Kenneth McKellar (politician)

Kenneth McKellar

Kenneth Douglas McKellar (born January 29, 1869 in Richmond , Alabama , † October 25, 1957 in Memphis , Tennessee ) was an American lawyer and politician of the Democratic Party .

He was a member of the House of Representatives for six years (1911-1917) and a Senator from Tennessee for 36 years (1917-1953) . In the Senate he acted twice, from 1945 to 1947 and again from 1949 to 1953, as President pro tempore .

Youth and family

Kenneth McKellar was born on January 29, 1869, the fifth of nine children in Richmond, Dallas County , Alabama. He was homeschooled by his parents and an older sister. His father died when he was eleven years old. After graduating from the University of Alabama , he moved to Memphis in 1892, where he practiced law.

politics

In the 1904 presidential election , McKellar served as the Democratic elector for Tennessee in Electoral College . Seven years later he was elected to the 62nd Congress of the United States for the 10th District of Tennessee after the death of George W. Gordon . In the two subsequent elections ( 63rd United States Congress and 64th United States Congress ) he was re-elected and was until 1917 Congressman for the 10th District.

McKellar did not run for the next congressional election because he was running for the United States Senate in 1916 and was elected as a Senator for Tennessee for the Democrats . In the party primaries, he defeated the incumbent, Senator Luke Lea , and the former governor , Malcolm R. Patterson . In the election itself , the first Senate election in which the people of Tennessee allowed to choose the senators, he won against the former governor of the Republicans , Ben W. Hooper . He was re-elected five times (1922, 1928, 1934, 1940, and 1946) and served as a United States Senator for nearly 36 years from March 4, 1917 to January 3, 1953. In the 1952 elections McKellar ran for the seventh time at the age of 83, but lost in the primary against the party competitor Albert Gore senior , the father of the later Vice President Al Gore .

During his tenure in the Senate, Kenneth McKellar was President pro tempore of the United States Senate twice : from January 6, 1945 to January 2, 1947, and from January 3, 1949 to his departure from Congress on January 2, 1953.

Death and reception

Kenneth McKellar died on October 25, 1957 in Memphis , Tennessee and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery , Memphis. He was a bachelor throughout his life and had no children.

He was portrayed by Ed Bruce in Public Enemies and by Michael O'Neill in J. Edgar .

Web links

Commons : Kenneth McKellar  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Kenneth McKellar in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Kenneth McKellar in the database of Find a Grave (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Thomas H. Coode: Kenneth D. McKellar. In: tennesseeencyclopedia.net. Tennessee Encyclopedia, September 25, 2009, accessed on November 27, 2014 (English, update from January 1, 2010): "Young McKellar was schooled by an older sister and his parents before his father died when the boy was eleven." 
2. ↑ McKELLAR, Kenneth Douglas. Biographical information. In: bioguide.congress.gov. United States Congress, accessed November 27, 2014 : “presidential elector on the Democratic ticket in 1904; elected on November 7, 1911, as a Democrat to the Sixty-second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of George W. Gordon; reelected to the Sixty-third and Sixty-fourth Congresses and served from December 4, 1911, to March 3, 1917; " 
3. ^ William H. Frist and J. Lee Annis, Jr .: Tennessee senators 1911-2001: portraits of leadership in a century of change . Continuation of the book "Tennessee Senators as Seen by One of Their Successors" (1942) by Kenneth McKellar. Lanham, Md.: Madison Books, 1999, ISBN 1-56833-120-7 , Chapter 2 Kenneth McKellar (18 pp.), Pp. 20 (American English, 307 pp.): “Thanks to the Constitution's Seventeenth Amendment, the 1916 Senate election would be the first in Tennessee in which the people themselves would decide the outcome rather than the General Assembly.”
4. ↑ Thomas H. Coode: Kenneth D. McKellar. In: tennesseeencyclopedia.net. Tennessee Encyclopedia, September 25, 2009, accessed November 27, 2014 ( updated January 1, 2010): “In the 1916 Senate race in Tennessee, he not only defeated both incumbent Senator Luke Lea and former Governor Malcolm Patterson in the Democratic primary, but he then defeated former Republican Governor Ben Hooper in the general election. " 
5. ^ Patrick Whitney: Kenneth Douglas McKellar (1869-1957). In: findagrave.com. Find A Grave Memorial, January 12, 2003, accessed November 27, 2014 : “He did not seek a 4th term because he became a candidate for United States Senator. He was elected as a Democrat Senator from Tennessee to the United States Senate in 1916 and was reelected 5 more times, serving from March 4, 1917, to January 3, 1953. " 
6. ↑ Thomas H. Coode: Kenneth D. McKellar. In: tennesseeencyclopedia.net. Tennessee Encyclopedia, September 25, 2009, accessed on November 27, 2014 (English, update from January 1, 2010): “Against his friend Crump's advice and weakened by the machine's political losses in 1948, McKellar was defeated four years later in the Democratic primary by Congressman Albert Gore Sr. " 
7. ↑ US Senate: President Pro Tempore. Chapter 5: Complete List of Presidents Pro Tempore. United States Senate, accessed November 23, 2016 : "79th Congress (1945-1947) Kenneth McKellar (TN) Jan 6, 1945 - Jan 2, 1947 - 80th Congress (1947-1949) Arthur H. Vandenberg (MI ) Jan 4, 1947 - Jan 2, 1949 - 81st Congress (1949-1951) Kenneth McKellar (TN) Jan 3, 1949 - Jan 2, 1951 - 82nd Congress (1951-1953) Kenneth McKellar (TN) Jan 3, 1951 - Jan 2, 1953 " 
8. ↑ Index to Politicians: Mckeeby to McKenty. In: politicalgraveyard.com. The Political Graveyard, accessed November 27, 2014 : “Died October 25, 1957 (age 88 years, 269 days). Interment at Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Tenn. "