Charles Linza McNary (June 12, 1874February 25, 1944) was an American
Republican politician from
Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
. He served in the
U.S. Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...
from 1917 to 1944 and was
Senate Minority Leader
The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and people of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as chief spokespersons for their respective political parties, holding the ...
from 1933 to 1944. In the Senate, McNary helped to pass legislation that led to the construction of
Bonneville Dam
Bonneville Lock and Dam consists of several run-of-the-river dam structures that together complete a span of the Columbia River between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington at River Mile 146.1. The dam is located east of Portland, Ore ...
on the
Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...
, and worked on agricultural and forestry issues. He also supported many of the
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...
programs at the beginning of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
. Until
Mark Hatfield
Mark Odom Hatfield (July 12, 1922 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. A Factions in the Republican Party (United States)#Moderates, moderate Republican Party (United States), Republican, he se ...
surpassed his mark in 1993, he was Oregon's longest-serving senator.
McNary was the Republican vice presidential candidate in
1940
A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280.
Events
Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
*Janu ...
, on the
ticket
Ticket or tickets may refer to:
Slips of paper
* Lottery ticket
* Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start)
* Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a to ...
with presidential candidate
Wendell Willkie
Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican nominee for president. Willkie appeale ...
; both died in 1944, during what would have been their first term had they won. They lost to the Democratic ticket, composed of
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
, who was running for his third term as president, and
Henry A. Wallace
Henry Agard Wallace (October 7, 1888 – November 18, 1965) was the 33rd vice president of the United States, serving from 1941 to 1945, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He served as the 11th U.S. secretary of agriculture and the 10th U.S ...
, by just under a ten-point margin.
McNary was a justice of the
Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest State court (United States), state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. from 1913 to 1915. He had been dean of
Willamette University College of Law, in his hometown of
Salem, from 1908 to 1913. Before that, he was a deputy district attorney under his brother,
John Hugh McNary. John McNary later was appointed as a federal judge for the
District of Oregon.
McNary died in office after unsuccessful surgery on a brain tumor. Oregon held a state funeral for him, during which his body
lay in state at the
Oregon State Capitol
The Oregon State Capitol is the building housing the Oregon Legislative Assembly, state legislature and the offices of the Governor of Oregon, governor, Oregon Secretary of State, secretary of state, and Oregon State Treasurer, treasurer of t ...
in Salem.
McNary Dam,
McNary Field,
McNary High School, and McNary Country Club (on land he owned) in Oregon are named in his honor. He continues to have the record as the longest-serving
Senate Minority Leader
The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and people of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as chief spokespersons for their respective political parties, holding the ...
.
Early life
McNary was born on his maternal grandfather's family farm north of
Salem on June 12, 1874.
[ He was the ninth of ten children, and the third son, born to Hugh Linza McNary and Mary Margaret McNary ('']née
The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
'' Claggett).[Steve Neal, ''McNary of Oregon: A Political Biography''. Portland, OR: Western Imprints, 1985; pp. 1–2. OCLC 12214557.] When the two married in 1860, Hugh McNary's father-in-law gave him a farm in what is now the city of Keizer.[
McNary's father helped on the family farm, then taught school for a few years before returning to farming near Salem.]
McNary was four years old when his mother died in 1878. His widowed father moved the family to Salem where he bought a general merchandise store; he was unable to run the family farm because of declining health.[ Charles, known as Tot, began his education at a one-room school in Keizer and later attended Central School in Salem, living on North Commercial Street.][ Hugh McNary died in 1883, making Charlie an orphan at the age of nine.][
Nina McNary became the head of the household, while other siblings took jobs in order to provide for the family.][Neal, ''McNary of Oregon'', pp. 3–6.] As a boy, Charles worked as a paperboy
A paperboy is someoneoften an older child or adolescentwho distributes printed newspapers to homes or offices on a regular route, usually by bicycle or automobile. In Western nations during the heyday of print newspapers during the early 20th cen ...
, in an orchard, and at other farming tasks.[ He met ]Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...
, a future U.S. president, who moved to Salem in 1888.[
He later worked in the county recorder's office for his brother John Hugh McNary, who had been elected as county recorder in 1890. For a short time he attended the Capital Business College.][ After leaving that school, he enrolled in college preparatory classes at ]Willamette University
Willamette University is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college with locations in Salem, Oregon, Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United ...
, with an eye toward attending Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
or the University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...
.[
During this time he met Jessie Breyman at a social club he helped start, and they began dating.][ Another member of the club was ]Oswald West
Oswald West (May 20, 1873 – August 22, 1960) was an American politician, a Democrat, who served most notably as the 14th Governor of Oregon.
Early life
West was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada but moved to Salem, Oregon with his family at t ...
, a future governor of Oregon
The governor of Oregon is the head of government of Oregon and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. ter ...
.[
]
Legal career
In the autumn of 1896, McNary moved to California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
to attend Stanford, where he studied law, economics, science, and history while working as a waiter to pay for his housing. He left Stanford and returned to Oregon in 1897 after his family asked him to come home.[Neal, ''McNary of Oregon'', pp. 9–13.]
Back in Salem, he read law
Reading law was the primary method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship un ...
under the supervision of his brother John and Samuel L. Hayden, and passed the bar in 1898.
The brothers practiced law together in Salem as McNary & McNary, while John also served as deputy district attorney for Marion County.[ At this time, Charles bought the old family farm and returned it to the family.][ From 1909 to 1911 he served as president of the Salem Board of Trade, and in 1909 helped to organize the Salem Fruit Union, an agricultural association.
While still partnered with his brother, McNary began teaching ]property law
Property law is the area of law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property (land) and personal property. Property refers to legally protected claims to resources, such as land and personal property, including intellectual prope ...
at Willamette University College of Law in the spring of 1899 and courting Jessie Breyman.[ In 1908, he was hired as its dean to replace John W. Reynolds.][ As dean, he worked to enlarge the school and secure additional classroom space.][ He recruited prominent local attorneys to serve on the faculty and increased the size of the school from four graduates in 1908 to 36 in 1913, his last year as dean.][
In his drive to make Willamette's law school one of the top programs on the West Coast, he had it re-located from leased space in office buildings to the university campus.][
On November 19, 1902, he married Jessie Breyman, the daughter of successful Salem businessman Eugene Breyman and his wife.][ Jessie died on July 3, 1918, in an automobile accident south of Newberg on her way home to Salem.][ She had been in Oregon to attend the funeral of her mother and was returning from Portland in the Boise family's car when it flipped and crushed her.][ McNary spent several days in Oregon for her funeral and then returned to Washington.][ Charles and Jessie had no children.
]
State politics
McNary first held public office in 1892 when he became Marion County's deputy recorder, serving in the position until 1896. In 1904 he managed a successful campaign of his brother, John, for district attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...
for the third judicial district of Oregon.[ John appointed Charles as his deputy, and the latter served until 1911.][
Steve Neal, McNary's biographer, describes McNary as a progressive who stuck with the Republican Party in 1910, even when many progressives left the party in favor of West, a Democrat.][ McNary backed the ]Progressive Era
The Progressive Era (1890s–1920s) was a period in the United States characterized by multiple social and political reform efforts. Reformers during this era, known as progressivism in the United States, Progressives, sought to address iss ...
reforms (the initiative
Popular initiative
A popular initiative (also citizens' initiative) is a form of direct democracy by which a petition meeting certain hurdles can force a legal procedure on a proposition.
In direct initiative, the proposition is put direct ...
, recall
Recall may refer to:
* Recall (baseball), a baseball term
* Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop
* Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure
* ReCALL (journal), ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted langua ...
, referendum
A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
, primary election
Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...
s, and the direct election
Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they want to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are chosen ...
of US senators) that were supported by Oregonian William Simon U'Ren. McNary was also an early supporter of public, rather than private, power companies.
After West won the election, he chose McNary to be special legal counsel to Oregon's railroad commission; he urged lower passenger and freight rates.[Neal, ''McNary of Oregon'', p. 13.] Meanwhile, McNary maintained friendly relations with both progressive and conservative factions of the Oregon Republicans and with West.[
In 1913, West appointed McNary to the ]Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest State court (United States), state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. to fill a new position, created by the legislature's expansion of the court from five justices to seven. At 39 he was the youngest of the justices, and McNary left law school and private practice behind.[Neal, ''McNary of Oregon'', pp. 17–24.] He quickly "established himself as a judicial activist and strong advocate of progressive reform". A supporter of organized labor, McNary "consistently defended the rights of injured workers and was not hesitant about using the bench as an instrument for social change",[Neal, ''McNary of Oregon'', p. 19.] such as an eight-hour day
The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses of working time.
The modern movement originated i ...
for public employees. Unions supported McNary throughout his political career.
Several criminal convictions resulted from the Portland vice scandal in November 1912 which related to the city's epicenes. By the time McNary was seated, some convictions had been appealed to the court. He wrote the dissenting opinion in the reversal of the conviction of prominent Portland attorney Edward McAllister. The dissent was described as emotionally charged and "revealed a deeply seated personal discomfort with same-sex eroticism".
In 1914, the court moved into the new Oregon Supreme Court Building. McNary filed to run for a full six-year term on the bench.[ At that time the office was ]partisan
Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to:
Military
* Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line
** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII
** Ital ...
, and McNary lost the Republican primary, by a single vote, to Henry L. Benson, after several recounts and the discovery of uncounted ballots.[
After his defeat, he served the remainder of his partial term and left the court in 1915. On July 8, 1916, after a close, multi-ballot contest, with several contenders, the Republican State Committee elected McNary to be its chair.][Neal, ''McNary of Oregon'', p. 30.] He was seen as someone who could unify the progressive and conservative wings of the party in Oregon.
Federal politics
As chairman of the state's Republican Party, McNary campaigned to get the Republican presidential nominee, Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American politician, academic, and jurist who served as the 11th chief justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
, elected in the 1916 presidential election.[Neal, ''McNary of Oregon'', pp. 29–38.] Hughes, a former US Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
justice and future chief justice, carried Oregon but lost the presidency to the incumbent, Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...
.[
When US Senator Harry Lane died in office, on May 23, 1917, McNary saw a chance to redeem himself after his failed bid for election to the Oregon Supreme Court.] McNary was among several possible successors considered by Oregon Governor James Withycombe
James Withycombe (March 21, 1854 – March 3, 1919) was an English-born American Republican politician who served as the 15th Governor of Oregon.
Biography
Withycombe was born to tenant farmers Thomas and Mary Ann Withycombe in Tavistock, E ...
. The governor preferred someone who supported national women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...
and Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
, and he shared with McNary an interest in farming.[Neal, ''McNary of Oregon'', pp. 32–33] Furthermore, McNary supporters argued that both progressive and conservative factions of the Republican Party would accept McNary and that unity would give the party the best chance of retaining the Senate seat in the next election. Withycombe appointed McNary to the unexpired term on May 29.
After resigning as state party chairman, McNary prepared to campaign for a full term in the Senate. He faced Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives
The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, the upper house being the Oregon State Senate. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of ...
Robert N. Stanfield in the May 1918 Republican primary.[Neal, ''McNary of Oregon'', pp. 39–50.] McNary defeated Stanfield 52,546 to 30,999.[ In the November general election, he defeated ]Oswald West
Oswald West (May 20, 1873 – August 22, 1960) was an American politician, a Democrat, who served most notably as the 14th Governor of Oregon.
Early life
West was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada but moved to Salem, Oregon with his family at t ...
, a friend and former governor, by 82,360 to 64,303, to win a full, six-year term in the Senate.[ Meanwhile, Frederick W. Mulkey won the election to replace McNary and finished Lane's original term, which would end in March 1919. Mulkey took office on November 6, 1918, replacing McNary in that seat.][
Shortly after taking office, Mulkey resigned the seat effective December 17, 1918. McNary was reappointed to the Senate on December 12, 1918, and took office on December 18, instead of taking office in March, when the term he was elected to would have started.]
Mulkey resigned in order to give McNary a slight seniority edge over other new members of the Senate.[ In 1920, former adversary Stanfield defeated incumbent Democrat George Earle Chamberlain for Oregon's other Senate seat, making McNary the state's senior senator.][Neal, ''McNary of Oregon'', p. 61–70.] McNary won re-election to the Senate four times, in 1924, 1930, 1936, and 1942, serving in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, until his death.
Senate years
After World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Wilson sought Senate approval of the Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...
. Because the treaty included provisions for establishing and joining the League of Nations
The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
, one of Wilson's Fourteen Points
The Fourteen Points was a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I. The principles were outlined in a January 8, 1918 speech on war aims and peace terms to the United States Congress ...
, Republicans opposed it.[Neal, ''McNary of Oregon'', pp. 50–59.] Going against much of his party, McNary, part of a group of senators known as "reservationists", proposed minor changes to support the United States entry into the League.[ Ultimately, the Senate never ratified the Treaty of Versailles, and the United States never joined the League.]
One of the prime opponents of Wilson and the League was Senate Majority Leader Henry Cabot Lodge
Henry Cabot Lodge (May 12, 1850November 9, 1924) was an American politician, historian, lawyer, and statesman from Massachusetts. A member of the History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served in the United States ...
.[ After McNary demonstrated his skill in the debate over the League, Lodge took him under his wing, and the two formed a longtime friendship.][ The friendship helped McNary secure favorable committee assignments and ushered him into the inner power circle of the Senate.][ Early in his career, he served as chairman of the Irrigation and Reclamation of Arid Lands Committee, and as a member of the Agriculture and Forestry Committee.] In 1922, President Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was one of the most ...
asked McNary to be the Secretary of the Interior to replace Albert B. Fall
Albert Bacon Fall (November 26, 1861November 30, 1944) was a United States senator from New Mexico and United States Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of the Interior under President of the United States, President Warren G. Harding who becam ...
because of Fall's involvement in the ongoing Teapot Dome scandal
The Teapot Dome scandal was a political corruption scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Warren G. Harding. It centered on Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall, who had leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Do ...
.[ McNary declined, preferring to stay in the Senate.][
]
In 1933, McNary was selected as the Senate Minority Leader by fellow Republicans, while the Senate was under Democratic control during the New Deal
The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...
era. He remained Minority Leader for the rest of his time in office and "hovered most of the time on the periphery of the Republican left"[ and opposed disciplining Republican senators who supported Roosevelt.] He supported many of the New Deal programs, at the beginning of Roosevelt's presidency. As World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
approached, he favored "all aid to England and France short of war".[ He voted to keep an ]arms embargo
An arms embargo is a restriction or a set of sanctions that applies either solely to weaponry or also to "dual-use technology." An arms embargo may serve one or more purposes:
* to signal disapproval of the behavior of a certain actor
* to maintain ...
in place but supported the Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (),3,000 Hurricanes and >4,000 other aircraft)
* 28 naval vessels:
** 1 Battleship. (HMS Royal Sovereign (05), HMS Royal Sovereign)
* ...
agreement with the British in 1941 and the reinstatement of Selective Service
The Selective Service System (SSS) is an independent agency of the United States government that maintains a database of registered male U.S. citizens and other U.S. residents potentially subject to military conscription (i.e., the draft).
...
in 1940, in preparation for military conscription
Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...
of civilian men.
As early as the 1920s, McNary supported the development of federal hydroelectric power
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
dams,[ and in 1933, he introduced legislation that led to the building of the Grand Coulee and Bonneville dams on the Columbia, as public works projects. He voted for the US joining the ]World Court
The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on international legal issues as interpretati ...
in 1926. He favored buying more National Forest lands, forest management via the McSweeney-McNary Act, fire protection for forests via the Clarke–McNary Act
The Clarke–McNary Act of 1924 (ch. 348, , enacted June 7, 1924) was one of several pieces of United States federal legislation which expanded the Weeks Act of 1911, and was named for Representative John D. Clarke and Senator Charles McNary.
...
, and farm support. Although vetoed by President Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. A Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer from Massachusetts, he previously ...
, the McNary–Haugen Farm Relief Bill was the forerunner of the farm legislation of the New Deal
The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...
.
Vice presidential nomination
In 1940, he was the Republican nominee for vice president
A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
, as a western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
farm leader chosen to balance the ticket of presidential nominee Wendell Willkie
Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican nominee for president. Willkie appeale ...
, a pro-business leader from the east.[
The two men differed on many issues. Writing for '']Life
Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...
'' magazine shortly before the general election in 1940, Richard L. Neuberger said, "Whether as Vice President of the U.S. Charley McNary can keep on endorsing Government-power projects, isolation, high tariffs and huge outlays for farm relief under a President who believes in none of these things remains to be seen."[ McNary's acceptance speech reiterated his support for the ]Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...
, a federally owned power-producing corporation that Willkie, as "the head of a far-flung rivateutilities empire", had opposed.[ During the campaign, McNary promoted farming issues and criticized foreign trade agreements, which, he said, had "closed European markets to our grain, meat, fruits and fiber". The Willkie/McNary ticket lost decisively to the Roosevelt/Wallace ticket.
]
Family and legacy
On December 29, 1923, McNary married for the second time, to Cornelia Woodburn Morton. He met Morton at a dinner party during World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, in her hometown of Washington, D.C.[Neal, ''McNary of Oregon'', pp. 85–88.] Before the marriage, she had worked as his private secretary. As with his first marriage, his second did not produce children, but Charles and Cornelia adopted a daughter, Charlotte, in 1935.
In 1926, McNary built a new $6,000 ranch-style house, which he designed himself, along two creeks on his farm north of Salem. His estate, called "Fir Cone", featured a putting green, rose garden, tennis court, fishpond, and arboretum
An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...
, and more than of trees. Fir Cone was described as Oregon's Monticello
Monticello ( ) was the primary residence and plantation of Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third president of the United States. Jefferson began designing Monticello after inheriting l ...
by later Senator Richard L. Neuberger, as it hosted many meetings with politicians from the national stage. The farm included of nut and fruit orchards, through which McNary helped establish the filbert industry in Oregon and on which he developed the Imperial prune
A prune is a dried plum, most commonly from the European plum (''Prunus domestica'') tree. Not all plum species or varieties can be dried into prunes. Use of the term ''prune'' for fresh plums is obsolete except when applied to varieties of ...
.[
After complaining of headaches and suffering slurred speech beginning in early 1943, McNary went to the Bethesda, Maryland, Naval Hospital on November 8, 1943, where doctors diagnosed a ]malignant
Malignancy () is the tendency of a medical condition to become progressively worse; the term is most familiar as a characterization of cancer.
A ''malignant'' tumor contrasts with a non-cancerous benign tumor, ''benign'' tumor in that a malig ...
brain tumor.[Neal, ''McNary of Oregon'', pp. 233–235.] They removed it that week, and McNary was released from the hospital on December 2, but the cancer had already spread to other parts of his body.[ He and his family departed for ]Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...
, to spend the winter.[ He partly recovered from the surgery, but by February 24, 1944, when he was re-elected as Republican Senate leader, he was comatose.][ Charles L. McNary died in Fort Lauderdale. He was given a state funeral, during which his body lay in state in the chamber of the Oregon House of Representatives at the ]Oregon State Capitol
The Oregon State Capitol is the building housing the Oregon Legislative Assembly, state legislature and the offices of the Governor of Oregon, governor, Oregon Secretary of State, secretary of state, and Oregon State Treasurer, treasurer of t ...
, Salem,[ and then was buried in Belcrest Memorial Cemetery in Salem. At the time of his death, McNary held the record for longest-serving senator from Oregon — 9,726 days in office. This mark held for nearly 50 years, until broken by Mark O. Hatfield in 1993.]
See also
*
References
; Bundled references
External links
Senate Portrait
Letter to McNary from President Hoover
"Memorial services held in the House of representatives and Senate of the United States, together with remarks presented in eulogy of Charles Linza McNary, late a senator from Oregon. Seventy-eighth Congress, second session."
Historic images of Charles McNary
from Salem Public Library
*
Supreme Court Justices of Oregon
Election History of Oregon
Harry Lane
*
, -
, -
, -
, -
, -
, -
, -
, -
, -
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:McNary, Charles L.
1874 births
1944 deaths
Politicians from Salem, Oregon
American people of Scotch-Irish descent
Baptists from Oregon
Republican Party United States senators from Oregon
1940 United States vice-presidential candidates
Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees
Oregon Republican Party chairs
Oregon Republicans
Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court
U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law
American prosecutors
People from Keizer, Oregon
Lawyers from Salem, Oregon
Stanford University alumni
Willamette University alumni
Deans of Willamette University College of Law
20th-century American lawyers
Deaths from brain cancer in Florida
20th-century United States senators