Leo McLaughlin

Leo Patrick McLaughlin was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, on June 5, 1888, as one of eight children of John Henry McLaughlin and Bridget Adela Russell. John was born in March 1842, and resided in County Offaly before immigrating to Maryland during the Great Famine in 1850. John married Bridget, whose family immigrated from Ireland after the American Civil War, in 1873. John operated a grocery store with his brother in Memphis, Tennessee, before selling it in 1878, and moving to Hot Springs. John was one of the largest real estate owners in the town. in 1916. Leo McLaughlin is in the back row second from the left. McLaughlin was christened on July 1, 1888. In high school, he was a member of the football and basketball teams and convinced American baseball player Honus Wagner to referee the first basketball game held in Hot Springs on December 31, 1907. He graduated from Hot Springs High School in 1908, and was president in his senior year. He was a member of the Hot Springs Bathers in 1912. McLaughlin attended the University of Arkansas for two weeks in 1908. He never took a bar examination, but studied law under George P. Whittington, a lawyer and member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, and worked as a lawyer for 45 years. He was able to work as lawyer despite not being admitted to the bar due to lax regulations and his association with Whittington. ==Career==

State politics McLaughlin was an alternate delegate to the Democratic Party of Arkansas' state convention in 1910, a delegate to the 1914 convention, and a delegate to the 1948 Democratic National Convention. Whittington convinced McLaughlin to run with him for seats representing Garland County in the state house. Due to his youth, McLaughlin knew little about political issues and took safe positions on issues, such as allowing counties to vote on whether or not they wanted a prohibition of alcohol. They defeated four other candidates for the Democratic nominations and won in the 1910 election. McLaughlin, at age 22, was the youngest member of the state house. He served on the Judiciary, Banks and Banking, and Natural Resources committee. McLaughlin supported Stephen Brundidge Jr. for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1913 and later supported George Washington Hays. He supported Governor Carl E. Bailey's campaign for a seat in the United States Senate in the 1937 special election and put forward the motion to have the Democratic nomination be given to Bailey. Bailey lost the election, but won in Hot Springs. McLaughlin supported Bailey for reelection in the 1940 gubernatorial election, but he lost to Homer Martin Adkins. He led Attorney General Jack Wilson Holt Sr.'s campaign in Garland County during the 1942 U.S. Senate election. Local politics McLaughlin received the Democratic nomination to run for city attorney of Hot Springs and defeated Sam McConnell, a member of the Republican Party who ran as an independent, in the 1912 election. He was the youngest person elected as city attorney at that time. He succeeded J. A. Stallcup as the city attorney. During the 1915 election McLaughlin's opponent Peyton T. Jordan attacked him for not having a law degree as it meant he could not represent the city before the Arkansas Supreme Court. McLaughlin grew unpopular due to his opposition to the construction of a sanatorium on land owned by his family. He won the Democratic primary in December 1915, which was normally tantamount to election. James McConnell, a Republican running as an independent and with the support of Mayor Jacob W. McClendon, defeated McLaughlin in the 1916 election. After the United States joined World War I, McLaughlin was eligible to be drafted into the United States Army and underwent a pre-induction physical on January 24, 1918. McLaughlin defeated James McConnell and Sam Garrett in the 1918 election. He hoped that winning the election would prevent him from being drafted, but he was drafted on May 27. He reported to Camp Beauregard, where he was assigned to Company G of the 156th Infantry Regiment and then the 114th Field Signal Battalion. His unit was transported from New Jersey to France by the USS Leviathan in September 1918, but the armistice occurred before his unit was sent to combat. He was promoted to corporal before his honorable discharge on April 26, 1919. He faced no opposition in 1922. McLaughlin was a member of the Garland County Democratic Central Committee and was selected to be its secretary in 1912. He served as the party's chair and Jacob L. King, a member of McLaughlin's opposition, succeeded him as chair in 1948. ==Mayoralty==

Elections Mayor Jacob W. McClendon died in 1921, and McLaughlin considered seeking the appointment to replace him, but declined due to other strong candidates seeking the position; Harry A. Jones was selected to fill the vacancy. McLaughlin supported J. B. Shaw against Jones in the 1925 election. Sidney Nutt won the Democratic mayoral primary without opposition in December 1926. Vernal Ledgerwood, who was elected municipal judge in 1917, asked Nutt to replace Chief of Police William Brandenburg upon taking office, but Nutt refused. Ledgerwood and Whittington met and convinced McLaughlin to run for mayor as an independent. McLaughlin defeated Nutt in the 1927 election. Ledgerwood administered the oath of office for McLaughlin. McLaughlin appointed Davies, Ledgerwood's law partner, to succeed himself as city attorney. In the 1929 election McLaughlin defeated Cleveland Smith, the city engineer. There was no opposition to McLaughlin in the 1931 election, the first time in the city's history that an incumbent mayor had no opponent. There was an attempt to draft Martin A. Eisele during the 1933 campaign, but he refused to run; a write-in campaign for Eisele had received 1,044 votes. McLaughlin defeated Elmer Tackett, a former member of the state house, in the 1937 election. McLaughlin was accused of electoral fraud during his tenure, with allegations of paying people's poll taxes and threatening to fire government workers who did not vote. McLaughlin had previously opposed Miller during the 1937 U.S. Senate election and did not attend the hearing. The GI League won all of the county elections in the 1946 election except for constable and state senate. Ledgerwood stated in a post-election radio address that McLaughlin's political machine was over and Ledgerwood did not seek reelection in 1947. The 1946 election saw the highest turnout in the history of Garland County. McLaughlin filed to run in the 1947 election, but later announced that he would not seek reelection after a grand jury launched an investigation into his administration. Tenure Mayor W. W. Waters and Sheriff R. L. Williams instituted a crackdown on gambling clubs in Hot Springs in 1913. McLaughlin wanted to make Hot Springs open to gambling and appointed local gambler William Stokley Jacobs to oversee the resumption of gambling in the town. Jacobs was respected by both civil society and the gambling community. The reintroduction of gambling clubs in Hot Springs started with the Southern Club, which Jacobs held an ownership stake in. Jacobs opened his own gambling club, Belvedere, in 1929, and held interests in six clubs by the time of his death in 1940. In 1941, McLaughlin reported to a grand jury that Hot Springs took in $250,365 in gambling fines between April 10, 1927, and June 30, 1941. Governor Junius Marion Futrell was a friend of Ledgerwood. McLaughlin and Ledgerwood wanted to reintroduce horse racing and were told by Futrell that he would sign a bill to legalize it. In 1934, Eugene Hampton proposed legislation to legalize horse racing and it was signed into law by Futrell. A political machine was operated in the city and county by McLaughlin, Earl Witt, and Ledgerwood. Illegal gambling was sanctioned in the city with fees being paid to the local government to avoid police raids and McLaughlin advertised the city as a place to gamble. Governor Adkins attempted to crack down on gambling in the 1940s, but politicians like Garland County Prosecuting Attorney Curtis Ridgway had gamblers as their most prolific supporters. Criminals, such as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, received protection from law enforcement by McLaughlin's Hot Springs government. and a rededication event was held on May 30, 1947. ==Later life and death==

A grand jury indicted McLaughlin on four charges of bribery, two charges of conversion of city funds, and a charge of failure to file a city financial report on March 18, 1947, and was given a bond of $40,500. His brother George, secretary Hazel Marsh, and Elmer Walters were also indicted. Additional charges were filed against McLaughlin, including robbery. Henry Donham and C. Floyd Huff were McLaughlin's attorneys. He was acquitted on one charge and the remainder were dismissed. During the trial Leo defended George being on the city's payroll by claiming that he hired George as an undercover agent in 1937, and that was the reason why government officials did not know what George did for his salary; laughter broke out in the courtroom due to George's reputation of incompetence. A lawsuit attempting to remove him as chair of the Garland County Democratic Central Committee was withdrawn due to McLaughlin leaving office. McLaughlin attempted to reenter politics after his mayoral tenure by running for city attorney as an independent in the 1952 election, but failed to qualify. He suffered from poor health starting in 1951, and had nephritis. He was hospitalized due to influenza in April 1958, and died on May 5, 1958, due to uremia. His two living sisters, Elizabeth and Stella, sold the McLaughlin family residence in 1960, and it was looted by vandals. Stella's estate was worth $668,000 () when she died in 1971. ==Personal life==

John William McLaughlin, McLaughlin's brother, was elected to the board of aldermen from the 2nd ward. After McLaughlin lost reelection in 1916, his brother George started to criticize McClendon and threatened to shoot him. McClendon threatened to shoot George while he was working as an election judge in a school board election in 1916, and was convicted for aggravated assault resulting in a sentence of one hour in jail and a $50 fine. His sister Mary Anna died from the Spanish flu in February 1917. On June 19, 1918, McLaughlin married Juanita Gilliam in Rapides Parish, Louisiana. She filed for divorce on September 5, 1919, in Denver, Colorado, and a judgement was made in her favor on November 18, although it was not finalized until June 2, 1921. In 1931, McLaughlin married Mary Francis Frink. In 1937, Paul claimed during their divorce proceedings that McLaughlin's estate was worth $500,000 (). He was the president of the Hot Springs Broadcasting Company, which was formed to prevent the removal of the KTHS station. Fred Rix, former president of the Arkansas National Bank, died in 1937, and County Judge Elza Housley appointed McLaughlin as the administrator of his estate worth over $300,000 (). Rix's half-brother, mother, and wife filed suit to have McLaughlin removed as the administrator, but he was retained. Tom Stone was selected to replace McLaughlin as the administrator. ==Electoral history==