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John L. McClellan
McClellan in 1970
United States Senator from Arkansas
In office January 3, 1943 – November 28, 1977
Preceded by	Lloyd Spencer
Succeeded by	Kaneaster Hodges Jr.
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arkansas's 6th 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	Eula Hicks ​ ​(m. 1913; div. 1921)​ Lucille Smith ​ ​(m. 1922; died 1935)​ Norma Myers ​(m. 1937)​
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 and segregationist politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. Representative (1935–1939) and a U.S. Senator (1943–1977) from Arkansas.

At the time of his death, he was the second most senior member of the Senate and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He is the longest-serving senator in Arkansas history.

Early life and career

John Little McClellan was born on a farm near Sheridan, Arkansas to Isaac Scott and Belle (née Suddeth) McClellan. His parents, who were strong Democrats, named him after John Sebastian Little, who served as a U.S. Representative (1894–1907) and Governor of Arkansas (1907). His mother died only months after his birth, and he received his early education at local public schools. At age 12, after graduating from Sheridan High School, he began studying law in his father's office.

He was admitted to the state bar in 1913, when he was only 17, after the Arkansas General Assembly approved a special act waiving the normal age requirement for certification as a lawyer. As the youngest attorney in the United States, he practiced law with his father in Sheridan. Also in 1913, McClellan married Eula Hicks; the couple had two children, and divorced in 1921.

During World War I, he served in the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant in the aviation section of the Signal Corps from 1917 to 1919. Following his military service, he moved to Malvern, where he opened a law office and served as city attorney (1920–26).

In 1922, he married Lucille Smith, to whom he remained married until her death in 1935; they had three children. He was prosecuting attorney of the seventh judicial district of Arkansas from 1927 to 1930.

U.S. House of Representatives

In 1934, McClellan was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arkansas's 6th congressional district. He was re-elected to the House in 1936. In March of that year, he condemned CBS for airing a speech by Communist leader Earl Browder, which he described as "nothing less than treason."

During his tenure in the House, he voted against President Franklin D. Roosevelt's court-packing plan, the Gavagan anti-lynching bill, and the Reorganization Act of 1937. In 1937, he wed for the third and final time, marrying Norma Myers Cheatham.

In 1938, McClellan unsuccessfully challenged first-term incumbent Hattie Caraway for the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate. 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. Nevertheless, he was defeated in the primary election by a margin of about 8,000 votes. He subsequently resumed the practice of law in Camden, where he joined the firm Gaughan, McClellan and Gaughan. He served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1940 (Chicago), 1944 (Chicago), and 1948 (Philadelphia).

U.S. Senate

In 1942, after G. Lloyd Spencer decided not to seek re-election, McClellan, a self proclaimed racist, ran for the Senate again and this time won. He served as 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, and James William Trimble as a member of the powerful House Rules Committee.

McClellan also served for eighteen years as chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (1955–1973) and continued the hearings into subversive activities at the U.S. Army Signal Corps, Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, where Soviet spies Julius Rosenberg, Al Sarant and Joel Barr all worked in the 1940s. He was a participant in the famous Army-McCarthy Hearings and led a Democratic walkout of that subcommittee in protest of Senator Joseph McCarthy's conduct in those hearings. McClellan appeared in the 2005 movie Good Night, and Good Luck in footage from the actual hearings.

He led two other investigations, both televised, uncovering spectacular law-breaking and corruption. The first of these, under the United States Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and Management, also known as the McClellan Committee, investigated union corruption and centered on Jimmy Hoffa and lasted from January 1957 to March 1960. 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 at Cape Canaveral. McClellan suggested that the comments bordered on accusations of subversion and called for more testimony from the unions.

The second televised major investigation led by McClellan was in 1964 and known as the Valachi hearings. These hearings investigated the operations of organized crime and featured the testimony of Joseph 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 hired Robert F. Kennedy as chief counsel and vaulted him into the national spotlight. McClellan investigated numerous cases of government corruption including numerous defense contractors and Texas financier Billie Sol Estes.

In 1957, McClellan opposed U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's decision to send federal troops to enforce the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock. Prior to the sending of the troops under the command of Major General Edwin A. Walker, McClellan had expressed "regret 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."

McClellan and fellow Senator Robert S. Kerr of Oklahoma were the sponsors of the bill that authorized construction of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers. The system transformed the often shallow and sometimes dry Arkansas River into a major transportation route and water source.

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 leader George Barasch, alleging misuse and diversion of $4,000,000 of benefit funds.

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. Senator Jacob 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. Provisions from all three bills ultimately evolved into the guidelines enacted in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

In 1977, McClellan was one of five Democrats to vote against the nomination of F. Ray Marshall as United States Secretary of Labor.

Personal life

McClellan's second wife died of spinal meningitis in 1935 and his son Max died of the same disease in 1943 while serving in Africa during World 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 of Kappa Sigma fraternity at the University of Arkansas. To honor their two fallen brothers, the Chapter initiated Senator McClellan into Kappa Sigma in 1965.

McClellan died in his sleep on November 28, 1977, in Little Rock, Arkansas, following surgery to implant a pacemaker. He was buried at Roselawn Memorial Park in Little Rock. A VA Hospital in Little Rock is named in his honor. A chapter of the Delta 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.

See also

• List of United States Congress members who died in office (1950–1999)

References

1. "'Hypocrisy' on Desegregation Charged". The New York Times. 1970-09-23.
2. ^ "John L. McClellan, 35 Years in the Senate, Dead at 81; Headed Major Investigations". The New York Times. 1977-11-29.
3. ^ "John Little McClellan (1896–1977)". The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture.
4. Thomas, David Yancey (1930). Arkansas and Its People: A History, 1541-1930. Vol. IV. The American Historical Society.
5. ^ Current Biography. New York: H.W. Wilson Company. 1950.
6. ^ "McCLELLAN, John Little (1896-1977)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
7. "Missile Delays Are Blamed On Union Practices". Toledo Blade. April 27, 1961.
8. Quoted in Osro Cobb, Osro Cobb of Arkansas: Memoirs of Historical Significance, Carol Griffee, ed. (Little Rock: Rose Publishing Company, 1989), p. 237, 238
9. Committee on Government Operations, United States Senate (1966). Diversion of union welfare-pension funds of Allied Trades Council and Teamsters 815; report, together with individual views. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
10. "Pension Fund Probe: Searching Questions and Puzzling Answers". Herald Tribune. August 8, 1965.
11. Barkdoll, Robert (October 13, 1965). "Bill to Guard Welfare, Pension Funds Offered". Los Angeles Times. p. 1.
12. Whitten, Leslie H. (August 2, 1965). "Javits Aims to Protect Union Funds". Journal American.
13. "Javits Bids U.S. Curb Union Pension Funds". Daily News. August 4, 1965.
14. McMillan, III, James G. (2000). "Misclassification and Employer Discretion Under ERISA" (PDF). University of Pennsylvania Journal of Labor and Employment Law. 2 (4): 837–866. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
15. Special Committee on Aging, United States Senate (August 1984). The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974: The First Decade (PDF). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 11.
16. "Senate Roll-Call Vote Approving Marshall". The New York Times. January 27, 1977.
17. State Capitol News Report; Benton Courier; Benton, Arkansas; Page 2; December 1, 1977

External links

• John Little McClellan at IMDb
• Congressional Biographical Directory.
• The Man Behind The Frown TIME Magazine Story Of Senator John McClellan, May 27, 1957
• TV.com's Episode Guide for "What's My Line" - Episode 245 with Senator John McClellan as mystery guest. Archived 2008-08-16 at the Wayback Machine
• Fearless: John L. McClellan, United States Senator - Official biography.

v t e United States senators from Arkansas
Class 2	Fulton Ashley Sebastian McDonald Clayton Garland Berry Davis Heiskell Kavanaugh Robinson Miller Spencer McClellan Hodges D. Pryor Hutchinson M. Pryor Cotton
Class 3	Sevier Borland Johnson Mitchel Rice Dorsey Walker Jones Clarke Kirby T. Caraway H. Caraway Fulbright Bumpers Lincoln Boozman

v t e Chairs of the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Expenditures in Executive Departments (1921–1952)	McCormick Reed Sackett Goff Steiwer Lewis Van Nuys Hill Aiken McClellan
Government Operations (1952–1977)	McClellan McCarthy McClellan Ervin Ribicoff
Governmental Affairs (1977–2005)	Ribicoff Roth Glenn Roth Stevens Thompson Lieberman Thompson Lieberman Collins
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (2005–)	Collins Lieberman Carper Johnson Peters

v t e Chairs of the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
Morrill Fessenden Morrill Cole Morrill Windom Davis Allison Cockrell Allison E. Hale Warren Martin Warren Jones F. Hale Glass McKellar Bridges McKellar Bridges Hayden Russell Ellender McClellan Magnuson Hatfield Stennis Byrd Hatfield Stevens Byrd Stevens Byrd Stevens Cochran Byrd Inouye Mikulski Cochran Shelby Leahy Murray Collins (designate)

v t e Deans of the United States Senate
Gunn/Langdon Foster Brown Hillhouse Anderson Gaillard Ruggles King Benton Mangum Pearce Bayard/Foot Foot Wade Sumner Chandler Anthony Edmunds Morrill Allison Hale Frye Cullom Gallinger Lodge Warren Simmons Smoot Borah Smith McKellar George Hayden Russell Ellender Aiken Eastland/McClellan Eastland Magnuson Stennis Thurmond Byrd Inouye Leahy Grassley

v t e Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arkansas
Territory Bates Conway Sevier At-large Yell Cross Yell Newton Johnson Hynes Breckinridge
1st district Greenwood Hindman Roots Hanks Hodges Gause Dunn Cate Featherstone Cate McCulloch Macon Caraway Driver Gathings Alexander Lincoln Berry Crawford 2nd district Warren Rust Warren Rust Hinds Elliott A. A. C. Rogers O. P. Snyder Slemons Jones Breckinridge Little Brundidge W. Oldfield P. Oldfield Miller Mills Tucker Bethune T. Robinson Thornton V. Snyder Griffin Hill 3rd district Boles Edwards Boles Wilshire Gunter Wilshire J. Cravens J. H. Rogers McRae Dinsmore Floyd Tillman Fuller Ellis Fulbright Trimble Hammerschmidt T. Hutchinson A. Hutchinson Boozman Womack 4th district Gunter Peel J. H. Rogers W. Terry Reid Little W. B. Cravens O. Wingo E. Wingo W. B. Cravens W. F. Cravens Tackett Harris Pryor Thornton Anthony Dickey Ross Cotton Westerman 5th district Peel Dinsmore Reid Jacoway Ragon D. Terry Hays Alford 6th district Neill Brundidge J. Robinson S. Taylor C. Taylor Sawyer Reed Glover McClellan W. Norrell C. Norrell 7th district Wallace Goodwin Parks Kitchens Harris

• 1896 births
• 1977 deaths
• Arkansas lawyers
• People from Camden, Arkansas
• People from Sheridan, Arkansas
• Politicians from Little Rock, Arkansas
• Sheridan High School (Arkansas) alumni
• United States Army officers
• Democratic Party United States senators from Arkansas
• Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas
• Lawyers from Little Rock, Arkansas
• 20th-century American lawyers
• United States Army personnel of World War I
• American anti-communists
• Signatories of the Southern Manifesto
• 20th-century Arkansas politicians
• 20th-century United States senators
• 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives