Gale W. McGee

Gale William McGee ( born March 17, 1915 in Lincoln, Nebraska, † April 9, 1992 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician of the Democratic Party. From 1959 to 1977 he sat for the state of Wyoming in the U.S. Senate.

Early years

McGee was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. He attended the public schools and originally wanted to study law. Due to the global economic crisis, however, he was able to put this plan into action, but instead went to the State Teacher School in Wayne. In 1936 he graduated from there and was from then on worked as a teacher at a high school. During this work, he studied at the University of Colorado Boulder history. At the Nebraska Wesleyan University, the Iowa State University and the University of Notre Dame, he worked as a university teacher in subsequent years. 1946 McGee then received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago. He then accepted a position at the University of Wyoming, where he became taught as a professor.

Political career

McGee was a member of the Democratic Party. In 1950 he was proposed as a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, but declined because he wanted to meet Wyoming and the people living there only better. In the years 1955 and 1956, he moved from the University of the policy when he worked as an assistant to Senator Joseph C. O'Mahoney.

In 1958 he left the university then finally, to run for the Senate. His program consisted of young and completely new ideas. His campaign caught the attention of Eleanor Roosevelt who called a national fundraising campaign for him in life. The choice was very concise in favor McGee. He prevailed against the Republican incumbent Frank A. Barrett. At the beginning of his time in the Senate he was a member of the Senate Committe on Interstate and Foreign Commerce and the prestigious Senate Committee on Appropriations. He was the first freshmen, the bestowed this honor.

U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower nominated 1958 Republican Lewis Strauss as the new trade minister. At this time, the 13 predecessor Strauss prevailed in their nomination in an average of eight days and were confirmed by the Senate. Due to personal and professional differences informed Senator Clinton Anderson Presba that a confirmation of the nomination by the Senate would be unlikely. An ally he found in McGee, who was in the lead Interstate and Foreign Committee. The hearings in the Committee lasted a total of 16 days, which was already unusually long for a trade minister. The Committee recommended that the Senate confirmation with nine votes to eight. Due to the fact that the Democrats had a very comfortable majority in the Senate, President Eisenhower, however, was very popular with the people, the rejection of the nomination of Strauss was by no means certain. The final vote was then expected to be concise. Strauss failed with 46 to 49 votes. At that time there was only the eighth member of the Cabinet, which has not been confirmed by the Senate.

With President John F. Kennedy McGee shared a personal friendship. They knew each other from the Senate. During a trip in September 1963 by Wyoming McGee accompanied the president.

1964 McGee was re-elected for the first time as a senator. In his second term he was a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Civil Service. During his second term, McGee supported the views of President Lyndon B. Johnson on the Vietnam War. At that time, Johnson was considering to appoint McGee after expiration of the term of Arthur Goldberg to the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, instead, he appointed George Wildman ball

McGee was in 1970 re-elected for a third term. He won against his rival candidate John S. Wold more clearly than expected. He moved back into the same committee as six years earlier also. The third term was dominated by the Watergate affair. He represented Wyoming in unpopular positions, such as the introduction of speed limits of 55 miles per hour during the oil crisis.

In 1976 he was defeated by his Republican challenger Malcolm Wallop. 1977 McGee different then from out of the Senate.

More career

1977 McGee was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the United States Ambassador to the Organization of American States. A post he occupied until 1981. After he had resigned as ambassador, he founded a consulting firm.

Private life

McGee was married to Loraine Baker. Together both had four children. He died in 1992 in Washington, D.C. and was buried there in the Oak Hill Cemetery.

Posthumous work

The members of Congress from Wyoming brought in January 2007, a bill to Congress, after the post office should be renamed in Laramie in the Gale W. McGee Post Office. On 29 January 2007 the House of Representatives and the Senate agreed to on 7 February then. President George W. Bush signed the law on March 7, 2007.