"Secretary of the Interior" Douglas McKay Signed TLS Dated 1953 For Sale

Up for sale "Secretary of the Interior" Douglas McKay Hand Signed TLS Dated 1953. 

ES-4663

James

Douglas McKay (June 24, 1893 –

July 22, 1959) was an American businessman and politician from the U.S. state

of Oregon. He served in World War I before going into business, where he was most

successful as a car dealership owner in Salem. A Republican, he served as a

city councilor and mayor of Salem before election to the Oregon State Senate. McKay

served four terms in the state senate, also served stateside with the rank of

major in the U.S. Army during World War II, and was then elected as the twenty-fifth governor of Oregon in

1948. He left that office before the end of his term when he was selected as

the thirty-fifth U.S. Secretary of

the Interior during the Eisenhower administration.

McKay was born in Portland, Oregon, to

farmer Edwin D. McKay and his wife Minnie A. Musgrove. His family's limited

means required him to work while still a schoolboy. After his father's death in 1911, McKay was

forced to leave school before receiving a high school diploma.

He was admitted to Oregon State College in Corvallis as an agriculture student at the age of twenty.

McKay was elected student body president in 1916. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree

and married Mabel Christine Hill on March 31, 1917. They had one son and two daughters: Douglas,

Shirley and Marylou McKay. During

World War I, he served with the United States Army in

Europe, where he advanced to the rank of first lieutenant.[1] He sustained an injury in battle to his leg,

right arm, and shoulder, which earned him a Purple Heart. Upon discharge, the disability prevented him

from performing the strenuous activities involved with farming, so he began a

business career in Portland selling insurance, and then automobiles, rising to

the position of sales manager. After the move to the sales manager position,

the company sent him to Salem, where he was in charge of their dealership in

that city. He

opened Douglas McKay Chevrolet Co. in 1927, and later started a Cadillac dealership as well. McKay later served as president of the Oregon

Automobile Dealer's Association. Secretary

McKay and Dwight D. Eisenhower had

significant ideological differences, the General being identified with

the Republican moderates, and McKay with the conservative wing. Fearing that conservative Senator Robert A. Taft had little or no chance of winning

the presidency

in 1952, and admiring Eisenhower for his military record and

leadership qualities, McKay supported Eisenhower's candidacy early in the

campaign.Upon his election, Eisenhower appointed McKay as Secretary of the Interior.

McKay resigned as Oregon governor on December 27, 1952. As the U.S.

Secretary of the Interior, McKay proved himself a political asset

and an effective administrator, largely because of his concern for natural

resources in the western states balanced by fiscal and business acumen. As an

administrator, he worked hard to balance the interests of conservationists and

developers. He fostered partnerships involving the states, local public groups,

private enterprise, and the Federal Government in building facilities and

developing natural resources. During his tenure, McKay worked to prevent the

Columbia Valley Authority and public development of the Hell's Canyon project. McKay created nine new wildlife reserves and he opposed the transfer of Wichita Mountains Wildlife

Refuge property to the Army. However, he also advocated

building a dam at Echo Park which would

have flooded Dinosaur National Monument.

In Oregon, he allowed the Alabama mining company to harvest

timber; for that, his critics dubbed him, "Giveaway McKay."[ He

also supported Indian termination policy in

1954. In Washington, McKay abolished five divisions within the Interior

Department, cutting four thousand positions and reducing the budget by nearly

$200 million. In 1954, McKay was featured on the cover of the

edition of August 23 of Time.