Background
Kenneth Douglas McKellar was born on January 29, 1869, near Richmond, Alabama. He was the son of James Daniel White McKellar, an unprosperous lawyer and investor in land, and of Caroline Howard.
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Kenneth Douglas McKellar was born on January 29, 1869, near Richmond, Alabama. He was the son of James Daniel White McKellar, an unprosperous lawyer and investor in land, and of Caroline Howard.
McKellar earned a B. A. from the University of Alabama in 1891 and an LL. B. in 1892, in both cases at the head of his class. He also received an M. A. from Alabama in 1891. Seeking new opportunities, "K. D. ," as he was always called, paused on the way to California for a visit with his brothers in Memphis, Tenn. , and decided to settle there. He entered the law firm of William H. Carroll, a Civil War veteran and leader in the state Democratic party. This association formed the basis both of McKellar's personal wealth and of his growing prominence in the affairs of Memphis.
McKellar served as a presidential elector in 1904, a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1908, and a member of the House of Representatives from 1911 to 1917. He took his seat in 1917 as the first popularly elected senator from Tennessee, under the provisions of the Seventeenth Amendment. By the time of his defeat in 1952, he had served six terms and had established a record for continuous service in the Senate. By the late 1930's, through a combination of seniority and advantageous committee assignments, McKellar had acquired significant power. As chairman of the Post Office and Post Roads Committee (1933 - 1946) and as acting chairman (1937) and chairman of the Appropriations Committee, he held the keys to federal patronage and expenditures. He tirelessly attempted to maintain congressional control over mushrooming national budgets. The "McKellar bill" of 1943, which passed the Senate but failed in the House, in effect would have required Senate confirmation of all federal appointees to positions paying more than $4, 500 annually. Had it become law, it would likely have provided a check on the growth of executive power but would also have brought politics into the higher civil service. In 1941, he became involved in a vendetta with David E. Lilienthal, chairman of the TVA, which carried over to Lilienthal's reappointment to the TVA in 1946 and his confirmation in 1947 as chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. Convinced of Lilienthal's unfitness, McKellar for weeks early in 1947 filled the newspapers with outrageous "Red-baiting" and personal denunciation. Lilienthal emerged with job intact and reputation enhanced. McKellar, on the other hand, stood exposed in unfavorable light. In 1952, against the advice of a host of friends, McKellar ran for reelection. Now eighty-three years of age, he campaigned feebly and was defeated in the primary by Albert Gore, a liberal congressman thirty-nine years his junior. McKellar returned to Memphis, and until his death worked intermittently on his memoirs, which were never published. He died at Memphis.
An ardent Wilsonian, McKellar inclined to internationalist views; but his real interest lay in domestic affairs. He advocated federal aid to road construction, flood control, agriculture, and air travel. He played down the race issue whenever possible. During the 1930's he provided important support for most of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's programs, but he later opposed some of the social welfare measures of the New Deal, such as the National Youth Administration.
Throughout his senatorial career, McKellar cultivated a relationship with Edward Hull ("Boss") Crump of Memphis, who for a generation reigned as the leading political force in Tennessee. Although McKellar seldom differed with Crump, he never became a mere puppet. On occasion he went his own way for instance, over prohibition, which McKellar, an abstainer from both alcohol and tobacco, endorsed even though Crump opposed it.
McKellar was affable, intelligent, and an exceptionally colorful orator. His quick temper and ad hominem approach to politics did him little harm in the early stages of his career. Within the Senate, McKellar seldom rose to statesmanship but did win a reputation for hard work and close attention to his committee assignments. Expertly manipulating his prerogatives, he accumulated vast influence with his colleagues and the executive branch.
Exaggerated into caricature by advancing age, his lifelong traits appeared at their worst: his colorful but sometimes reckless rhetoric, his inability to separate issues from personalities, and his propensity to engage in feuds (Lilienthal was not his only bête noir). At the height of his formal power and distinction, as president pro tempore of the Senate during most of the administration of Harry S. Truman, McKellar seemed a throwback.
Although Kenneth never married, he maintained an active family life, establishing a home in Memphis with his mother and sisters.