John McDowell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania | |
| In office January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1941 | |
| Preceded by | James L. Quinn |
| Succeeded by | Samuel A. Weiss |
| Constituency | 31st district |
| In office January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949 | |
| Preceded by | Howard E. Campbell |
| Succeeded by | Harry J. Davenport |
| Constituency | 29th district |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Ralph McDowell (1902-11-06)November 6, 1902 Pitcairn, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | December 11, 1957(1957-12-11) (aged 55) |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse | Virginia McDowell |
| Children | 1 |
John Ralph McDowell (November 6, 1902 – December 11, 1957) was an American politician. He was a member of theRepublican Party and served two terms in theU.S. House of Representatives in the29th district and31st district ofPennsylvania.
McDowell was born inPitcairn, Pennsylvania. He graduated fromRandolph-Macon Military Academy inFront Royal, Virginia, in 1923. He was employed as a reporter on thePitcairn Express in 1923 and worked on various newspapers until 1929. He was magistrate of Pitcairn from 1925 to 1928. He became editor of theWilkinsburg Gazette in 1929 and president of the Wilkinsburg Gazette Publishing Co. in 1933.
In1938, McDowell defeated incumbentJames L. Quinn for a seat in theSeventy-sixth Congress, but was defeated after a single term bySamuel A. Weiss. He lost to Weiss in a rematch in1942. In1946, McDowell defeatedHarry J. Davenport for a seat in theEightieth Congress by just over 1,100 votes. It was a relatively narrow victory for a reliably Republican district.[1]
McDowell served on theHouse Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947 and 1948 and was acting chairman whenJ. Parnell Thomas was not presiding.[2] He initially investigated suspected fascists on the committee.[3] In early 1948, he argued against granting a visa to boxerMax Schmeling, who wanted to stage a comeback in the United States.[4] TheState Department later denied Schmeling the visa in that he did not meet any of the categories for granting visas to German citizens.[5]
Later, he played a role in theAlger Hiss case. The key witness,Whittaker Chambers, was asked to provide details about Hiss that few people would know. He mentioned that Hiss was a birdwatcher and had bragged about seeing aprothonotary warbler. In the hearingRichard Nixon asked Hiss about his hobbies, to which he replied tennis and amateur ornithology. McDowell interjected with a question as to whether Hiss had ever seen a prothonotary warbler, to which Hiss gushed in the hearing that he had indeed, seen one, and described it to the committee. This helped persuade the committee that Chambers was being truthful.[6]
On March 16, 1948, McDowell introduced a bill to grant theSpeaker of the United States House of Representatives or thePresident of the United States Senate the power to obtain secret documents from any government agency.[7][8]
McDowell stated:
The President, in an election year, is pulling down aniron curtain between Congress and information on the Government ... There would be protection in two ways–against some official who might attempt to suppress for political or personal reasons information Congress should have, and against some weird committee chairman who might go haywire and demand and make public all kinds of secret documents.[8]
The day before, U.S. PresidentHarry S. Truman issued an executive directive, which barred Congress from just that.[7] TheWashington Post praised the President in an editorial, arguing "Every consideration of common sense backs it up as well, of course. The loyalty program would be meaningless if suspect employees were to be tried in newspapers and before congressional committees."[9]
In October 1948, after indictments against 12 suspected communists in what would become theFoley Square trials, US AttorneyJohn F. X. McGohey called on McDowell to appear before a grand jury in the case after McDowell charged that prosecutors deliberately drew up the indictments in such a way that the charges would not result in a conviction.[2] McDowell later called McGohey and Attorney GeneralRamsey Clark "inept" in producing the indictments.[10]
In the1948 election, Harry J. Davenport avenged his 1946 loss and defeated McDowell's bid for re-election.[11]
He was married to Virginia McDowell and had one daughter, Patricia.[12]
After leaving Congress, McDowell continued to publish theWilkinsburg Gazette. On December 11, 1957, he shot himself on his front porch with a .32 caliber revolver. Media reports suggested that McDowell had been diagnosed with cancer.[13]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 31st congressional district 1939–1941 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 29th congressional district 1947–1949 | Succeeded by |
