Kenneth McKellar
Encyclopedia
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.
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.
. He was reelected to the Senate in 1922 (defeating former Senator Newell Sanders
), 1928 (defeating former U.S. Assistant Attorney General James Alexander Fowler
), 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 E. Lilienthal.
As Head of the Appropriations Committee he successfully forced the TVA to properly reimberse landowners whose property was taken over by the TVA for such purposes as dam building. Prior to McKellar's threats to withhold Federal appropriation's for the purchase of Uranium early in World War Two, the TVA was commonly offering to give landholders "pennies on the dollar" for their property taken over by the TVA. As head of the Appropriations Committee, McKellar had full knowledge of the appropriations needed for the Manhattan Project to build an atomic bomb. He was often called upon to "keep the secret" of the Manhattan Project by mingling funds for the bomb project with other projects, or through carefully planned (secret) War Projects Funding. As the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was centered in Tennessee, his home State, McKellar felt that the harsh treatment of his Constituents in Tennessee by the TVA was a personal affront by David Lilienthal.
McKellar's threat to withhold funding for purchases of uranium had a much deeper meaning though. Lilienthal was also intimately associated with the Manhattan Project's work done to electromagnetically enrich uranium at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Ernest Lawrence's "magnetic" enrichment of uranium at Oak Ridge would eventually use the electricity created by the TVA to enrich every single bit of uranium used in the first (test) bomb as well as the first atomic bomb dropped on Japan to end the War. By "threatening" to withhold funding for the purchase of uranium, Tennessee Senator McKellar was making it clear to David Lilienthal that it was he (MacKellar, as head of the Appropriation's Committee) who was holding the cards, and that it was Lilienthal who was being forced to give a fair market value for land appropriated by the TVA.
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. When FDR died, and Harry Truman became President of the U.S., Truman did not appoint a Vice President, and McKellar became a sort of post facto Vice President. As the Presidential line of succession had been to the Vice President and then the President pro tempore of the Senate in the past, Truman honored that tradition by seeing McKellar as the logical wartime replacement for himself, and asked McKellar to attend all Cabinet meetings. As there was no Vice President during the wartime (first) Truman Administration, Senator McKellar would likely have been found to be the rightful President of the United States had Truman died during the War. 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.
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.)
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 had 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.
.
Some have speculated that Senator McKellar was the inspiration for the character of South Carolina
Senator Seabright Cooley in Allen Drury
's novel Advise and Consent
.http://home.earthlink.net/~dbratman/drury.html
Lake McKellar, bordering the Memphis President's Island
industrial area along the Mississippi River
and McKellar Airport in Jackson, Tennessee
("MKL") are both named in his honor.
McKeller is interred at Elmwood Cemetery
in Memphis, Tennessee
. He was portrayed by actor Ed Bruce
in the film, Public Enemies (2009).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
from Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
who served as a United States Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from 1911 until 1917 and as a United States Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from 1917 until 1953. A Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, he served longer in both houses of Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
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, AlabamaDallas County, Alabama
Dallas County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander J. Dallas. The county seat is Selma.- History :...
and was graduated from the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
in 1891 and its law school
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
in 1892. He moved to Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, and was admitted to the bar
Bar (law)
Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...
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 winning the general election against former Republican Governor Ben W. HooperBen W. Hooper
Ben Walter Hooper was governor of the U.S. state of Tennessee from 1911 to 1915.-Biography:Hooper, who was of illegitimate birth, spent part of his childhood in an orphanage, was unofficially "adopted" by members of his rural Baptist church, and was belatedly acknowledged by his natural father, a...
. He was reelected to the Senate in 1922 (defeating former Senator Newell Sanders
Newell Sanders
Newell Sanders was a Chattanooga businessman who served for a relatively brief time as a United States Senator from Tennessee.-Biography:...
), 1928 (defeating former U.S. Assistant Attorney General James Alexander Fowler
James Alexander Fowler
James Alexander Fowler was an American lawyer who served in various capacities as an Assistant Attorney General and Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney General from 1908 to 1914, and from 1921 to 1926...
), 1934, 1940 (against Howard Baker, Sr.
Howard Baker, Sr.
Howard Henry Baker, Sr. was a United States Representative from Tennessee. He was a member of the Republican Party.-Biography:Baker was born in Somerset, Kentucky in 1902 to James F...
, father of future Senator Howard Baker
Howard Baker
Howard Henry Baker, Jr. is a former Senate Majority Leader, Republican U.S. Senator from Tennessee, White House Chief of Staff, and a former United States Ambassador to Japan.Known in Washington, D.C...
), and 1946.
McKellar was considered something of a progressive in his early days in the Senate, supporting many of President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
's reform initiatives as well as ratification of the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
. He also staunchly supported the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
, especially the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
. He was also a close ally of Memphis political boss E. H. Crump
E. H. Crump
Edward Hull "Boss" Crump was an American politician from Memphis, Tennessee. He was mayor from 1910 through 1915, and again briefly in 1940; in the intervening years he effectively appointed the mayors.-Career:...
.
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 E. Lilienthal.
As Head of the Appropriations Committee he successfully forced the TVA to properly reimberse landowners whose property was taken over by the TVA for such purposes as dam building. Prior to McKellar's threats to withhold Federal appropriation's for the purchase of Uranium early in World War Two, the TVA was commonly offering to give landholders "pennies on the dollar" for their property taken over by the TVA. As head of the Appropriations Committee, McKellar had full knowledge of the appropriations needed for the Manhattan Project to build an atomic bomb. He was often called upon to "keep the secret" of the Manhattan Project by mingling funds for the bomb project with other projects, or through carefully planned (secret) War Projects Funding. As the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was centered in Tennessee, his home State, McKellar felt that the harsh treatment of his Constituents in Tennessee by the TVA was a personal affront by David Lilienthal.
McKellar's threat to withhold funding for purchases of uranium had a much deeper meaning though. Lilienthal was also intimately associated with the Manhattan Project's work done to electromagnetically enrich uranium at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Ernest Lawrence's "magnetic" enrichment of uranium at Oak Ridge would eventually use the electricity created by the TVA to enrich every single bit of uranium used in the first (test) bomb as well as the first atomic bomb dropped on Japan to end the War. By "threatening" to withhold funding for the purchase of uranium, Tennessee Senator McKellar was making it clear to David Lilienthal that it was he (MacKellar, as head of the Appropriation's Committee) who was holding the cards, and that it was Lilienthal who was being forced to give a fair market value for land appropriated by the TVA.
McKellar twice served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
The President pro tempore is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate. The United States Constitution states that the Vice President of the United States is the President of the Senate and the highest-ranking official of the Senate despite not being a member of the body...
, 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. When FDR died, and Harry Truman became President of the U.S., Truman did not appoint a Vice President, and McKellar became a sort of post facto Vice President. As the Presidential line of succession had been to the Vice President and then the President pro tempore of the Senate in the past, Truman honored that tradition by seeing McKellar as the logical wartime replacement for himself, and asked McKellar to attend all Cabinet meetings. As there was no Vice President during the wartime (first) Truman Administration, Senator McKellar would likely have been found to be the rightful President of the United States had Truman died during the War. He also served as chairman of the Civil Service Committee
United States Senate Committee on Civil Service
United States Senate Committee on Civil Service is a defunct committee of the United States Senate.The first standing Senate committee with jurisdiction over the civil service was the United States Senate Committee on Civil Service and Retrenchment, which was established on December 4, 1873,...
, Post Office and Road Committee, and, most notably, the powerful Appropriations Committee
United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over all discretionary spending legislation in the Senate....
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. BateWilliam B. Bate
William Brimage Bate was the governor of Tennessee from 1883 to 1887 and subsequently a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1887 until his death...
was elected to a fourth term by the Tennessee General Assembly
Tennessee General Assembly
The Tennessee General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional structure:According to the Tennessee State Constitution of 1870, the General Assembly is a bicameral legislature and consists of a Senate of thirty-three members and a House of Representatives of...
, but died only five days into it. Senator Isham G. Harris
Isham G. Harris
Isham Green Harris was an American politician. He served as Governor of Tennessee from 1857 to 1862 and as a U.S. Senator from 1877 until his death....
had also died early in his fourth term. Senator Joseph Anderson
Joseph Anderson
Joseph Inslee Anderson was an American soldier, judge, and politician, who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1799 to 1815, and later as the first Comptroller of the United States Treasury...
was elected by the General Assembly to three full terms after completing the term of William Blount
William Blount
William Blount, was a United States statesman. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention for North Carolina, the first and only governor of the Southwest Territory, and Democratic-Republican Senator from Tennessee . He played a major role in establishing the state of Tennessee. He was the...
, 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 TennesseeMiddle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee is a distinct portion of the state of Tennessee, delineated according to state law as the 41 counties in the Middle Grand Division of Tennessee....
Congressman
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Albert Gore
Albert Gore, Sr.
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Sr. was an American politician, serving as a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator for the Democratic Party from Tennessee....
. McKellar's reelection slogan
Slogan
A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a political, commercial, religious and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose. The word slogan is derived from slogorn which was an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm . Slogans vary from the written and the...
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
Tantamount to election
"Tantamount to election" is a phrase to describe a situation in which one political party so dominates the demographics of a voting district, that the person winning the party nomination for a race will virtually be assured of winning the general election...
", as the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
's activities were still largely limited to East Tennessee
East Tennessee
East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely...
, as they had been since the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. 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
Gordon Browning
Gordon Weaver Browning was an American politician who represented Tennessee in the United States Congress and was later Governor of Tennessee from 1937 to 1939 and again from 1949 to 1953.-Biography:...
by Frank G. Clement
Frank G. Clement
Frank Goad Clement served as Governor of Tennessee from 1953 to 1959, and again from 1963 to 1967.-Early life:...
. 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
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
than their predecessors, some historians cite the 1952 elections as an indication that Tennessee was earlier to enter into the "New South
New South
New South, New South Democracy or New South Creed is a phrase that has been used intermittently since the American Civil War to describe the American South, after 1877. The term "New South" is used in contrast to the Old South of the plantation system of the antebellum period.The term has been used...
" 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 FristBill Frist
William Harrison "Bill" Frist, Sr. is an American physician, businessman, and politician. He began his career as an heir and major stockholder to the for-profit hospital chain of Hospital Corporation of America. Frist later served two terms as a Republican United States Senator representing...
.
Some have speculated that Senator McKellar was the inspiration for the character of South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
Senator Seabright Cooley in Allen Drury
Allen Drury
Allen Stuart Drury was a U.S. novelist. He wrote the 1959 novel Advise and Consent, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1960.- Early life & ancestry :...
's novel Advise and Consent
Advise and Consent
Advise and Consent is a 1959 political novel by Allen Drury that explores the United States Senate confirmation of controversial Secretary of State nominee Robert Leffingwell who is a former member of the Communist Party...
.http://home.earthlink.net/~dbratman/drury.html
Lake McKellar, bordering the Memphis President's Island
President's Island
President's Island is a peninsula on the Mississippi River in southwest Memphis, Tennessee. The city's major river port and an industrial park are located there.-History:...
industrial area along the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
and McKellar Airport in Jackson, Tennessee
Jackson, Tennessee
Jackson is a city in Madison County, Tennessee, United States. The total population was 65,211 at the 2010 census. Jackson is the primary city of the Jackson, Tennessee metropolitan area, which is included in the Jackson-Humboldt, Tennessee Combined Statistical Area...
("MKL") are both named in his honor.
McKeller is interred at Elmwood Cemetery
Elmwood Cemetery (Memphis, Tennessee)
Historic Elmwood Cemetery is the oldest active cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee. It was established in 1852 as one of the first rural garden cemeteries in the South.-Origins:...
in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. He was portrayed by actor Ed Bruce
Ed Bruce
William Edwin "Ed" Bruce, Jr. is an American country music songwriter and singer. He is known for penning the 1975 song "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" .-Early life & songwriting career:...
in the film, Public Enemies (2009).