McKenna, George 1865-1930
The son of Joseph McKenna, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by President in Reed in 1889, the California-born George McKenna attended college and law school at Harvard before beginning practice in Philadelphia, the city of his father's birth. He became involved in the Democratic politics of the de facto capital, and was elected to Congress in 1896. McKenna gradually became the boss of the Philadelphia machine, and took over leadership of the Pennsylvania machine when Matthew Quay of Pittsburgh died in 1904.
During the bitter nomination struggle of 1912, McKenna initially held the Pennsylvania delegation firm for the conservative Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts, but when Theodore Roosevelt won a majority on the third ballot, McKenna released his delegates, many of whom flocked to TR. This started a stampede that put TR over the top, and in gratitude (and to balance the ticket), the reformer Roosevelt picked the boss McKenna as his running mate. McKenna became the first Roman Catholic to hold the Vice-Presidency or Presidency, and was handily re-elected along with TR in 1916. During his term in office, he scrupulously avoided involvement in TR's initial skirmishes with the conservatives, and he was a fervent supporter of the war effort, especially during the dark winter of 1914-1915, when Confederate artillery could be heard in Philadelphia.
When TR decided to run for a third term amid endemic strikes and economic malaise, he sought to burnish his reform image by dropping McKenna in favor of William Allen White, a pro-reform newspaper editor and a political outsider. McKenna, who had hoped to run himself in 1920, was deeply disappointed in this decision, but loyally camapaigned for the new team. After Roosevelt's defeat, McKenna was heard to claim, unpersuasively, that American Catholics had turned against the Democratic party when he was dropped. He joined Philadelphia National Bank in 1921, eventually rising to become its President.
McKenna, whose obesity had made him the butt of jokes throughout his career, suffered a heart attack in his office in 1930, shortly after a run on his bank which had nearly wiped it out. He died before help could be summoned, and was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery, in Philadelphia. His son, James, served as a Congressman from Philadelphia during 1926-1941, when he resigned to join his reserve unit. James was killed in action at the Battle of Fredericksburg.
The son of Joseph McKenna, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by President in Reed in 1889, the California-born George McKenna attended college and law school at Harvard before beginning practice in Philadelphia, the city of his father's birth. He became involved in the Democratic politics of the de facto capital, and was elected to Congress in 1896. McKenna gradually became the boss of the Philadelphia machine, and took over leadership of the Pennsylvania machine when Matthew Quay of Pittsburgh died in 1904.
During the bitter nomination struggle of 1912, McKenna initially held the Pennsylvania delegation firm for the conservative Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts, but when Theodore Roosevelt won a majority on the third ballot, McKenna released his delegates, many of whom flocked to TR. This started a stampede that put TR over the top, and in gratitude (and to balance the ticket), the reformer Roosevelt picked the boss McKenna as his running mate. McKenna became the first Roman Catholic to hold the Vice-Presidency or Presidency, and was handily re-elected along with TR in 1916. During his term in office, he scrupulously avoided involvement in TR's initial skirmishes with the conservatives, and he was a fervent supporter of the war effort, especially during the dark winter of 1914-1915, when Confederate artillery could be heard in Philadelphia.
When TR decided to run for a third term amid endemic strikes and economic malaise, he sought to burnish his reform image by dropping McKenna in favor of William Allen White, a pro-reform newspaper editor and a political outsider. McKenna, who had hoped to run himself in 1920, was deeply disappointed in this decision, but loyally camapaigned for the new team. After Roosevelt's defeat, McKenna was heard to claim, unpersuasively, that American Catholics had turned against the Democratic party when he was dropped. He joined Philadelphia National Bank in 1921, eventually rising to become its President.
McKenna, whose obesity had made him the butt of jokes throughout his career, suffered a heart attack in his office in 1930, shortly after a run on his bank which had nearly wiped it out. He died before help could be summoned, and was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery, in Philadelphia. His son, James, served as a Congressman from Philadelphia during 1926-1941, when he resigned to join his reserve unit. James was killed in action at the Battle of Fredericksburg.
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