Brien McMahon

McMahon was born in 1903 in Norwalk, Connecticut. McMahon graduated from Fordham University in 1924 and then Yale Law School in 1927. McMahon changed his name to Brien McMahon the same year as being admitted to the bar. ==Justice career==

McMahon began a practice in Norwalk and later served as a judge on that town's city court, However, McMahon quickly resigned to become special assistant to the Attorney General of the United States in 1933. Attorney General Homer Cummings was also from Connecticut. In 1935, McMahon was appointed as United States Assistant Attorney General overseeing the Department of Justice's Criminal Division. Among prominent cases associated with McMahon in the Criminal Division were the prosecutions of John Dillinger's lawyer, Louis Piquette (for harboring a criminal) and the trials of gangsters associated with 'Baby Face' Nelson. However, the case that elevated McMahon to national renown and laid the foundation for his political career was the Harlan County Coal Miners' case. It was the first attempt to enforce the Wagner Act protecting unions. The case became famous, less for legal principles than for the violence and scandal surrounding the trial. Although he lost, he "received wide public recognition and a reputation as a courageous and honest upholder of justice, both of which would further his political ambitions," according to a biography accompanying the introduction to his papers, held by the Georgetown University Library. In 1939, McMahon left government service and resumed his law practice. In February 1940 McMahon married Rosemary Turner (June 21, 1917October 11, 1986), and they had a daughter, Patricia. Rosemary was the half-sister of the British politician and best-selling novelist (Lord) Jeffrey Archer (1940 ). ==Congressional career==

McMahon mounted a successful campaign for a Connecticut United States Senate seat in 1944, defeating incumbent John A. Danaher, with internationalism (McMahon) vs. isolationism (Danaher) a major point of debate. The Atomic Energy Act of 1946 created a special Congressional committee, the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. Brien McMahon served as its first chairman in 1946, and again in 1949–1952. The first atomic bomb test by the Soviet Union in August 1949 came earlier than expected by Americans, and McMahon immediately urged that U.S. production of atomic weapons be substantially increased. McMahon was strongly in favor of going ahead with the Super, and argued as much in a series of letters he wrote to President Truman. The senator rejected morality-based arguments against the hydrogen bomb based on it being inherently more destructive than previous weapons, asking "Where is the valid ethical distinction between" the World War II multi-day-and-night bombing of Hamburg, the firebombing of Tokyo, and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and any future raid with whatever technology that caused mass casualties. Connecticut voters reelected McMahon to his Senate seat in 1950. During his entire tenure in the Senate, he served as Secretary of the Senate Democratic Conference. ==Presidential campaign, illness and death==

Beginning in January 1952, McMahon was mentioned as a possible candidate in the 1952 Democratic Party presidential primaries, but he vacillated over whether he was actually running or not. By the time of the 1952 Democratic National Convention in July, he was too weak to be considered an actual candidate, but the delegation from Connecticut initially cast their 16 votes for him as a symbolic gesture. More than four years remained in his second Senate term. Brien McMahon is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Norwalk. ==Legacy and honors==

A commemorative stamp honoring Brien McMahon and his role in opening the way to peaceful uses of atomic energy was issued by the United States on July 28, 1962, at Norwalk, Connecticut. The stamp features a portrait of McMahon facing a rendition of an atomic symbol. Brien McMahon High School, in Norwalk, is named after him. Brien McMahon Hall, a residence hall at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, also bears his name. Footage of McMahon is included in the 1982 documentary The Atomic Cafe giving a speech urging a reasoned response to the acquisition of atomic weapons contrasting with the more McCarthyite speeches of Republican Senators Owen Brewster, Richard Nixon and Democratic Representative Lloyd Bentsen. ==See also==