James Patrick McGranery (July 8, 1895 – December 23, 1962) was a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, 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 Artic ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, E.D. Pa.) is one of the original 13 federal judiciary districts created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. It originally sat in Independence Hall in Philad ...

and

Attorney General of the United States The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government. The attorney general acts as the principal legal advisor to the president of the ...

Early life and career

Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, the son of Patrick McGranery, and Bridget (''née'' Gallagher), both Irish immigrants, McGranery attended parochial schools and graduated from Roman Catholic High School in 1916 and Maher Preparatory School. He was in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

as an observation pilot and as an adjutant in the 111th Infantry Regiment from 1917 to 1919. He received a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from Temple University Beasley School of Law in 1928 and was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar the same year. He entered the private practice of law in Philadelphia from 1928 to 1937. He was a member of the Democratic State Committee from 1928 to 1932. He was an unsuccessful candidate for District Attorney of

Philadelphia County Philadelphia County is the most populous of the 67 counties of Pennsylvania and the 24th-most populous county in the nation. As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 1,603,797. It is coextensive with Philadelphia, the nation's ...

in 1931 and for election to the

74th United States Congress The 74th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 193 ...

in 1934. He served as Chairman of the Registration Commission of the City of Philadelphia in 1935. He was a

from Pennsylvania from 1937 to 1943. He was admitted to practice before the

Supreme Court of the United States 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 ...

in 1939. He was an assistant to the United States Attorney General in the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

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 ...

, from 1943 to 1946.

Congressional service

McGranery was elected as a Democrat to the

75th United States Congress The 75th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 1 ...

and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1937, until his resignation on November 17, 1943, to become an assistant to the United States Attorney General.

Federal judicial service

In March, 1946, President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

awarded McGranery the Medal for Merit, at the time the highest civilian decoration in the United States. McGranery was nominated by President Truman on July 31, 1946, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Harry Ellis Kalodner. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on July 31, 1946, and received his commission on August 7, 1946. He took the oath of office on October 9, 1946. His service was terminated on May 26, 1952, due to his resignation.

Post judicial service

McGranery was the

from May 27, 1952, to January 20, 1953. In 1952, McGranery revoked the re-entry permit of

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

while the actor was voluntarily abroad, following concerns over communist sympathies. To re-enter the country, Chaplin was required by immigration law to answer questions regarding “moral turpitude,” and he instead chose to remain abroad for twenty years.https://www.wsj.com/articles/charlie-chaplin-red-scare-history-449d6e07 McGranery returned to the private practice of law in Washington, D.C., from 1954 until his death.

Death

McGranery died on December 23, 1962, in Palm Beach,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. He was interred 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. ...

Fort Myer Fort Myer is the previous name used for a U.S. Army Military base, post next to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, and across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Founded during the American Civil War as Fort Cass and ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

References

External links

* Retrieved on 2008-02-10
Profile at Truman Library

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGranery, James Patrick 1895 births 1962 deaths United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I Burials at Arlington National Cemetery American people of Irish descent Politicians from Philadelphia Attorneys general of the United States United States Army officers Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania United States district court judges appointed by Harry S. Truman Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni Truman administration cabinet members Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives