Crimson Sun

Biography of Senator John L. McClellan

McClellan Magnet High School is named after Arkansas' longest serving U.S. Senator, John L. McClellan.

He was born in Sheridan, Arkansas, on 25th February, 1896. He studied law as a teenager and was admitted to the bar in 1913 at the age of 17. During World War I McClellan served in the Signal Corps of the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant.

After the war, McClellan established himself as a lawyer in Malvern, Arkansas. In 1927 he was appointed prosecuting attorney of the Seventh Judicial District of Arkansas.

A member of the Democratic Party, McClellan was elected to the Senate and took his seat in January, 1939. Over the next 40 years McClellan served on the Committee on Expenditures, Committee on Government Operations and the Committee on Appropriations.

Although he is probably not as well known as J. William Fulbright, Arkansas' other Senator during the 1950s and 60s, he was very influential in leading various Senate committees such as Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (1955 – 1973). 

The most notable events during McClellan's chairmanship occured during the the Army–McCarthy hearings, which eventually turned into a Communist "witch-hunt" led by Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy. When McCarthy violated the constitutional rights of numerous American citizens in his search for Soviet spies and Communist infiltrators, McClellan led a Democratic Party walk-out in protest of the Republican Senator's conduct during the hearings.

It was an act of defiance and personal courage that won McClellan the gratitude of the entire nation. His reputation as a fearless crusader and investigator was assured for all time. McClellan appeared in the 2005 movie Good Night, and Good Luck, directed by George Clooney, in footage from the actual hearings. 

McClellan was vigilant where wrong-doing could be proven, as in the convictions of real Soviet spies Julius Rosenberg, Al Sarant and Joel Barr. They were convicted of treason and spying on the U.S. while stationed at the U.S. Army Signal Corps Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.

Under his leadership, the committee also conducted the famous McClellan Hearings, also known as the Valachi Hearings, which investigated organized crime activities across America. Joseph Valachi, America’s first mafia informant, appeared before the McClellan Committee in 1963 and gave America its first public eye witness account of mafia activities in the United States and Canada.

McClellan then spearheaded the now famous RICO Act, or the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1973. This ruling has made it much easier for law enforcement agencies to pursue criminals involved in organized crime syndicates. McClellan also investigated and pursued Teamsters head and mafia associate, Jimmy Hoffa and other leading mafia figures of the era such as Sam Giancana of Chicago.

The Italian mafia’s diminished power and influence is in large measure the result of McClellan’s efforts to eradicate organized crime in America. During this period, he hired Robert Kennedy as chief counsel, which thrust him immmediately into the national spotlight. McClellan investigated numerous cases of government corruption including numerous defense contractors and Texas financier Billie Sol Estes.

McClellan was also a tireless champion of his native state. The McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System became a reality, largely due to his efforts. The locks and dams of the Arkansas River made modern river navigation possible from Helena, Arkansas to Tulsa, Oklahoma. This corridor now accounts for up to 3 billion dollars in commerce every year.

In the thirty-five years he served as senator, McClellan introduced more than 1,000 bills. 140 were signed into law.

McClellan  suffered several tragic losses throughout his life. After losing his second wife to spinal meningitis in 1935, McClellan’s three sons died within a relatively short period of time: Max died of spinal meningitis in Africa in 1943 while serving in World War II; John L. Jr. died in 1949 from injuries caused by an automobile accident, and James H. “Jimmy” died in a plane crash in 1958.

McClellan died on November 28, 1977, in Little Rock and is buried in Roselawn Memorial Park. At the time of his death, he ranked second in seniority in the U.S. Senate and was one of its most powerful members.

During a Senate committee hearing, SenatorJohn McClellan holds up pieces of evidence confiscated from mafia enforcers. The weapons were allegedly used to intimidate union members into compliance with union bosses bought off by the mafia. Seated on right is committee prosecutor Robert Kennedy, who McClellan had hired to investigate organized crime.