George B. McClellan Jr.

For other people with the same name, see George McClellan (disambiguation).

George B. McClellan Jr.
McClellan c. 1909
93rd Mayor of New York City
In office January 1, 1904 – December 31, 1909
Preceded by	Seth Low
Succeeded by	William Jay Gaynor
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 12th district
In office March 4, 1895 – December 21, 1903
Preceded by	William Bourke Cockran
Succeeded by	William Bourke Cockran
Personal details
Born	George Brinton McClellan Jr. (1865-11-23)November 23, 1865 Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony
Died	November 30, 1940(1940-11-30) (aged 75) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Georgiana Louise Heckscher ​ ​ (m. 1889)​
Parent(s)	George B. McClellan Nelly McClellan
Education	Princeton University (BA, MA)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	New York Army National Guard United States Army
Years of service	1885-88; 1917-1919
Rank	Colonel
Unit	United States Army Ordnance Department
Battles/wars	World War I Meuse–Argonne offensive

George Brinton McClellan Jr. (November 23, 1865 – November 30, 1940), was an American politician and historian. He was elected as the 93rd Mayor of New York City, serving from 1904 to 1909. He was the son of Civil War general George B. McClellan, who was an 1864 Democratic presidential candidate.

Life and career

McClellan, known to his family as "Max", was born in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, where his parents were visiting. He went to school in Trenton in New Jersey – where his father was Governor – and later Saint John's School in Ossining, New York. From 1885 to 1888 he served in the New York Army National Guard. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree at Princeton in 1886 and his Master of Arts in 1889. Princeton, Fordham University, and Union College later each gave him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.

After graduating, he engaged in reportorial and editorial work at the New York World and other newspapers. In 1892 he was admitted to the bar. He served for some time as secretary and treasurer of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge.

New York City politics

In 1892, McClellan was elected president of the Board of Aldermen of New York City for the following two years, and for a part of 1894 he served as acting mayor. His success and popularity enabled him in 1894 to be elected as a United States Congressman (as a Democrat), a position he held until resigning when elected mayor of New York in late 1903.

In Congress, McClellan was a prominent member of the Ways and Means Committee. While in Congress he strongly opposed the war with Spain in 1898, and supported President McKinley's efforts to find a compromise. A conservative, McClellan spoke in favor of the gold standard, an issue that divided the fiscally conservative from the agrarian wing of the Democratic Party, although he avoided committing himself on the subject in the campaign of 1896 when he supported William Jennings Bryan, a leading silverite.

Mayor of New York City

In November 1903, McClellan defeated the sitting mayor, Seth Low (independent Fusion), for a two-year term. He was re-elected in 1905, after the restoration of four-year mayoral terms. The party did not nominate him in 1909 for a third term.

He is notable in the history of movie censorship for canceling all moving-picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908, claiming that the new medium degraded the morals of the community and that celluloid film was an unacceptable fire hazard.

On October 27, 1904, the Interborough Rapid Transit, New York City's first subway, opened. McClellan was to start the first train at the City Hall Station, and then hand it over to an IRT motorman. However, he was enjoying himself so much that he refused to give up the controls until the train reached 103rd Street Station.

U.S. Presidential candidacy

McClellan ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 1904, receiving 3 votes on the first ballot at the Democratic National Convention.This run at the nomination ran afoul of the United States Constitution Article 2 section 1, Clause 5 requiring he be born in the United States.

Later career

Throughout his political career, McClellan remained interested in education and in 1906 he was named honorary Chancellor of Union College. At Princeton he delivered the Stafford Little lectures on public affairs (1908–1910), served as university lecturer (1911–1912) and was subsequently appointed a professor of economic history.

McClellan served in World War I, entering the Army as major assigned to the Ordnance Department in May 1917. He was honorably discharged in May 1919 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Personal life

McClellan married Georgiana Heckscher on October 30, 1889.

McClellan died on November 30, 1940, one week after his 75th birthday, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Selected works

• The Oligarchy of Venice. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1904.
• The Heel of War. New York: G.W. Dillingham Company, 1916.
• Venice and Bonaparte. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1931.
• Modern Italy: A Short History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1933.
• The Gentleman and the Tiger: The Autobiography of George B. McClellan Jr.. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1956.

See also

• Mayor of New York City
• List of mayors of New York City
• New York City mayoral elections

References

Notes

Sources

• Some of the text is taken from McClellan, George Brinton. (1915). New International Encyclopedia. Dodd, Mead (1915). p. 545., which is in the public domain

Further reading

• Mulrine, M. Barbara. The Price of Honor: The Life and Times of George Brinton McClellan Jr. (2011), The standard scholarly biography
• Syrett, Harold C., "Introduction" to The Gentleman and the Tiger: The Autobiography of George B. McClellan Jr.. (1956) pp 9–39
• Benhke, Arno (1914). The sailing of a refugee ship; a little record of the voyage of the Principe di Udine from Genoa to New York in August, nineteen fourteen, during the first days of the European conflict (PDF). New York. pp. 17–19. Archived from the original on 18 March 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2024. Mr. George B. McClellan, formerly Mayor of New York, on being asked about the hardships he had undergone in reaching Genoa, replied that he had experienced nothing but a phenomenal streak of luck.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

External links

• From Regulation to Censorship: Film and Political Culture in New York in the Early Twentieth Century

• United States Congress. "George B. McClellan Jr. (id: M000331)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.