks; the couple had two children, and divorced in 1921.[3]
DuringWorld War I, he served in theU.S. Army as afirst lieutenant in the aviation section of theSignal Corps from 1917 to 1919.[6] Following his military service, he moved toMalvern, where he opened a law office and served ascity attorney (1920–26).[2]
In 1922, he married Lucille Smith, to whom he remained married until her death in 1935; they had three children.[3] He was prosecuting attorney of the seventh judicial district of Arkansas from 1927 to 1930.[6]
In 1934, McClellan was elected as a Democrat to theU.S. House of Representatives fromArkansas's 6th congressional district.[6] He was re-elected to the House in 1936. In March of that year, he condemnedCBS for airing a speech byCommunist leaderEarl Browder, which he described as "nothing less than treason."[5]
During his tenure in the House, he voted againstPresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt'scourt-packing plan, theGavagan anti-lynching bill, and theReorganization Act of 1937.[5] In 1937, he wed for the third and final time, marrying Norma Myers Cheatham.[2]
In 1938, McClellan unsuccessfully challenged first-term incumbentHattie Caraway for the Democratic nomination for theUnited States Senate.[6] During the campaign, he criticized Caraway for her support for the 1937 Reorganization Act and accused her of having "improper influence" over federal employees in Arkansas.[5] Nevertheless, he was defeated in the primary election by a margin of about 8,000 votes.[5] He subsequently resumed the practice of law inCamden, where he joined the firm Gaughan, McClellan and Gaughan.[3] He served as a delegate to theDemocratic National Convention in1940 (Chicago),1944 (Chicago), and1948 (Philadelphia).[citation needed]
In1942, afterG. Lloyd Spencer decided not to seek re-election, McClellan ran for the Senate again and this time won. He served as U.S. Senator from Arkansas from 1943 to 1977, when he died in office. During his tenure, he served as chairman of the Appropriations Committee and served 22 years as chairman of the Committee on Government Operations. McClellan was the longest serving United States Senator in Arkansas history. During the later part of his Senate service, Arkansas had, perhaps, the most powerful congressional delegation with McClellan as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee,J. William Fulbright as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,Wilbur Mills as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee,Oren Harris as chairman of the House Commerce Committee,Ezekiel C. "Took" Gathings as chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, andJames William Trimble as a member of the powerful House Rules Committee.[citation needed]
McClellan also served for eighteen years as chairman of theSenate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (1955–1973) and continued the hearings intosubversive activities at theU.S. Army Signal Corps,Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, whereSoviet spiesJulius Rosenberg,Al Sarant andJoel Barr all worked in the 1940s. He was a participant in the famousArmy-McCarthy Hearings and led a Democratic walkout of that subcommittee in protest of SenatorJoseph McCarthy's conduct in those hearings.[citation needed] McClellan appeared in the 2005 movieGood Night, and Good Luck in footage from the actual hearings.
He led two other investigations, both televised, uncovering law-breaking and corruption. The first of these, under theUnited States Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and Management, also known as the McClellan Committee, investigated union corruption and centered onJimmy Hoffa and lasted from January 1957 to March 1960.[citation needed] In April 1961, during an Investigations subcommittee hearing, contractor Henry Gable asserted that Communists would not be able to do the same amount of damage to the American missile effort as done by labor atCape Canaveral. McClellan suggested that the comments bordered on accusations of subversion and called for more testimony from the unions.[7]
The second televised major investigation led by McClellan was in 1964 and known as theValachi hearings. These hearings investigated the operations of organized crime and featured the testimony ofJoseph Valachi, the first American mafia figure to testify about its criminal activities. McClellan continued his efforts against organized crime (including backing the anti-organized-crime(RICO) law) until 1973, when he switched to investigating political subversion. During this period, he hiredRobert F. Kennedy as chief counsel and vaulted him into the national spotlight. McClellan investigated numerous cases of government corruption including numerous defense contractors andTexas financierBillie Sol Estes.[citation needed]
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In 1957, McClellan opposedU.S. PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower's decision to send federal troops to enforce the desegregation ofCentral High School in Little Rock. Prior to the sending of the troops under the command of Major GeneralEdwin A. Walker, McClellan had expressed "regret [regarding] the ... use of force by the federal government to enforce integration. I believe it to be without authority of law. I am very apprehensive that such action may precipitate more trouble than it will prevent."[8]
McClellan and fellow SenatorRobert S. Kerr of Oklahoma were the sponsors of the bill that authorized construction of theMcClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, maintained by theArmy Corps of Engineers. The system transformed the often shallow and sometimes dryArkansas River into a major transportation route and water source.[citation needed]
Although his Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and Management already had been dissolved by 1960, McClellan began a related three-year investigation in 1963, through the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, into the union benefit plans of labor leaderGeorge Barasch, alleging misuse and diversion of $4,000,000 of benefit funds.[9][10]
McClellan's notable failure to find any legal wrongdoing led to his introduction of several pieces of new legislation including his own bill on October 12, 1965 setting new fiduciary standards for plan trustees.[11] SenatorJacob K. Javits (R-NY) introduced bills in 1965 and 1967 increasing regulation on welfare and pension funds to limit the control of plan trustees and administrators.[12][13] Provisions from all three bills ultimately evolved into the guidelines enacted in theEmployee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).[14][15]
In 1977, McClellan was one of five Democrats to vote against the nomination ofF. Ray Marshall asUnited States Secretary of Labor.[16]
McClellan's second wife died ofspinal meningitis in 1935 and his son Max died of the same disease in 1943 while serving inAfrica duringWorld War II. His son, John L. Jr., died in 1949 in an automobile accident, and his son James H. died in a plane crash in 1958. Both men were members of the Xi chapter ofKappa Sigma fraternity at the University of Arkansas. To honor their two fallen brothers, the Chapter initiated Senator McClellan intoKappa Sigma in 1965.
McClellan died in his sleep on November 28, 1977, inLittle Rock, Arkansas, following surgery to implant a pacemaker.[17] He was buried at Roselawn Memorial Park in Little Rock. AVA Hospital in Little Rock is named in his honor. A chapter of theDelta Theta Phi Law Fraternity at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Bowen School of Law is named in his honor.Ouachita Baptist University is the repository for his official papers.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromArkansas (Class 2) 1942,1948,1954,1960,1966,1972 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 2) from Arkansas 1943–1977 Served alongside:Hattie Caraway,J. William Fulbright,Dale Bumpers | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chairman ofSenate Government Operations Committee 1949–1953 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman ofSenate Government Operations Committee 1955–1972 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman ofSenate Appropriations Committee 1972–1977 | Succeeded by |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Dean of the United States Senate January 3, 1975 – November 28, 1977 Served alongside:James Eastland | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | OldestUnited States Senator January 3, 1975 – November 28, 1977 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromArkansas's 6th congressional district 1935–1939 | Succeeded by |
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| Class 3 | ||
| Expenditures in Executive Departments (1921–1952) | | |
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| Government Operations (1952–1977) | ||
| Governmental Affairs (1977–2005) | ||
| Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (2005–) | ||
Chairs of theUnited States Senate Committee on Appropriations | ||
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| International | |
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| People | |
| Other | |
