Charles L. McNary

Charles Linza McNary (June 12, 1874 – February 25, 1944) was an American politician. A Republican, he served in the U.S. Senate from 1917 to 1944 and was Senate Minority Leader from 1933 to 1944. In the Senate, McNary helped to pass legislation that led to the construction of Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, and worked on agricultural and forestry issues. He also supported many New Deal programs at the beginning of the Great Depression. He was Oregon's longest-serving senator until Mark Hatfield surpassed his mark in 1993.

McNary was the Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States in 1940, on the ticket with presidential candidate Wendell Willkie; both died in 1944, during what would have been their term had they won. They lost to the Democratic ticket, composed of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was running for his third term as president, and Henry A. Wallace, by just under a ten-point margin.

McNary was a justice of the Oregon Supreme Court from 1913 to 1915. He had been dean of Willamette University College of Law, in his hometown of Salem, from 1908 to 1913. Before that, he was a deputy district attorney under his brother, John Hugh McNary. John McNary later was appointed as a federal judge for the District of Oregon.

McNary died in office after unsuccessful surgery on a brain tumor. Oregon held a state funeral for him, during which his body lay in state at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem. McNary Dam, McNary Field, McNary High School, and McNary Country Club (on land he owned) in Oregon are named in his honor. He continues to have the record as the longest-serving Senate Minority Leader.