American politician (1903?1966)
"Senator McGrath" redirects here. For the Wyoming State Senate member, see
Dora McGrath
.
Howard McGrath
|
---|
|
|
|
In office
August 23, 1949 ? April 3, 1952
|
President
| Harry S. Truman
|
---|
Preceded by
| Tom C. Clark
|
---|
Succeeded by
| James P. McGranery
|
---|
|
In office
January 3, 1947 ? August 23, 1949
|
Preceded by
| Peter G. Gerry
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Edward L. Leahy
|
---|
|
In office
October 29, 1947 ? August 24, 1949
|
Preceded by
| Robert E. Hannegan
|
---|
Succeeded by
| William M. Boyle
|
---|
|
In office
October 6, 1945 ? October 25, 1946
|
President
| Harry S. Truman
|
---|
Preceded by
| Charles Fahy
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Philip Perlman
|
---|
|
In office
January 7, 1941 ? October 6, 1945
|
Lieutenant
| Louis W. Cappelli
John Pastore
|
---|
Preceded by
| William Henry Vanderbilt III
|
---|
Succeeded by
| John O. Pastore
|
---|
|
In office
1934?1940
|
President
| Franklin D. Roosevelt
|
---|
Preceded by
| Henry Boss
|
---|
Succeeded by
| George Troy
|
---|
|
|
Born
| James Howard McGrath
(
1903-11-28
)
November 28, 1903
Woonsocket, Rhode Island
, U.S.
|
---|
Died
| September 2, 1966
(1966-09-02)
(aged 62)
Narragansett, Rhode Island
, U.S.
|
---|
Political party
| Democratic
|
---|
Spouse
| Estelle Cadorette
|
---|
Children
| 1
|
---|
Education
| Providence College
(
BA
)
Boston University
(
LLB
)
|
---|
|
James Howard McGrath
(November 28, 1903 – September 2, 1966) was an American politician and attorney from Rhode Island. McGrath, a
Democrat
, served as
U.S. Attorney
for Rhode Island before becoming
governor
,
U.S. Solicitor General
,
U.S. Senator
, chairman of the
Democratic National Committee
, and
Attorney General of the United States
.
[1]
[2]
Early life
[
edit
]
Born in
Woonsocket, Rhode Island
. McGrath was the son of James J. McGrath and the former Ida E. May. He graduated from the
La Salle Academy
in 1922, attended
Providence College
, and went to the
Boston University
Law School in 1929. McGrath married Estelle A. Cadorette on November 28, 1929; they
adopted
a son. David.
From 1930 to 1934, he was the
city solicitor
of
Central Falls, Rhode Island
. During this time he was also interested in the
real estate
,
insurance
, and
banking
industries. He served as
United States Attorney
for the
District of Rhode Island
from 1934 to 1940.
Governor of Rhode Island
[
edit
]
From 1941 to 1945, McGrath was
Governor of Rhode Island
, reorganizing the
juvenile court
system while sponsoring a workers' compensation fund and a labor relations board, but he resigned in the middle of his third term to accept appointment as
Solicitor General of the United States
(1945?1946). As governor, McGrath presided over a limited-purpose state constitutional convention in 1944.
[3]
... convention convened at the Rhode Island College of Education auditorium in Providence, March 28, 1944 for the purpose of amending the State constitution to eliminate voting registration requirements by members of the armed forces, merchant marines or persons absent from the state performing services connecting with military operations. Delegate continent totaled 200 with Governor J. Howard McGrath serving as president & William A. Needham of Providence as Secretary. Proposal put before the voters at a special election held April 11, 1944. Amendment passed with 7,122 voting for & 119 against.
McGrath was elected as a
Democrat
to the
United States Senate
from Rhode Island in 1946 to join a Congress (the
Eightieth
, 1947 to 1949), where the opposition
Republican Party
had just replaced Democratic majorities in both houses. (See
United States elections, 1946
.)
He was briefly chairman of the
U.S. Senate Committee on the District of Columbia
for the
81st Congress
(to which the
1948 election
had returned Democratic majorities). In the Senate, McGrath opposed reducing wartime economic controls and taxes, wishing to spend the latter instead on Social Security, national health insurance, and education.
[4]
Chairman of Democratic National Committee
[
edit
]
He was chairman of the
Democratic National Committee
from 1947 to 1949. In managing President
Harry Truman
's successful 1948 election campaign, McGrath alienated white Southerners but won over crucial black constituencies by integrating the Democratic national headquarters staff.
[4]
Attorney General
[
edit
]
Truman appointed McGrath
Attorney General of the United States
on August 24, 1949. After McGrath had refused to co-operate in a corruption investigation initiated by his own department, Truman asked for and received McGrath's resignation on April 3, 1952.
[5]
[6]
Alternative accounts have contradictorily suggested that after a meeting of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff
at Truman's "Little White House" in Key West, the
Secretary of the Navy
, along with other members, had threatened to resign if they, too, were forced to comply with Special Assistant Attorney General
Newbold Morris
's request for the personal records of all members who might have received gifts under the scope of the corruption investigation. Under pressure to follow through with the Justice Department corruption investigation, along with the threats of resignation, McGrath agreed that Morris's request was asking too much and that the best thing to do was to clean up the department from that point forward and leave the past alone. Truman had been backed into a corner, and the only way out was to ask for McGrath's resignation. That account was corroborated by a letter from Truman to McGrath, which hung in the hallway of McGrath's summer home in
Narragansett, Rhode Island
up to the time of his death in 1966.
McGrath entered the private practice of law in
Washington, D.C.
and Providence. In 1960, he was an unsuccessful candidate to succeed the retiring U.S. Sen.
Theodore Francis Green
(Democrat of Rhode Island), losing the Democratic primary (also contested by former governor
Dennis J. Roberts
) to
Claiborne Pell
.
McGrath died of a
heart attack
in
Narragansett, Rhode Island
on September 2, 1966, at the age of 62. His body was buried at the
St. Francis Cemetery
in
Pawtucket, Rhode Island
.
There is a bust of Senator McGrath outside the House chamber in the
Rhode Island State House
.
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
See "J. Howard McGrath, Ex-Attorney General, Dies."
The New York Times
September 3, 1966.
- ^
Mulligan, Debra A.
Democratic Repairman: The Political Life of J. Howard McGrath
(2019).
- ^
Records Relating to Constitutional Convention (1944)
, at the Rhode Island State Archives,
Rhode Island Secretary of State
's Office (retrieved May 2, 2014)
- ^
a
b
"J. Howard McGrath" in
West's Encyclopedia of American Law
(1998)
- ^
Robert J. Donovan,
Tumultuous Years: The Presidency of Harry S. Truman, 1949-1953. Vol. 2
(1982) pp 372-81.
- ^
Marcus,
Truman and the Steel Seizure Case: The Limits of Presidential Power,
1977, p. 35-36.
References
[
edit
]
- "J. Howard McGrath, Ex-Attorney General, Dies."
The New York Times.
September 3, 1966.
- Levieros, Anthony. "Upsets Come Fast; Resignation of McGrath Follows Quickly His Ousting of Morris."
New York Times.
April 4, 1952.
- Marcus, Maeva.
Truman and the Steel Seizure Case: The Limits of Presidential Power.
New York: Columbia University Press, 1977.
ISBN
0-231-04126-8
- Mulligan, Debra A.
Democratic Repairman: The Political Life of J. Howard McGrath
(McFarland, 2019), scholarly biography.
online
.
- West's Encycylopedia of American Law
provides more details than the other sources, especially about McGrath's early life, his commitment to civil rights and the financial scandals that touched him.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
| |
Acting officeholders shown in
italics
|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|