Daniel Rayford McGehee (September 10, 1883 – February 9, 1962) was an American businessman, lawyer, and politician who served six terms as a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

from 1935 to 1947.

Biography

Born in

Little Springs, Mississippi Little Springs is an unincorporated community in Franklin County, Mississippi. The Homochitto National Forest is located a short distance west of the community along Little Springs Road. The community was named for the large number of springs ...

, McGehee attended the public schools. He was graduated from Mississippi College at Clinton in 1903 and from the law department of the

University of Mississippi at Oxford The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and is the state's largest b ...

in 1909. He was admitted to the bar in 1909 and commenced practice at

Meadville, Mississippi Meadville is a town in and the county seat of Franklin County, Mississippi, United States, in the southwest part of the state. The population was 449 at the 2010 census, down from 519 at the 2000 census. It is situated north of the Homochitto R ...

. He also engaged in agricultural pursuits and banking. He served as member of the

Mississippi State Senate The Mississippi State Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the Lower house, lower Mississippi House of Represen ...

from 1924 to 1928. He served in the

Mississippi House of Representatives The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890, it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected for ...

, representing Franklin County, from 1928 to 1932. He was again a member of the State Senate, from the 6th district, from 1932 to 1934.

Congress

McGehee was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

to the Seventy-fourth and to the five succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1947). He served as chairman of the Committee on Claims (77th through 79th Congresses). He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-nomination in 1946 to the Eightieth Congress. In his last term as a Congressman McGehee would become one of the first Congressional critics of the mid-century Supreme Court when he denounced the 1946 decision '' Morgan v. Virginia'', which declared racial segregation on interstate transport unconstitutional. McGehee viewed the Justices as mediocre lawyers with little understanding of the Constitution, especially of

states rights In American political discourse, states' rights are political powers held for the state governments rather than the federal government according to the United States Constitution, reflecting especially the enumerated powers of Congress and t ...

, and went so far as to argue that every Justice supporting ''Morgan'' needed to be

impeached Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eu ...

Later career and death

He resumed the practice of law, agricultural pursuits, and banking. He died in

, February 9, 1962. He was interred in Midway Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGehee, Dan R. 1883 births 1962 deaths Democratic Party Mississippi state senators Democratic Party members of the Mississippi House of Representatives People from Franklin County, Mississippi Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Mississippi People from Meadville, Mississippi 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Mississippi Legislature