William P. MacCracken, Jr.
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William Patterson MacCracken Jr. (September 17, 1888 - September 20, 1969) was the first U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for
Aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design process, design, and manufacturing of air flight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. While the term originally referred ...
. His department was awarded the
Collier Trophy The Robert J. Collier Trophy is awarded annually "for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been t ...
of 1928 for its contribution to the "development of airways and air navigation facilities". Later he was convicted of contempt of congress in the
Air Mail scandal The Air Mail scandal, also known as the Air Mail fiasco, was a political controversy that erupted in 1934 following a United States Congress, congressional investigation into the awarding of airmail contracts to select airlines. The scandal inte ...
in 1934.


Biography

MacCracken was born in
Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, September 17, 1888, to William P. MacCracken and Mary Elizabeth Avery (MacCracken). He studied law at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
and earned a Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1911. His practice in Chicago was interrupted by his service as a
flight instructor A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...
in the Air Service during World War I. He married Sally Lucille Lewis on September 14, 1918. From 1922 to 26 he was a member of the board of governors of the
National Aeronautic Association The National Aeronautic Association of the United States (NAA) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and a founding member of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Founded in 1905, it is the oldest national aviation club in the Uni ...
,The First Federal Regulator for Aviation
from
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...
and from 1920 to 1938 he was a member of the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency that was founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its ...
. MacCracken entered public service as assistant
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
of
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
in 1923, and the following year assistant
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for
Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...
. MacCracken became the first federal regulator of commercial aviation when then-
Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...
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 ...
named him the first Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics in 1926. He appointed Louis H. Bauer as the first medical director of the Aeronautics Branch. In 1929, he helped to draft key safety standards and regulations that became part of the 1930 Air Mail Act. MacCracken then returned to his private law practice, where he continued to be involved in the growth of
commercial aviation Commercial aviation is the part of civil aviation that involves operating aircraft for remuneration or hire, as opposed to private aviation. Definition Commercial aviation is not a rigorously defined category. All commercial air transport and ae ...
by representing many major
airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...
s. For that reason Postmaster General
Walter F. Brown Walter Folger Brown (May 31, 1869January 26, 1961) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the Postmaster General of the United States from March 5, 1929, to March 4, 1933, under Herbert Hoover's administration. Biography Early & pe ...
asked him to preside over what was later described as the ''Spoils Conference'', to work out an agreement between the carriers and the Post office to consolidate air mail routes into transcontinental networks operated by the best-equipped and financially stable companies. This relationship left both exposed to charges of favoritism.
Fulton Lewis Fulton Lewis Jr. (April 30, 1903 – August 20, 1966) Lists his death date as 21 August, but other references show the death date to be 20 August. was a conservative American radio broadcaster from the 1930s to the 1960s. Early life and career ...
had collected material indicating collusion of the airlines, and Senator
Hugo Black Hugo Lafayette Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist who served as a U.S. Senator from Alabama from 1927 to 1937 and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, ass ...
used Lewis' research as he began his investigation into impropriety. :MacCracken had a long experience in the legal aspects of flying and had built a thriving law practice representing aviation clients. He also had close ties to Hoover and Brown and had chaired the 1930 spoils conference. Not surprisingly the Black committee subpoenaed his documents. MacCracken refused to comply, pleading the confidentiality of the lawyer-client relationship... MacCracken may have been motivated by a sense of ethics, but his own actions and those of his associates deeply compromised him. With the files still under subpoena, MacCracken and Gilbert Givvin, a secretary to Transcontinental and Western Air president Harris Hanshue, removed several items and mailed them to Hanshue. Another MacCracken client, L. H. Brittin of Northwest Airways, secured permission from MacCracken’s law partner to remove approximately half a dozen letters Brittin considered personal. He then returned to his own office, tore the letters to pieces, and threw the fragments into the wastebasket...the attorney and his associates were summoned before the senate on contempt charges...With the other three defendants appearing before the senate as ordered, MacCracken went into hiding...After brief deliberation, the chamber acquitted Hanshue and Givven, but sentenced Brittin and MacCracken to ten days in the
District of Columbia 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, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
jail. While Brittin promptly served his sentence, MacCracken continued to resist the Senate’s authority, filing a petition of ''
habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to ...
'' in federal courts to overturn his arrest. After litigation, the
U.S. 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 U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
unanimously ruled that Congress had acted constitutionally, denied the petition in the case ''Jurney'' v. ''MacCracken'', and forced him to serve his sentence.Daniel D. Lee (1991) "Senator Black's Investigation of the Air Mail 1933-34",
The Historian ''The Historian'' is the 2005 debut novel of American author Elizabeth Kostova. The plot blends the history and folklore of Vlad Țepeș and his fictional equivalent Count Dracula. Kostova's father told her stories about Dracula when she was ...
53: 423–42
According to
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
, "Chesley Jurney, the
Senate sargeant at arms The sergeant at arms and doorkeeper of the United States Senate (originally known as the doorkeeper of the Senate from April 7, 1789 – 1798) is the protocol officer, executive officer, and highest-ranking federal law enforcement officer of th ...
, had no place to hold MacCracken who, after being sentenced, showed up at Jurney's house and stayed the night. The next day he was confined to a room at the
Willard Hotel The Willard InterContinental Washington, commonly known as the Willard Hotel, is a historic luxury Beaux-Arts hotel located at 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Downtown Washington, D.C. It is currently a member of Historic Hotels of America, th ...
". From 1942 to 1968 MacCracken was an attorney for the
American Optometric Association The American Optometric Association (AOA), founded in 1898, represents approximately 37,000 doctors of optometry, optometry students and para-optometric assistants and technicians in the United States. Overview The AOA states that: The American ...
. "His influence on optometry's recognition by the federal government was profound." A biography of William P. MacCracken was assembled and published by
Southern College of Optometry The Southern College of Optometry is a privately owned educational institution located in Memphis, Tennessee. It specializes in optometry and offers a comprehensive program in this field. History The Southern College of Optometry (SCO) is a pr ...
. He died on September 20, 1969, 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 ...


Honors

* Secretary,
American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...
1925 to 36, Journal of the
American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...
November 1969
*April 6, 1927 recipient of the first pilot certificate issued by the Aeronautics Branch of the Department of Commerce. *
Collier Trophy The Robert J. Collier Trophy is awarded annually "for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been t ...
1928 (Aeronautics branch of US Department of Commerce)Collier Trophy winners 1920 to 29
from *
National Aeronautical Association The National Aeronautic Association of the United States (NAA) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and a founding member of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Founded in 1905, it is the oldest national aviation club in the Uni ...
* LL.D.
Norwich University Norwich University is a private university in Northfield, Vermont, United States. The university was founded in 1819 as the "American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy". It is the oldest of six senior military college, senior militar ...
, Northfield Vermont 1936 *
Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy The Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy was established by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) in 1948 after a trust fund was created in 1936 by Godfrey Lowell Cabot of Boston, a former president of the NAA. It is awarded to a living America ...
1959


References


Further reading

* Michael Osborn & Joseph Riggs (1970) ''Mr. Mac: William P. MacCracken, a biography on aviation, law, and optometry'', introductions by
Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...
and
Hugo Black Hugo Lafayette Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist who served as a U.S. Senator from Alabama from 1927 to 1937 and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, ass ...
,
Southern College of Optometry The Southern College of Optometry is a privately owned educational institution located in Memphis, Tennessee. It specializes in optometry and offers a comprehensive program in this field. History The Southern College of Optometry (SCO) is a pr ...
, 228 pages. * W. P. MacCracken Jr. and W.B. Courtney (December 21, 1929) "It's hard to get you up: Selling aviation in America",
Collier's } ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...
* W. P. MacCracken Jr. and W.B. Courtney (March 29, 1930) "Flight Savers: Safety first in the air", ''Collier's'' * W. P. MacCracken Jr. and W.B. Courtney (May 10, 1930) "Shrinking the seas, leviathans of the air", ''Collier's''


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maccracken, William P. Jr. 1888 births 1969 deaths American aviators American prisoners and detainees United States Department of Commerce officials University of Chicago Law School alumni Illinois politicians convicted of crimes Lawyers from Chicago American aviation businesspeople American flight instructors 20th-century American lawyers People convicted of contempt of Congress