Though he was ultimately censured for his activities by the Senate, McCarthy was, between 1950 and 1954, the most powerful voice of anti-COMMUNISMin the United States.. The Court held th
Trang 1Humphrey Humphrey won the nomination, but unprecedented violence at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago helped to doom his candidacy against RICHARD M NIXON McCarthy refused to campaign for Humphrey, largely because Humphrey was reluctant to articulate a proposal to end the Vietnam War
Humphrey lost the November election to Nixon
by a smaller margin than had been predicted, leading some Democratic leaders to complain that McCarthy’s unwillingness to campaign for the ticket had cost Humphrey the election
McCarthy declined to run for re-election to the Senate in 1970 Humphrey ran successfully
in his place McCarthy ran a lackluster presi-dential campaign in 1972 and a better-orga-nized independent presidential campaign in
1976 He lost both races and subsequently retired from the political arena
McCarthy endorsed RONALD REAGANin 1980 over incumbent president JIMMY CARTERand his running mate, Minnesotan Walter Mondale In
1982 McCarthy ran for senator in Minnesota but was defeated in the Democratic primary by Mark Dayton
After leaving active politics, McCarthy concentrated on teaching, political commen-tary, and poetry writing In 1998 he published No-Fault Politics: Modern Presidents, the Press, and Reformers In 2001 a documentary film titled, I'm Sorry I Was Right: Eugene McCarthy was released In the film, McCarthy discussed his past experiences, extrapolated on lessons learned from the Vietnam War, warned against the growing power of the military-industrial complex, and recited some of his poetry
McCarthy continued to write, travel the country,
and speak out against the war in Iraq until his death in December of 2005
FURTHER READINGS Callahan, John 2003 “As War Looms.” Commonweal (March 14).
Colford, Paul D 1998 “Eugene McCarthy, Revisited.” Newsday (August 26).
Cunningham, Jesse G., ed 2003 The McCarthy Hearings San Diego, Calif.: Greenhaven Press.
Eisele, Albert 1972 Almost to the Presidency: A Biography of Two American Politicians Piper.
Herman, Arthur 2000 Joseph McCarthy: Reexamining the Life and Legacy of America’s Most Hated Senator New York: Free Press.
Kinsler, Joseph 2001 “Joseph McCarthy, the Law Student.” Marquette Law Review 85 (winter): 467–79.
McCarthy, Abigail 1972 Private Faces, Public Places New York: Doubleday.
McCarthy, Eugene 1987 Up ‘Til Now: A Memoir San Diego: Harcourt.
——— The Year of the People New York: Doubleday Sandbrook, Dominic 2004 Eugene McCarthy: The Rise and Fall of Postwar American Liberalism New York: Knopf.
vMCCARTHY, JOSEPH RAYMOND
Joseph Raymond McCarthy was a U.S senator who during the early 1950s conducted a highly controversial campaign against supposed Com-munist infiltration of the U.S government His accusations and methods of interrogation of witnesses came to be called “McCarthyism,” a term that remains a part of the U.S political vocabulary Though he was ultimately censured for his activities by the Senate, McCarthy was, between 1950 and 1954, the most powerful voice of anti-COMMUNISMin the United States McCarthy was born November 14, 1908, in Grand Chute, Wisconsin He graduated from
❖
1908 Born,
Grand Chute,
Wis.
1914–18 World War I
1939–45 World War II
1946–57 Served in U.S Senate
1953 Presided over the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
◆ ◆
1954 Led televised hearings into alleged Communist influence in the Army; censured by Senate for his actions in those hearings
1957 Died, Bethesda, Md.
❖
◆◆
1935 Earned LL.B from Marquette University
1939 Elected Wisconsin circuit judge 1942–45 Served in U.S Marine Corps
1961–73 Vietnam War
◆
1951 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg convicted of spying for the Russians and executed
1950–53 Korean War
Trang 2Marquette University in 1935 with a bachelor of
laws degree He practiced law in Wisconsin
until 1939, when he was elected a circuit court
judge DuringWORLD WAR II, McCarthy served in
the Marine Corps as a tailgunner He progressed
to the rank of captain and was awarded several
commendations for his military achievements
McCarthy used his wartime record as
“Tail-gunner Joe” to help upset Republican Senator
primary election McCarthy was elected to the
Senate in 1946 and reelected in 1952
During his first three years in office,
McCarthy was an undistinguished and relatively
unknown senator He catapulted to public
attention, however, after giving a speech in
Wheeling, West Virginia, in February 1950 In
the speech, McCarthy charged that 205
Com-munists had infiltrated theSTATE DEPARTMENT He
claimed that Communist subversion had led to
the fall of China to the Communists in October
1949 A Senate investigating committee ordered
McCarthy to produce evidence of his
accusa-tions, but he was unable to produce the names
of any Communists
Despite this failure to produce evidence,
McCarthy escalated his anti-Communist
cru-sade He accused Democratic PresidentHARRY S
Commu-nists and of failing to stop Communist
aggres-sion His accusations struck a chord with many
U.S citizens, who were fearful of the growth of
Communism and the menace of the Soviet
Union as well as angry at the U.S government’s
apparent inability to prevent the spread of
Communism
In 1953 McCarthy became the chair of the
Senate’s Government Committee on Operations
and head of its permanent subcommittee
on investigations ThoughDWIGHT D.EISENHOWER,
a Republican, became president in 1953,
McCarthy used the investigations subcommittee
to continue his campaign against
Commun-ist subversion in the federal government
McCarthy brought persons before his
commit-tee who he claimed were “card-carrying”
Communists He made colorful and clever
accusations against these witnesses, who, as a
result, often lost their jobs and were labeled as
subversive Evidence that a person had briefly
joined a left-wing political group during the
1930s was used by McCarthy to suggest that the
person was a Communist or a Communist sympathizer
McCarthy attacked some of the policies of President Eisenhower, yet the president was reluctant to criticize the popular senator In April 1954 McCarthy leveled charges against the U.S Army, claiming the secretary of the army had concealed foreign ESPIONAGE activities Thir-ty-six days of televised hearings ensued, known
as the “Army-McCarthy hearings.” McCarthy was unable to substantiate any of his allegations
During the course of the hearings, McCarthy’s aggressive and intimidating tactics backfired, turning public opinion against him
After the Democrats regained control of the Senate in the November 1954 elections, McCarthy was replaced as chair of the investi-gating committee by SenatorJOHN L.MCCLELLAN
of Arkansas McClellan, who had been critical of McCarthy’s approach, helped lead an effort to censure McCarthy for his methods and for his abuse of other senators In 1955, the Senate, on
a vote of 67 to 22, moved to censure McCarthy
The censure vote marked the decline of McCarthy’s political influence He died on May
2, 1957, in Bethesda, Maryland
CROSS REFERENCES Cohn, Roy Marcus; Cold War; Red Scare; Welch, Joseph Nye.
Joseph McCarthy TIME & LIFE PICTURES/ GETTY IMAGES
T HE FATE OF THE WORLD RESTS WITH THE CLASH BETWEEN THE ATHEISM OF
M OSCOW AND THE
C HRISTIAN SPIRIT THROUGHOUT OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Trang 3vMCCLELLAN, JOHN LITTLE
John Little McClellan served as a U.S senator from 1942 to 1977 During the 1950s McClellan rose to national prominence for his opposition
to the methods used by Senator JOSEPH R
subversion McClellan succeeded McCarthy as chair of the investigating subcommittee and conducted probes of union corruption, graft,
McClellan was born on February 25, 1896,
in Sheridan, Arkansas He was admitted to the Arkansas bar in 1913 and served a tour of military duty inWORLD WAR I He maintained a private law practice in Arkansas before becom-ing a prosecutbecom-ing attorney in 1927 McClellan
left the post in 1930 to resume private prac-tice, but abandoned law for DEMOCRATIC PARTY
politics in 1935, when he was elected to the U.S House of Representatives In 1942 he began
a career in the U.S Senate that would span
35 years
McClellan was largely unknown outside of Arkansas until the 1950s In 1953 he was named to the special investigating subcommit-tee headed by Republican Senator Joseph R McCarthy of Wisconsin McCarthy had become
a national figure for his controversial charges of Communist subversion in theSTATE DEPARTMENT
and other divisions of the federal government McCarthy was a master of the media, attracting front-page coverage for his allegations However, his use of the investigating committee angered McClellan, who objected to McCarthy’s unsub-stantiated accusations and to his brow-beating
of witnesses
In 1954, following a contentious, 36 day televised hearing dealing with the Army’s alleged concealment of foreign ESPIONAGE, McCarthy’s popularity declined McClellan served on a committee that investigated McCarthy’s actions during these hearings The committee concluded McCarthy should be censured by the Senate for his abusive methods and for his “contemptuous” conduct toward a subcommittee that had investigated his finances
in 1952 McClellan and an overwhelming majority of his colleagues censured McCarthy
on these charges
After the Democrats regained control of the Senate in the November 1954 elections, McClellan replaced McCarthy as chair of the investigating committee In 1957 he drew national attention as chair of the Senate Select Committee
John Little McClellan 1896–1977
◆
❖
1896 Born,
Sheridan,
Ark.
1913 Special permission
given to take bar exam
at age 17
1914–18 World War I
1920–23 Served as city attorney of Sheridan
1935–39 Served in U.S House
1939–45 World War II
1943–77 Served
in U.S Senate
◆
1954 Became chair
of the Permanent Investigations Subcommittee
◆
1957 Led Senate Committee
on Improper Activities in the Labor Field hearings
1961–73 Vietnam War
◆
1966 Supreme Court ruled
in Miranda v Arizona that
police officers were required to read suspects
their rights
◆
❖
1977 Completed overhaul of the U.S Criminal Code; died, Little Rock, Ark.
1969 Anti-Vietnam War demonstrations reached peak
1950–53 Korean War
John L McClellan.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
M OUNTING CRIME
AND CORRUPTION ARE
INSIDIOUSLY
GNAWING AT THE
VITALITY AND
STRENGTH OF OUR
REPUBLIC
Trang 4on Improper Activities in the Labor or
Manage-ment Field As presiding officer, he directed
investigations of several powerfulLABOR UNIONS
He forcefully questioned the leadership of the
Teamsters Union, including Dave Beck and
James (Jimmy) Hoffa The McClellan
Commit-tee’s investigation revealed that the Teamsters
Union and other groups had taken union funds
for private use and that there were clear links
between the Teamsters and organized crime
One result of the probe was the expulsion of
the Teamsters and two other unions from the
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR AND CONGRESS OF
The corruption uncovered by McClellan’s
committee also led to the passage of the
Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of
1959, commonly known as theLANDRUM-GRIFFIN
ACT(29 U.S.C.A § 401 et seq.) This act sought
to prevent union corruption and to guarantee
union members that unions would be run
democratically
In 1961 McClellan investigated the
fraudu-lent agricultural dealings of Texas businessman
Billy Sol Estes In 1963 McClellan was involved
with the investigation of organized crime During
the hearings, Joseph Valachi, a member of an
organized crime family, gave graphic testimony
of its inner workings McClellan continued to
organize investigations as part of the Permanent
Investigations Subcommittee until 1973, when
he became head of the Senate Appropriations
Committee
McClellan died on November 28, 1977 in
Little Rock, Arkansas
MCCULLOCH V MARYLAND
McCulloch v Maryland is a keynote case, 17 U.S
(4 Wheat.) 316, 4 L.Ed 579 (1819), decided by
the U.S Supreme Court that established the
principles that the federal government possesses
broad powers to pass a number of types of laws,
and that the states cannot interfere with any
federal agency by imposing a direct tax upon it
This case represents another illustrative
example of the ongoing debate among the
founders of the U.S constitutional government
regarding the balance of powers between the
states and the federal government The
Feder-alists were in favor of a strong central
govern-ment, whereas the Republicans wanted the
states to retain most powers Those who wrote
and ratified the U.S Constitution ultimately agreed to grant the federal government certain specific powers known as the enumerated powers—listed in the Constitution—and con-cluded with a general provision that permitted Congress to make all laws that are necessary and proper for the carrying out of the foregoing powers, as well as all other powers vested in the U.S government by the Constitution Some people were fearful that such a provision, which
is called theNECESSARY AND PROPER CLAUSEof the Constitution, was a blanket authorization for the federal government to regulate the states
Subsequently, a series of articles—which came to be called the Federalist Papers—were published in New York newspapers These articles defended the clause on the basis that any power only constitutes that ability to do something, and that the power to do something is the power to utilize a means of doing it It is necessary for a legislature to have the power to make laws; therefore, the proper means of exercising that power is by making “necessary and proper” laws The Constitution was, there-fore, ratified in 1789 with the Necessary and Proper Clause
In exercise of the power conferred by that clause, the first Congress enacted a law in 1791 that incorporated a national bank called the
private bank, took deposits of private funds, made private loans, and issued bank notes that could be used like money In addition, wherever branches were established, it operated as a place for the federal government to deposit its funds
The legislation that incorporated the bank stated in its preamble that it would be extremely conducive to the successful operation of the national finances, would aid in the obtaining of loans for the use of the government in sudden emergencies, and would produce considerable advantages to trade and industry in general
That bank charter was allowed to expire in 1811; however, a second Bank of the United States was incorporated in 1816 with one-fifth
of its stock owned by the United States, and it became extremely unpopular This was particu-larly true in the South and West, where it first overexpanded credits and then drastically
limit-ed them, thereby contributing to the failure of many state-chartered banks A number of states attempted to keep branches of the national bank out of their states by passing laws proscribing
Trang 5any banks not chartered by the state or by imposing heavy taxes on them The only bank affected by these laws was the Bank of the United States The tremendous dispute that subsequently arose between the federal and state governments required resolution by the Supreme Court
Maryland had one of the least stringent rules against the bank, which required that any bank or branch that was not established subject to the authority of the state must use special stamped paper for its bank notes and, in effect, pay
2 percent of the value of the notes as a tax or pay
a general tax of $15,000 per year Maryland brought suit against McCulloch, cashier of the Bank of the United States, for not paying the tax and won a judgment for the amount of the penalties An appeal was brought to the Supreme Court by McCulloch
Chief JusticeJOHN MARSHALLwrote the majority opinion of the Court, which reversed the Maryland judgment The Court held that the federal government has the power to do what
is necessary and proper, which included the grant
of authority to establish a national bank Mary-land, therefore, had no right to tax the bank, a conclusion which was based upon the theory that
“the power to tax is the power to destroy.” A state cannot have authority under the Constitution to destroy or tax any agency that has been properly set up by the federal government On that basis, the law that was passed by the legislature of Maryland that imposed a tax on the Bank of the United States was unconstitutional and void
FURTHER READINGS Killenbeck, Mark R 2002 “Madison, M'Culloch, and Matters of Judicial Cognizance: Some Thoughts on the Nature and Scope of Judicial Review ” Arkansas Law Review 55 (winter).
Newmyer, R Kent 2000 “John Marshall, McCulloch v.
Maryland, and the Southern States ’ Rights Tradition.”
John Marshall Law Review 33 (summer).
Pettifor, Bonnie, and Charles E Petit 2003 McCulloch v.
Maryland: When State and Federal Powers Conflict.
Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow.
Rakove, Jack N 1996 “The Origins of Judicial Review: A Plea for New Contexts Stanford Law Review 49 (May).
CROSS REFERENCES Constitution of the United States; Federalism; Federalist Papers.
MCGRAIN V DAUGHERTY
A landmark decision of the Supreme Court, McGrain v Daugherty, 273 U.S 135, 47 S.Ct
319, 71 L.Ed 580 (1927), recognized the implicit power of either House of Congress to hold a witness in a congressional investigation
or to respond to its questions
During the mid-1920s, there were numerous allegations that the U.S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT was being mismanaged by its administrator, HARRY
States In response to the charges, the Senate passed a resolution that empowered an investiga-tory committee to hear evidence as to whether Daugherty failed to prosecute various violations
of the ANTITRUST LAWS Mally S Daugherty, who was a bank president as well as the brother of the attorney general, refused to respond to a subpoena that was issued by the committee on two occasions ordering him to appear and to bring designated bank ledgers The president pro tempore of the Senate issued a warrant to his sergeant at arms that Mally Daugherty be taken into custody A deputy of the sergeant at arms took Daugherty into custody in Cincinnati, Ohio Daugherty brought aHABEAS CORPUSaction for his release in federal district court in Ohio The court declared that the attachment and detention of the witness was void on the ground that the Senate exceeded its powers in directing the investigation and in ordering the seizure of Daugherty The deputy made a direct appeal to the Supreme Court, which accepted the case for review The Court defined two issues: whether the Senate or House of Representatives has authority
to use its own process to compel a private person
to appear as a witness and to testify before it or one of its committees in order that Congress can perform a legislative function that it has under the Constitution; and whether the process that was used in this case was directed toward that purpose Before addressing those questions, how-ever, the Court reviewed some of Daugherty’s assertions Daugherty argued that there was no statutory provision for a deputy and that even if there were, the deputy had no power to execute the warrant, since it was addressed to the sergeant
at arms The Court disagreed It explained that deputies were authorized to act for the sergeant
at arms by virtue of a standing order adopted by the Senate and that Congress recognized their status by establishing and making appropria-tions for their compensation
Daugherty also used theFOURTH AMENDMENT
provision that “no warrants shall issue, but
Trang 6upon PROBABLE CAUSE, supported by oath or
affirmation,” to assert that the warrant was void
because its basis was an unsworn committee
report The Court rejected this argument on the
ground that the committee members were acting
pursuant to their oath as Senators when they
issued the warrant When committee members
act on matters within their knowledge, probable
cause exists for the action of the committee The
warrant withstood constitutional muster
Daugherty also claimed that the warrant was
deficient because it stated that he be “brought
before the bar of the Senate then and there” to
testify It was not a subpoena to appear before the
Senate, nor did he refuse to do so The Court
dismissed this assertion, because it considered
the warrant an auxiliary process used by the
committee that was acting for the Senate to
compel the witness to provide testimony sought
by the subpoena
The Court finally addressed the central issues
of the case: the constitutional authority of the
Senate to act in such a manner, and whether the
warrant in this case was appropriate It reasoned
that while the power to investigate was not
explicitly given to Congress by the Constitution,
it was traditionally recognized as implicit in the
legislative function since it is a means to obtain
necessary information The Court also referred to
various federal laws that demonstrated that either
house of Congress has the power to commence
investigations and gather evidence concerning
activities within its jurisdiction; that committees
may conduct such investigations; that in order to
fully implement the power to investigate, either
house may punish uncooperative witnesses; and
witnesses may be givenIMMUNITYfrom criminal
prosecutions that derive from their testimonies
before the committees Based upon tradition and statutes, the Court concluded that each house of Congress has auxiliary powers that are essential in order to effectuate its express powers, but neither house has unlimited“general” power to investi-gate private matters and force testimony The Senate acted within its powers when it authorized
a committee to investigate Daugherty When the committee sought Daugherty’s testimony, it was
as a means to perform a legislative function since the purpose of the inquiry was to determine whether the attorney general and the Department
of Justice—subjects of congressional regulations and appropriations—were properly performing their duties The Court deemed that Daugherty’s seizure and detention were appropriate because
of his wrongful refusal to appear and testify before a lawful congressional committee It reversed the order of the district court that released Daugherty from custody
CROSS REFERENCE Congress of the United States.
vMCGRANERY, JAMES PATRICK
James Patrick McGranery was a U.S representa-tive and a federal judge prior to his appointment
as attorney general of the United States He served as attorney general under PresidentHARRY
McGranery was born July 8, 1895, in Philadelphia His Irish Catholic parents, Patrick McGranery and Bridget Gallagher McGranery, were devout, hardworking, and practical They sent McGranery to local parochial schools, and they did not discourage their son when he chose to quit school and enter the workforce
McGranery was a high-school student when he
❖
1895 Born, Philadelphia, Pa.
1914–18 World War I
1962 Died, Palm Beach, Fla.
1939–45 World War II
1950–53 Korean War
1961–73 Vietnam War
1900
❖
1946–52 Sat on U.S Federal Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
1917–19 Served
as army balloon pilot during World War I
1928 Earned LL.B.
from Temple University Law School
◆
1937–43 Served in U.S House 1943–46 Served as assistant to the U.S attorney general
1952–53 Served as U.S attorney general under President Truman
Trang 7landed his first full-time job at a Philadelphia printing plant He remained a card-carrying member of a Philadelphia printer’s union for most of his life
When the United States enteredWORLD WAR I, McGranery left his job to enlist in the Army He served as a balloon observation pilot and as adjutant with the 111th Infantry At the end of the war, he returned home with a broader view of the world and a strong determination to resume his education He entered Philadelphia’s Maher Preparatory School in 1919 to complete the entrance requirements for Temple University
The war experience also sparked McGranery’s interest in law and government While at Temple, and later at Temple Law School, he became active
in local ward politics Soon after graduating and passing the bar examination in 1928, he was tapped by Philadelphia ward bosses to manage the local campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Alfred E Smith, of New York Smith ultimately lost his presidential bid, but McGranery was exhilarated by the political process and eager to attempt his own run for office He hastily made a bid for a vacant clerk-of-court seat, and was defeated
McGranery’s introduction to the political process showed him the need for a solid political base, and it convinced him that a base
of supporters could be cultivated through the
PRACTICE OF LAW To that end, he established the firm of Masterson and McGranery He started
to represent clients with known political
influence, including police officers and fire-fighters, and leaders of their unions While building his practice, McGranery made two more failed attempts at elected office—as a candidate for district attorney in 1931, and as
a candidate for the U.S Congress in 1934 Finally in 1936, McGranery had paid his dues and curried the favor he needed He was elected
as a Democrat to represent Pennsylvania’s Second Congressional District, by a margin of almost 25,000 votes over his Republican opponent He was reelected in 1938, 1940, and 1942 Just before his second term in Congress, McGranery married Attorney Regina T Clark, of Philadelphia, with whom he had three children: James Patrick, Jr., Clark, and Regina
During his years in Congress, McGranery served on the House Banking and Currency, Interstate, Foreign Commerce, and Ways and Means Committees His voting record was consistent with his allegiance to President
FRANKLIN D.ROOSEVELTand theDEMOCRATIC PARTY McGranery resigned his seat in the fall of
1943 when his congressional district was elimi-nated by reapportionment Roosevelt was reluc-tant to lose McGranery’s longtime support, so
he offered to create a position for McGranery in
GeneralFRANCIS BIDDLE McGranery accepted He served as the department’s chief administrative officer and chief liaison with Congress and other federal departments and agencies during the
board-of-appeals findings under the Selective Service Act (50 U.S.C.A App 451-471a)
After the war, McGranery remained in the Department of Justice to serve as chief assistant to Truman’s first attorney general, TOM C CLARK Though McGranery held a position of promi-nence, he was not as involved or influential under Clark as he had been under Biddle History suggests that Clark shut McGranery out of high-profile or sensitive cases, including one involving a vote-fraud allegation in the presi-dent’s home district; a mail-fraud case against a bond dealer who raised funds for Truman, which was dismissed; and an investigation of Amerasia,
a left-wing magazine devoted to Asian affairs McGranery resigned his post in October 1946 to accept an appointment from Truman to the federal bench in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge McGranery quickly established a reputation as a tough jurist Critics described
James P McGranery.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
N O SPECIFIC INTENT
TO MONOPOLIZE IS
NECESSARY ; THE
ONLY RELEVANT
INTENT IS THE INTENT
TO ENTER INTO THE
BUSINESS
ARRANGEMENTS
WHICH GIVE RISE TO
THE POWER
Trang 8him as high-handed, autocratic, and inclined to
favor the government’s position on any given
issue Even former attorney general Biddle
acknowledged that McGranery was essentially
an advocate rather than a judge
In one celebrated pronouncement,
McGran-ery ruled in 1949 that Representative Earl
Chudoff (D-Pa.) could not appear as a defense
attorney in McGranery’s court because, as a
government employee, the congressman had an
inherent conflict in representing a client in a
federal proceeding (Chudoff v McGranery, 179
F.2d 869)
During his years on the federal bench,
McGranery’s name was often mentioned in
connection with nominations to Democratic
Party and government posts including chairman
of the Democratic National Committee,
post-master general, and attorney general It was just
as often discounted because of McGranery’s
personal reputation McGranery was well-known
to be given to emotional outbursts; he had a
history of erratic behavior dating back to his early
days in the Department of Justice
Despite warnings from a number of
quar-ters, Truman asked McGranery to fill the
attorney general post in the spring of 1952,
following the departure ofJ.HOWARD MCGRATH
Truman had reluctantly asked for McGrath’s
resignation after McGrath had failed to
cooper-ate with, and lcooper-ater fired, a special assistant who
had been named to investigate corrupt practices
inside the Department of Justice and the Bureau
of Internal Revenue A confirmation committee
in Congress briefly raised the issue of
McGran-ery’s participation in the Amerasia incident and
speculated that he might try to block the
ongoing Department of Justice investigation just as McGrath had Nevertheless, after some discussion, McGranery was confirmed as attor-ney general To the surprise of many of his longtime critics, he oversaw a thorough inquiry that led to numerous dismissals and prosecu-tions in both the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Internal Revenue
McGranery made a number of other con-tributions as attorney general, including the initiation of antitrust cases in the oil and steel industries, the diamond trade, and magazine wholesaling; the prosecution of American Communist Party leaders; the deportation of organized-crime figures; and the instigation of Department of Justice support for the cause
of school INTEGRATION in BROWN V BOARD OF
S Ct 686, 98 L Ed 873 [1954]) His office helped to provide the basis for that decision overruling the“separate-but-equal” doctrine
At the close of the Truman administration, McGranery practiced law in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia He died on December 23,
1962, in Palm Beach, Florida
vMCGRATH, JAMES HOWARD
James Howard McGrath, a three-term governor and U.S senator from Rhode Island, served as
United States under President HARRY S.TRUMAN McGrath was born November 28, 1903, in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and reared in nearby Providence His father, James J McGrath, worked as a knitter in a woolen mill before venturing into real estate and insurance He rose
1903 Born,
Woonsocket,
R.I.
1926 Graduated from Providence College
1914–18 World War I
1966 Died, Narragansett, R.I.
1934–40 Served as U.S district attorney for Rhode Island
1961–73 Vietnam War 1939–45
World War II
1950–53 Korean War
1950 Argued Henderson v United States before Supreme Court
1947 Chosen to chair the Democratic National Committee
1930 Became chair of Rhode Island Democratic State Committee
1947–49 Served in U.S Senate 1930–34 Served as solicitor of Central Falls, R.I.
◆
1940–45 Served as governor of Rhode Island
◆
1945 Appointed as solicitor general of the United States
◆
1949–52 Served as U.S attorney general under President Truman
◆
Trang 9to prominence through his association with the Independent Order of Foresters (a fraternal insurance organization), handling the company’s affairs in the New England states His mother, Ida E May McGrath, used her training as a bookkeeper to manage the family’s financial affairs while her husband was on the road
As a young boy, McGrath set out to win a subscription contest at a Providence newspaper
by targeting his father’s business colleagues as potential subscribers He sold a record number of new subscriptions and, in the process, captured the attention of the newspaper’s owner, Rhode Island senator Peter G Gerry
When he was not selling newspapers, McGrath attended Providence’s La Salle
Acade-my He completed his undergraduate studies in
1922 and enrolled at Providence College During his college years, McGrath was a founding member and the first president of the Young Men’s Democratic League of Rhode Island
By graduation day in 1926, McGrath knew
he wanted a career in politics While waiting to attend law school, McGrath approached Senator Gerry and asked for a summer job Gerry remembered the young man and put him to work in his senate office McGrath worked for Gerry until his graduation from Boston Univer-sity Law School in 1929 Following hisADMISSION
TO THE BAR, McGrath joined a Providence law firm and decided to marry He and his wife, Estelle A
Cadorette McGrath, had one son, James David McGrath, in 1930
Though 1929 and 1930 were years of change and new beginnings for McGrath, his interest in politics remained constant He had been named vice chairman of the Rhode Island Democratic State Committee in 1928; by 1930, he was chairman of the committee and ready to make his own place in the political arena McGrath’s first political appointment came in late 1930 when he was named city solicitor of Central Falls, Rhode Island He served in that post for four years before resigning to accept a second appointment as U.S district attorney for Rhode Island in 1934
With McGrath’s growing prominence in legal and business circles came growing influ-ence in Rhode Island’sDEMOCRATIC PARTY From his position as chairman of the Rhode Island Democratic State Committee, he rose to chair-man of the Rhode Island delegation at the Democratic National Convention in 1932 Age
twenty-eight at the time, he was the youngest man ever to hold the job
By 1940, he had laid the foundation for a successful bid for the state’s highest office He sought and received the gubernatorial nomina-tion from the Democratic party, and he defeated Republican incumbent William H Vanderbilt
by a large margin
McGrath served as governor of Rhode Island for three consecutive terms In that office, he revised the state tax structure, reorganized the juvenile court system, established a labor rela-tions board, and started aWORKERS’COMPENSATION
fund DuringWORLD WAR II, he continued to serve
as governor while chairing the Rhode Island State Council of Defense and assisting the U.S
TREASURY DEPARTMENTwith war financing activities McGrath’s work was noticed by national Democratic leaders including PresidentFRANKLIN
D.ROOSEVELT It was not long before he was asked
to serve on a committee to organize the 1944 Democratic National Convention and to help secure the presidential nomination for Roose-velt’s vice president, Truman McGrath, who had seconded Truman’s vice presidential nomination
at the previous convention, was an eager and hardworking member of the committee He liked Truman—and the feeling was mutual
After Truman’s election, in October 1945, McGrath was rewarded with an appointment to the post of solicitor general of the United States
As solicitor general, he successfully defended the constitutionality of the Public Holding Com-pany Act (15 U.S.C.A § 79 et seq.) and fully supported an international military tribunal’s conviction of Japan’s General Tomoyuki Yama-shita forWAR CRIMES
In 1946 McGrath was elected to the U.S Senate While in office, McGrath fought the removal of wartime economic controls and the reduction of income taxes instituted during the war years He thought the additional money should be used to broaden SOCIAL SECURITY
initiatives, underwrite national HEALTH INSUR-ANCE, and fund education He also encouraged his colleagues to speak out on HUMAN RIGHTS
issues, charging that in the years before World War II, the United States almost encouraged the Nazis by not speaking out against them
In September 1947 McGrath became Tru-man’s handpicked candidate to chair the Demo-cratic National Committee and to orchestrate the
[C OMMUNISTS ] ARE
EVERYWHERE — IN
FACTORIES , OFFICES ,
BUTCHER SHOPS , ON
STREET CORNERS , IN
PRIVATE BUSINESS —
AND EACH CARRIES IN
HIMSELF THE GERMS
OF DEATH FOR
SOCIETY
—J AMES M C G RATH
Trang 10president’s reelection bid McGrath was formally
elected to the post a month later
Under McGrath’s leadership, the party in
1948 waged a tough, and sometimes divisive,
national effort that carried many state and local
Democratic candidates into office and resulted in
Truman’s narrow victory overTHOMAS E.DEWEY
After the election, McGrath returned to the
Senate Almost immediately, the Rhode Island
Charities Trust came under investigation by a
Senate subcommittee As a trustee, McGrath
was called to explain the organization’s financial
practices The investigation ran its course
without result, but a cloud remained over
McGrath’s personal finances
McGrath’s declining sphere of influence was
most evident when he tried to find support for his
legislative initiatives He continued to sponsor
unpopular measures addressing social issues,
including a CIVIL RIGHTS bill supported by the
administration in late 1949 His efforts to push
the bill through the Senate further angered
powerful southern Democrats he had offended
during the presidential campaign by ending a
policy of racially segregating the staff at
Demo-cratic national headquarters (Though this
change in policy had caused tremendous turmoil
within the party and precipitated a loss of support
in many southern states, it had also helped to
deliver the crucial black vote needed in 1948 to
carry Illinois, New York, and Ohio.)
It was in this climate that McGrath was
appointed to replaceTOM C.CLARKas U.S attorney
general after Truman named Clark to the U.S
Supreme Court The press blasted McGrath’s
appointment, saying it demonstrated a terrible
lack of judgment on Truman’s part McGrath
resigned his Senate seat in December 1949 to
accept the appointment
With Truman’s blessing, McGrath continued
to be a strong advocate for civil rights During his
term as attorney general, theJUSTICE DEPARTMENT
first challenged the constitutionality of racial
important cases before the U.S Supreme Court
in the spring of 1950, including a landmark case
in which the High Court outlawed discriminatory
dining arrangements in railroad cars (Henderson
v United States, 339 U.S 816, 70 S Ct 843, 94 L
Ed 1302)
Though he had a few bright moments,
McGrath’s subordinates and colleagues did not
consider him a particularly effective attorney general His most egregious error occurred when
a House Ways and Means subcommittee uncov-ered evidence of corruption in the Bureau of Internal Revenue and in the Tax Division of the Justice Department Truman’s initial response, in January 1952, was to announce that the Justice Department would investigate and clean up any corruption in the government When critics objected to the Justice Department’s investigating itself, the president appointed New York Repub-lican Newbold Morris to conduct an independent investigation of the charges
Initially, McGrath promised full coopera-tion, but he had second thoughts when Morris asked him and other top Justice Department officials to complete a detailed financial ques-tionnaire Calling the questionnaire a violation
of individual rights and an invasion of privacy, McGrath refused to complete or submit the document—or to order his subordinates to do
so Three days later, McGrath forced Truman’s hand by firing the special investigator and resuming charge of the investigation In the political uproar that followed, the president had
no choice but to ask for McGrath’s resignation
After leaving office, McGrath continued to
be active in Democratic politics In 1956 he managed Senator Estes Kefauver’s vice presi-dential campaign, and in 1960 he made an unsuccessful attempt to regain his old Senate seat After retiring from politics, he practiced law and managed his many business interests
McGrath died on September 2, 1966, in Narragansett, Rhode Island
M.C.J
An abbreviation for master of comparative
trained inCIVIL LAWcountries who have successfully completed a year of full-time study of the Anglo-American legal system
The M.C.J degree is ordinarily offered by universities and law schools that have compara-tive law departments It is awarded to highly qualified foreign lawyers who intend to return
to the legal profession in a foreign country after completion of their studies in the United States
vMCKENNA, JOSEPH
Joseph McKenna rose from humble immigrant roots as a baker’s son to a position of prominence
in California Republican politics McKenna served