George Brinton McClellan Jr. (November 23, 1865November 30, 1940), was an American politician and historian. He was elected as the 93rd

Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The Mayoralty in the United States, mayor's office administers all ...

, serving from 1904 to 1909. He was the son of Civil War general

George B. McClellan George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey and as Commanding General of the United States Army from November 1861 to March 186 ...

, who was the 1864 Democratic presidential nominee.

Life and career

McClellan, known to his family as "Max", was born in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony () was a German monarchy in Central Europe between 1806 and 1918, the successor of the Electorate of Saxony. It joined the Confederation of the Rhine after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, later joining the German ...

, where his parents were visiting. He went to school in Trenton in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

– where his father was

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

– and later Saint John's School in Ossining, New York. From 1885 to 1888 he served in the

New York Army National Guard The New York Army National Guard is a component of the New York National Guard and the Army National Guard. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the United States Army's available combat forces and approximate ...

. He received his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree at

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

in 1886 and his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in 1889. Princeton,

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

, and

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

later each gave him the honorary degree of

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

. After graduating, he engaged in reportorial and editorial work at the ''

New York World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 to 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers as a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publisher Jo ...

'' and other newspapers. In 1892 he was admitted to the bar. He served for some time as secretary and treasurer of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge.

New York City politics

In 1892, McClellan was elected president of the Board of Aldermen of New York City for the following two years, and for a part of 1894 he served as acting mayor. His success and popularity enabled him in 1894 to be elected as a

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

man (as a Democrat), a position he held until resigning when elected mayor of New York in late 1903. In Congress, McClellan was a prominent member of the

Ways and Means Committee A ways and means committee is a government body that is charged with reviewing and making recommendations for government budgets. Because the raising of revenue is vital to carrying out governmental operations, such a committee is tasked with fi ...

. While in Congress he strongly opposed the war with Spain in 1898, and supported President McKinley's efforts to find a compromise. A conservative, McClellan spoke in favor of the

gold standard A gold standard is a backed currency, monetary system in which the standard economics, economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the ...

, an issue that divided the fiscally conservative from the agrarian wing of the Democratic Party, although he avoided committing himself on the subject in the campaign of 1896 when he supported

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator, and politician. He was a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running three times as the party' ...

, a leading silverite.

Mayor of New York City

In November 1903, McClellan defeated the sitting mayor,

Seth Low Seth Low (January 18, 1850 – September 17, 1916) was an American educator and political figure who served as the mayor of Brooklyn from 1881 to 1885, the president of Columbia University from 1890 to 1901, a diplomatic representative of ...

(independent Fusion), for a two-year term. He was re-elected in

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

, after the restoration of four-year mayoral terms. The party did not nominate him in 1909 for a third term. He is notable in the history of movie censorship for canceling all moving-picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908, claiming that the new medium degraded the morals of the community and that

celluloid Celluloids are a class of materials produced by mixing nitrocellulose and camphor, often with added dyes and other agents. Once much more common for its use as photographic film before the advent of safer methods, celluloid's common present-day ...

film was an unacceptable fire hazard. On October 27, 1904, the

Interborough Rapid Transit The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of New York City's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT ...

, New York City's first subway, opened. McClellan was to start the first train at the City Hall Station, and then hand it over to an IRT motorman. However, he was enjoying himself so much that he refused to give up the controls until the train reached 103rd Street Station.

U.S. Presidential candidacy

McClellan ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 1904, receiving 3 votes on the first ballot at the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

Later career

Throughout his political career, McClellan remained interested in education and in 1906 he was named honorary Chancellor of

. At Princeton he delivered the Stafford Little lectures on public affairs (1908–1910), served as university lecturer (1911–1912) and was subsequently appointed a professor of economic history. McClellan served in

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 ...

, entering the Army as major assigned to the Ordnance Department in May 1917. He was honorably discharged in May 1919 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Personal life

McClellan married Georgiana Heckscher on October 30, 1889. McClellan died on November 30, 1940, one week after his 75th birthday, and was buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

Selected works

* ''The Oligarchy of Venice''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1904. * ''The Heel of War''. New York: G.W. Dillingham Company, 1916. * ''Venice and Bonaparte''. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1931. * ''Modern Italy: A Short History''. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1933. * ''The Gentleman and the Tiger: The Autobiography of George B. McClellan Jr.''. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1956.

References

Notes Sources * Some of the text is taken from , which is in the public domain

External links

From Regulation to Censorship: Film and Political Culture in New York in the Early Twentieth Century
{{DEFAULTSORT:McClellan, George B. Jr. 1865 births 1940 deaths Mayors of New York City Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Princeton University alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery New York (state) lawyers Candidates in the 1904 United States presidential election United States Army colonels United States Army personnel of World War I Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) McClellan family 20th-century mayors of places in New York (state) 20th-century New York (state) politicians 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives