Scope and Content Note
The papers of Charles L. McNary (1874-1944) span the years 1921-1944, with the focus on his career as senator from Oregon, including as Republican minority leader from 1933 to 1944. Included are correspondence, memoranda, legislative bills and resolutions, index cards, typed speeches with handwritten emendations, printed matter, and miscellaneous material. The papers are organized into six series: Family Letters , General Correspondence , Speeches and Statements , Legislative File , Biographical Material , and Printed Matter .
The General Correspondence provides a cross-section view of public opinion directed at McNary while he was the Republican leader in the Senate. Topics include United States neutrality in 1939-1941, Lend-Lease legislation, the United States Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 (Burke-Wadsworth Bill), and McNary's answers to these issues. There is some correspondence regarding his nomination as the Republican candidate for the vice presidency in 1940. Other topics in the collection relate to agriculture, conservation, Indian affairs, tariffs, and the McNary-Haugen Bill.
Correspondents include Ralph H. Cake, James Couzens, Thomas E. Dewey, Herbert Hoover, Hiram Johnson, Richard L. Neuberger, Gerald P. Nye, Ben Peterson, Joseph P. Tumulty, Wallace H. White, and Wendell L. Willkie.