Pat McCarran | |
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| United States Senator fromNevada | |
| In office March 4, 1933 – September 28, 1954 | |
| Preceded by | Tasker Oddie |
| Succeeded by | Ernest S. Brown |
| Chief Justice of theSupreme Court of Nevada | |
| In office January 2, 1917 – January 4, 1919 | |
| Preceded by | Frank Herbert Norcross |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin Wilson Coleman |
| Justice of theSupreme Court of Nevada | |
| In office January 2, 1913 – January 1, 1917 | |
| Preceded by | James G. Sweeney |
| Succeeded by | Edward A. Ducker |
| Nye CountyDistrict Attorney | |
| In office 1907–1909 | |
| Preceded by | W. B Pittman |
| Succeeded by | Cleve H. Baker |
| Member of theNevada Assembly fromWashoe County | |
| In office 1903–1905 Serving with Peter Burke, W. D. R. Graham, H. R. Cooke, A. D. Graham, J. F. Crosby, J. E. Soucherau | |
| Preceded by | Phil Jacobs, G. E. Peckham, W. W. Webster |
| Succeeded by | Walter Hastings, A. W. Holmes, E. R. Dodge, R. H. Kinney, J. W. Wright, J. S. Orr |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Patrick Anthony McCarran (1876-08-08)August 8, 1876 Reno, Nevada, U.S. |
| Died | September 28, 1954(1954-09-28) (aged 78) Hawthorne, Nevada, U.S. |
| Resting place | Mountain View Cemetery, Reno, Nevada |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Harriet Martha "Birdie" Weeks (m. 1903–1954, his death) |
| Children | 5 |
| Profession | Attorney |
Patrick Anthony McCarran (August 8, 1876 – September 28, 1954) was an American farmer, attorney, judge, andDemocratic politician who representedNevada in theUnited States Senate from 1933 until 1954. McCarran's career in the Senate was negatively marked by his antisemitism. He was in conflict with theFranklin Roosevelt administration over theNew Deal and cooperation with theSoviet Union inWorld War II.
McCarran was born inReno, Nevada, attended Nevada State University (now theUniversity of Nevada, Reno), and was a farmer and rancher. In 1902, he won election to theNevada Assembly but left office in 1905 after an unsuccessful campaign for theNevada State Senate. He studied law privately and was admitted to the bar in 1905, then won election asNye CountyDistrict Attorney. He served a two-year term, after which he returned to Reno. From 1913 to 1919, McCarran was a justice of theSupreme Court of Nevada, serving as chief justice from 1917 to 1919. His support for the aviation industry was well known and resulted inLas Vegas's McCarran Field (nowHarry Reid International Airport) being named in his honor.
In 1932, McCarran unseated incumbent RepublicanTasker Oddie and in doing so became the state's first U.S. senator born in Nevada; he was reelected three times and served from 1933 until his death. In his Senate career, McCarran served as chairman of the committees on the District of Columbia, Judiciary, and Joint Foreign Economic Cooperation. As Senator, McCarran is remembered as one of the few Democrats to reject theSecond New Deal. He sponsored theCivil Aeronautics Act of 1938 and was a proponent of establishing theUnited States Air Force. McCarran was a staunch anti-communist, to the point of supporting the Spanish dictatorFrancisco Franco. He sponsored theMcCarran Internal Security Act, restricting the political activities of those supporting "totalitarian dictatorship" in the United States. Other significant legislation McCarran sponsored includes theImmigration and Nationality Act of 1952, sometimes referred to as the McCarran-Walter Act, and theMcCarran–Ferguson Act, a landmark law exempting the insurance industry from federal regulation, and the 1946Administrative Procedure Act, which McCarran described as "aBill of Rights for the hundreds of thousands of Americans whose affairs are controlled or regulated" by federal agencies.
McCarran was born inReno, Nevada, toIrish immigrants Margaret Shay and Patrick McCarran.[1] He was educated in Reno and graduated asvaledictorian of the class of 1897 atReno High School.[2]: 3–4, 7 McCarran's mother was a devout Catholic, and he inherited his mother's faith.[2]: 1–2
He attended Nevada State University (now theUniversity of Nevada, Reno) but withdrew to work on the family sheep ranch after his father suffered an injury.[2] Instead of returning to college, McCarranstudied law with attorneyWilliam Woodburn.[3]
Some sources incorrectly state that McCarran received a bachelor's degree in 1901 and a master's degree in 1915.[4] In fact, he never received a bachelor's degree, and he was awarded anhonoraryMaster of Arts from Nevada State University in 1915.[5] He also received an honoraryLL.D. fromGeorgetown University in 1943[6] and an honoraryLL.D. from the University of Nevada in 1945.[7]
McCarran ran for theNevada Assembly in 1902 as afree silver Democrat with encouragement from his political science professorAnne Henrietta Martin.[8] He was elected and served one term from 1903 to 1905.[2] In 1904, he was an unsuccessful candidate for theNevada State Senate.[2]
He wasadmitted to the bar in 1905.[3] In 1906, he was electeddistrict attorney ofNye County.[2] He served one term, 1907 to 1909, after which he moved to Reno to continue practicing law.[2]
In 1912, McCarran was elected to theSupreme Court of Nevada, succeeding John G. Sweeney.[9] He served as a justice from January 1913 to January 1917.[10]
In January 1917, he succeededFrank Herbert Norcross as chief justice.[11] He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1918 and left office in January 1919.[10]
Both during his time on the court and afterwards, McCarran continued to play a central role in Nevada's state government, as well as its legal and criminal justice systems. From 1913 to 1918, he served on the state Board of Library Commissioners.[12] In addition, he served as chairman of theNevada State University Board of Visitors.[13]
During his time on the Court from 1913 to 1919, McCarran served on the state Board of Pardons.[14] He was a member of the Board of Parole Commissioners from 1913 to 1918, and he served on the Board of Bar Examiners from 1919 until 1932.[14]
McCarran was president of the Nevada Bar Association from 1920 to 1921 and was a vice president of theAmerican Bar Association from 1922 to 1923.[15]
McCarran's ambition to serve as a U.S. Senator was well known in Nevada, and often the subject of commentary and jokes in the press.[2]: 18 [16][17][18][19] He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 1916, and lost to incumbentKey Pittman.[20] McCarran endorsed Pittman in the general election, and Pittman was reelected.[10]
In 1926, McCarran was again a candidate for the U.S. Senate.[10] He lost the Democratic nomination toRaymond T. Baker, who was defeated by Republican incumbentTasker Oddie in the general election.[10]
In 1932, McCarran won the Democratic nomination and defeated Oddie in the general election.[10] He was reelected in1938,1944, and1950. He served from March 4, 1933, until his death in 1954.[21]
In 1944, McCarran was challenged byVail M. Pittman in the Democratic primary, leading to an especially hard-fought campaign that was finally won by McCarran.[2]: 119 Pittman ascribed the result to McCarran's ability to bring federal money to fund infrastructure projects in Nevada:
McCarran had a pet project in nearly every town in the state. Housing projects, sewage systems, airfields, power projects, school houses and heaven knows what...People remember the little personal favors and the things that help financially, but they forgot all the things done that are more remote, but more vital.[2]: 119
McCarran's biographer Jerome Edwards endorsed this theory, arguing that the narrow margin suggests that a substantial number of registered Democrats in Nevada were dissatisfied with McCarran, but his ability to have the federal government built infrastructure projects that Nevada could not afford on its own explains his enduring appeal in his state.[2]: 119
During his career as a Senator, McCarran served as chairman of the Senate Committees on theDistrict of Columbia (77th and78th Congresses) andJudiciary (78th,79th,81st, and82nd Congresses).[22] He also served as co-chairman of theJoint Committee on Foreign Economic Cooperation (81st United States Congress).[22]
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Although both were Democrats, McCarran came into increasing opposition with PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt over patronage decisions, theSecond New Deal, and foreign policy.[19]
During his first term, McCarran engaged in a major struggle for the control of patronage appointments relating to federal projects in Nevada with his Democratic colleagueKey Pittman.[2]: 69 As Nevada was a poor state and badly hit by the Great Depression, there was considerable competition for patronage appointments, and control of patronage was a major political tool. President Roosevelt tended to side with Pittman, the senior senator, in the struggle, thereby earning McCarran's enmity.[2]: 69–70 Pittman's serious alcoholism rendered him less effective in his last years, and McCarran was able to become the dominant force within the Nevada Democratic Party by 1938.[2]: 69–70, 74
In the late 1930s, McCarran criticized Roosevelt's "Second New Deal" programs as too liberal.[2]: 94 Much of McCarran's opposition to the New Deal stemmed from his anger that New Deal programs increased Pittman's capacity for patronage appointments.[2]: 69–70
McCarran was also critical of Roosevelt's willingness to intervene in Europe, particularly in alliance with theSoviet Union. From 1939 to 1941, McCarran opposed Roosevelt's plans for aid to Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and France, accusing the president of trying to involve America in a war that was not its business.[2]: 94 In particular, McCarran was outraged by the Roosevelt administration's offer of military and economic aid to the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941, arguing that it was immoral to assist "godless communists."[23] In a speech on the Senate floor, McCarran declared that he despised bothAdolf Hitler andJosef Stalin but regarded theThird Reich as the lesser evil and felt it was therefore profoundly wrong for the United States to aid the Soviet Union.[23] McCarran was greatly influenced byPope Pius XI's anti-communistDivini Redemptorisencyclical in spring 1937, declaring that "Communism is intrinsically wrong, and no one who would save Christian civilization may collaborate with it in any undertaking."[23]
McCarran supported the war effort after the United States entered the conflict following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
McCarran's positions on several key committees, most notably Appropriations and Judiciary, gave him significant influence that he used to obtain federal funding for Nevada.[2]: 122–123 Outside of Nevada, McCarran had the reputation of a narrow-minded and parochial senator; the same reasons that made him unpopular outside of Nevada made him popular to Nevadans as he developed the reputation of a dogged fighter for Nevada's interests.[2]: 94 McCarran repeatedly attempted via filibusters to force the federal government to stockpile silver, a measure that would have benefited Nevada where silver mining was a major industry, but was widely denounced outside of Nevada as a plan for wasteful spending designed only to benefit his state.[2]: 94 After Pearl Harbor, McCarran made much in his Senate speeches to the Senate of the fact that most of American industry was concentrated in the Northeast and the Midwest, and argued that the federal government had a duty to ensure that war production was shifted to less industrialized states like Nevada.[2]: 94–95
WhenFelix Frankfurter became the second Supreme Court nominee to testify in person before the Judiciary Committee, and the first Jewish one, McCarran "used the occasion to launch a nasty, sneering attack on the nominee, filled with innuendo about Frankfurter's foreign origins and alleged radical associations."[24]
McCarran was well known for his efforts at constituent services, often going to extraordinary lengths on behalf of Nevada residents who requested his aid.[2]: 122–124 For instance, McCarran intervened to shield a teenager from Nevada who stole 150 volumes from theLibrary of Congress and mutilated hundreds of books.[2]: 123 In 1942, McCarran pressured the State Department to engage in a prisoner exchange to return the son of a Reno couple who had been captured by the Japanese at Wake Island.[2]: 123–25 McCarran's reputation as a man who could "get things done" translated into substantial support at the polls.[2]: 124–125
In the 1940s and 1950s, 40 percent of Senate bills had to first be approved by the Senate Judiciary committee, giving McCarran immense power as he could easily kill these bills in his committee.[2]: 94 [25] Other committee chairmen had the same powers over bills related to their fields, but the number of bills that had to be passed by the Judiciary Committee made McCarran far more influential than the other senate committee chairmen.[25] Over time, McCarran used his position as chairman of the Judiciary Committee to engage in much deal-making that allowed him to collect a significant number of political "debts", making him one of the most powerful Senators.[2]: 69–70 McCarran's conservative politics, which pitted him against first Roosevelt and thenHarry S. Truman, frequently led to him being asked why he continued as a Democrat instead of defecting to the Republicans. In 1950, when McCarran was asked that question by a reporter, he responded: "I can do more good by staying in the Democratic Party and watching the lunatic fringe--the Roosevelt crowd".[26] McCarran was against the plans of the Roosevelt and Truman administrations for federal health insurance and increased education spending; favored restricting the power of unions; was opposed to increased immigration, saying he did not want "undesirables from abroad" coming to America; and was against the United Nations, which he called "a haven for spies and Communists".[25] As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he appointed his friend, SenatorJames Eastland, a well known white supremacist and segregationist, as chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Civil Rights.[26] Such was McCarran's power that in July 1952, the liberalWashington Post newspaper (which was not friendly to the conservative McCarran) declared in an article: "It sums the character of this congress to state an unquestionable fact: that its most important member was Patrick A. McCarran".[2]: 122–147
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McCarran sponsored numerous laws concerning the early commercial aviation industry, including the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 and the Federal Airport Act of 1945.[21] He was an early advocate of separating theUnited States Army Air Forces from the Army as theAir Force and began sponsoring the necessary legislation in 1933.[27]
In 1945, McCarran co-sponsored theMcCarran-Ferguson Act, which exempted the insurance industry from most federal regulations, includingantitrust rules. Instead, this act required states to regulate insurance, including mandatory licensing requirements.[28]
McCarran also co-sponsored the 1946Administrative Procedures Act, which required federal agencies to keep the public informed of their organizational structure, procedures and rules, allowed for public participation in the rule making process, and established uniform standards for the conduct of formal rule making.[29]
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McCarran established himself as one of the Senate's most ardent anti-Communists.[30][31] An admirer of Spanish dictatorFrancisco Franco, he was nicknamed the "Senator from Madrid" by columnistDrew Pearson over his efforts to increaseforeign aid to Spain.[32][33] McCarran voted for President Truman's 1947 plan to provide aid to Greece and Turkey as part of an effort to prevent them from becoming communist, but in 1949 McCarran broke with Truman after he rejected McCarran's request for increased economic aid to Spain and military aid toChiang Kai-shek's nationalist Chinese government.[2]: 132 In 1949, McCarran visited Spain, where he was welcomed as if he were a visiting head of state, and made clear his admiration for Franco.[34] McCarran's praise for Franco greatly annoyed Truman.[35] During his visit to Spain, McCarran discussed potential U.S. aid for Franco, infuriating Truman, who angrily declared that McCarran did not have the right to conduct his own foreign policy.[36]
AfterWorld War II, McCarran continued his anti-Communist efforts. He was a supporter ofChiang Kai-shek and attributed the "loss of China" to communists to Soviet influence in theU.S. State Department.[37] In 1952, McCarran and Republican SenatorsJoseph McCarthy andWilliam Knowland attended a dinner hosted by theKuomintang Ambassador to Washington, toasting "Back to the mainland!"[38] McCarthy sought McCarran's favor after he started his "crusade against Communism."[26] McCarran privately told friends that "Joe is a bit irresponsible" and a "publicity hound," but praised him for his attacks on the Truman administration.[26] In 1951, in an interview with theU.S. News, McCarran expressed his belief that theAmerican Communist Party had engaged in "infiltration" of the media, churches, university faculties, unions and "nationality groups."[26]
In 1950, McCarran was the chief sponsor of theMcCarran Internal Security Act, which required theCommunist Party and affiliated organizations to register with theAttorney General and established theSubversive Activities Control Board to investigate possible communist subversion and communist front organizations. The act also gave the government power to imprison people "likely" to be spies, saboteurs, and "subversives" without trial (though those imprisoned could appeal to a review board) if the president declared a national emergency.[39] President Truman vetoed the act, charging that it violated civil liberties and put the government in "the business of thought control," but Congress overrode Truman's veto.[39] No such emergency was ever declared and the six camps built for this purpose by theFederal Bureau of Prisons were never used before being shut down in 1957.[40] The act was never enforced due to numerous hearings, delays andappeals before its major provisions were held unconstitutional by theUnited States Supreme Court in 1965 and 1967.[41]
As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, McCarran created and chaired theSenate Internal Security Subcommittee to investigate supposed communist spies and sympathizers within theFranklin D. Roosevelt andHarry S. Truman administrations.[42] In acrimonious hearings in February 1951, McCarran questionedInstitute of Pacific Relations researcherOwen Lattimore, whom Senator McCarthy accused of being the "top Russian agent" responsible for the "loss of China."[43][44] During the hearings, McCarran and Lattimore frequently engaged in shouting matches and interrupted one another.[45] At the end of the hearings, McCarran stated Lattimore was "so flagrantly defiant" and "so persistent in his efforts to confuse and obscure the facts that the committee feels constrained to take due notice of his conduct ... That he has uttered untruths stands clear in the record."[43] The subcommittee report written by McCarran concluded that China was indeed "lost" because of the policy followed by the State Department, declaring, "Owen Lattimore and John Carter Vincent were influential in bringing about a change in United States policy... favorable to the Chinese Communists".[45] McCarran was careful not to accuse Lattimore of espionage, which would have allowed him to sue for libel, but came very close with the statement: "Owen Lattimore was, from some time beginning in the 1930s, a conscious, articulate instrument of the Soviet conspiracy".[45] McCarran subsequently pushed successfully for Lattimore to beindicted forperjury.
| External videos | |
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 Presentation by Ybarra onWashington Gone Crazy, November 13, 2004,C-SPAN |
BiographerMichael Ybarra asserted in his bookWashington Gone Crazy: Senator Pat McCarran and the Great American Communist Hunt that "arguably no American wrecked as many lives as did the great Red hunter from Nevada."[24]
As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he held up the nomination of Truman's nominee for Attorney General,James McGranery, until McGanery promised to indict Lattimore.[46] Lattimore's lawyerAbe Fortas defended him by claiming McCarran had deliberately asked questions about arcane and obscure matters that took place in the 1930s in the hope that Lattimore would not be able to recall them properly, thereby giving grounds for perjury indictments. Federal JudgeLuther Youngdahl later dismissed all seven charges against Lattimore on the grounds that the matters in question were insubstantial, of little concern to McCarran's inquiry, or the result of questions phrased in such a way that they could not be fairly answered.[47]
On July 27, 1953, thearmistice of Panmunjom was signed ending the Korean War. McCarran attracted national attention when he criticized President Dwight Eisenhower on the Senate floor for signing the armistice, which he called "a perpetuation of a fraud on this country and the United Nations".[48] McCarran believed that the United States and the rest of its allies fighting under the United Nations banner in Korea should have fought on until all of Korea was unified under the leadership of PresidentSyngman Rhee, which led him to see the armistice as a sort of American defeat.[48]
In June 1952, McCarran joinedFrancis Walter in sponsorship of theMcCarran–Walter Act, a law that abolished racial restrictions found in United States immigration and naturalization statutes going back to theNaturalization Act of 1790 and also imposed more rigid restrictions on quotas for immigrants entering the United States. McCarran's antisemitism was also reflected in his view on immigration; he actively opposed efforts to permit survivors ofthe Holocaust to come to the United States.[24][49] The Act also stiffened the existing law relating to the admission, exclusion and deportation of dangerous aliens under the McCarran Internal Security Act. Of the Act, McCarran said:
I believe that this nation is the last hope of Western civilization and if this oasis of the world shall be overrun, perverted, contaminated or destroyed, then the last flickering light of humanity will be extinguished. I take no issue with those who would praise the contributions which have been made to our society by people of many races, of varied creeds and colors. America is indeed a joining together of many streams which go to form a mighty river which we call the American way. However, we have in the United States today hard-core, indigestible blocs which have not become integrated into the American way of life, but which, on the contrary are its deadly enemies. Today, as never before, untold millions are storming our gates for admission and those gates are cracking under the strain. The solution of the problems of Europe and Asia will not come through a transplanting of those problems en masse to the United States.... I do not intend to become prophetic, but if the enemies of this legislation succeed in riddling it to pieces, or in amending it beyond recognition, they will have contributed more to promote this nation's downfall than any other group since we achieved our independence as a nation.[50]
Some of the immigration provisions of the act were later superseded by the1965 Immigration Act, but the power of the government to deny visas for ideological reasons remained on the books another 25 years after that.[51]
In 1903, McCarran married Harriet Martha "Birdie" Weeks (1882–1963).[3][52] They were the parents of four daughters and one son.[52] Samuel McCarran became a doctor and worked in Reno.[52][3] Margaret and Mary became members of theOrder of Dominican Sisters.[52][3] Norine was a longtime employee of the Library of Congress.[52][3] Patricia became the wife of Edwin Parry Hay of Maryland.[52][3] Mary left the order in 1957 and became an investment broker, art studio owner, and author.[53]
McCarran died inHawthorne, Nevada, on September 28, 1954, collapsing of a heart attack following a speech he gave at a political rally.[21][52] McCarran was buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Reno.[54]
McCarran is remembered as one of the few Democrats to oppose PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt and reject theNew Deal.[55] In addition, he was a proponent of the aviation industry; he was a sponsor of theCivil Aeronautics Act of 1938 and the Federal Airport Act of 1945, and was a proponent of establishing theUnited States Air Force separate from the Army.[56] In recent years he has been accused of racism, antisemitism, andxenophobia.[57] His strident anti-communism matched that ofJoseph McCarthy.[24]
Harold L. Ickes described McCarran as "easy-going, old-shoe 'Pat'" in a column criticizing McCarran as a tool of the oil companies.[58] American journalistJohn Gunther was also critical of McCarran's alleged corporate ties, writing that he resembled gold "in that he is soft, heavy, and not a good conductor."[59]
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McCarran Boulevard inReno is named for Pat McCarran, as is McCarran Street inNorth Las Vegas.[60][61]
Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas was named after Senator McCarran prior to December 14, 2021.[27] For some time, many Nevada politicians had supported removing his name from the airport due to his antisemitic and racist beliefs. U.S. SenatorHarry Reid said McCarran was "one of the most prejudiced people who has ever served in the Senate."[62] On February 16, 2021, theClark County Commissioners voted unanimously to officially change the name of McCarran International Airport to Harry Reid International Airport.[63] The name change took place after federal approval and just before Reid's death.
Astatue of McCarran is included in theNational Statuary Hall Collection at theUnited States Capitol.[27] Each state is allowed to display likenesses of two individuals; Nevada's are those of McCarran andSarah Winnemucca.[27]
In 2017, Nevada's three Democratic members of theU.S. House of Representatives wrote to GovernorBrian Sandoval and state legislative leaders and stated their view that review of McCarran's career might warrant removal of his statue from theNational Statuary Hall Collection.[64]
"While he fought for workers' rights and helped shape the country's aviation industry, McCarran left a legacy of racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism" - letter sent by Reps. Dina Titus, Ruben Kihuen and Jacky Rosen.[65][66]
In January 2017, a poll of Nevada legislators indicated support for removing McCarran's statue from the collection.[65] A bill introduced in theNevada State Senate, SB 174, which called for the removal of the statue and renaming ofMcCarran International Airport for former U.S. SenatorHarry Reid, failed to be passed before the end of the 2017 legislative session on June 1, 2017.[67]
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Media related toPat McCarran at Wikimedia Commons| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromNevada (Class 3) 1932,1938,1944,1950 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 3) from Nevada 1933–1954 Served alongside:Key Pittman,Berkeley L. Bunker, James G. Scrugham,Edward P. Carville,George W. Malone | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by William H. King Utah | Chairman of theSenate District of Columbia Committee 1941–1945 | Succeeded by Theodore G. Bilbo Mississippi |
| Preceded by Frederick Van Nuys Indiana | Chairman of theSenate Judiciary Committee 1945–1947 | Succeeded by Alexander Wiley Wisconsin |
| Preceded by Alexander Wiley Wisconsin | Chairman of theSenate Judiciary Committee 1949–1953 | Succeeded by William Langer North Dakota |
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| Class 3 | ||
