Everything about Kenneth Mckellar totally explained
» This article is about the United States politician. For the Scottish singer, see Kenneth McKellar (singer).
Kenneth Douglas McKellar (
January 29,
1869–
October 25,
1957) was an
American politician from
Tennessee who served as a
United States Representative from 1911 until 1917 and as a
United States Senator from 1917 until 1953. A
Democrat, he served longer in both houses of
Congress than anyone else in Tennessee history, and only a few others in American history have served longer in both houses.
Early life and career
McKellar was a native of
Dallas County, Alabama and was graduated from the
University of Alabama in
1891 and its
law school in
1892. He moved to
Memphis, Tennessee, and was admitted to the
bar the same year. McKellar was first elected to the House in a
special election in November
1911 to succeed
George W. Gordon in the 10th Congressional District, which included Memphis. He won the seat in his own right in
1912 and was reelected in
1914 serving until his election to the United States Senate.
United States Senate
McKellar ran for the Senate in
1916, defeating incumbent Senator
Luke Lea in the Democratic primary and wining the general election against former Republican Governor
Ben W. Hooper. He was reelected to the Senate in
1922 (defeating former Senator
Newell Sanders),
1928,
1934,
1940 (against
Howard Baker, Sr.], father of future Senator
Howard Baker), and
1946.
McKellar was considered something of a progressive in his early days in the Senate, supporting many of President
Woodrow Wilson's reform initiatives as well as ratification of the
Treaty of Versailles. He also staunchly supported the
New Deal especially the creation of the
Tennessee Valley Authority. He was also a close ally of Memphis political
boss E. H. Crump.
Despite his early support for
Franklin Roosevelt's policies, McKellar grew more conservative in his political stances and began opposing the Roosevelt administration's appointments. The most noted of these would be a prolonged feud with FDR's appointee to head the TVA,
David Lillienthal.
McKellar twice served as
President pro tempore of the United States Senate, commencing in
1945, being the first to hold the position under the system that has prevailed since of reserving it for the most senior member of the majority party. He also served as chairman of the
Civil Service Committee], Post Office and Road Committee, and, most notably, the powerful
Appropriations Committee from 1945–1947 and again from 1949–1953.
Longevity
He is the only Tennessee senator to have completed more than three full terms; except for McKellar, Tennessee has generally not fully joined into the
Southern tradition of reelecting Senators for protracted periods of service. (Before the era of popular election of U.S. Senators, Senator
William B. Bate was elected to a fourth term by the
Tennessee General Assembly, but died only five days into it. Senator
Isham G. Harris had also died early in his fourth term. Senator
Joseph Anderson was elected by the General Assembly to three full terms after completing the term of
William Blount, who was expelled from the Senate.)
1952 election
In
1952 McKellar stood for a seventh term (the first Senator to do so), despite being by then quite elderly (age 83). He was opposed for renomination by
Middle Tennessee Congressman Albert Gore. McKellar's reelection
slogan was "Thinking Feller? Vote McKellar.", which Gore countered with "Think Some More – Vote for Gore." Gore defeated McKellar for the Democratic nomination in August in what was widely regarded as something of an upset. At this point in Tennessee history, the Democratic nomination for statewide office was still "tantamount to election", as the
Republican Party's activities were still largely limited to
East Tennessee, as they'd been since the
Civil War. Gore went on to serve three terms in the Senate.
McKellar's 1952 defeat was part of a statewide trend. 1952 also saw the defeat for renomination of incumbent
governor of Tennessee Gordon Browning by
Frank G. Clement. Browning, who had served a total of three terms as governor, the last two successive, had also at one point been a close ally of Crump's but had since broken ranks with him. As Clement and Gore were both considerably younger and regarded as more
progressive than their predecessors, some historians cite the 1952 elections as an indication that Tennessee was earlier to enter into the "
New South" era of Southern politics than most of the other Southern states. This election also marked the end of Crump having any real influence in Tennessee beyond Memphis.
Legacy
McKellar wrote a book about his Tennessee predecessors in the Senate called
Tennessee Senators as Seen by One of Their Successors (
1942). In recent years it has been updated by one of his successors, former
Senate Majority Leader Dr.
Bill Frist.
Some have speculated that Senator McKellar was the inspiration for the character of
South Carolina Senator Seabright Cooley in
Allen Drury's
Advise and Consent.
(External Link
)
Lake McKellar in the industrial area of Memphis near the
Mississippi River and McKellar Airport in
Jackson, Tennessee ("MKL") are both named in his honor.
Further Information
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