Archives West Finding Aid

Charles Linza McNary was born in Salem, Oregon, in 1874. He attended Willamette University. He then studied law at Stanford University, but returned to Oregon in 1897 before graduating. In 1898, he passed the bar and practiced law with his brother, John McNary, in Salem. He began teaching property law at Willamette University, serving as dean of the college from 1908 to 1913. In his career, he also held several governmental positions, beginning with Marion County deputy recorder from 1892 to 1896. He was appointed deputy district attorney by his brother, John, and served from 1904 to 1911. Governor Oswald West appointed him to the Oregon Supreme Court in 1913, and in 1916, he was elected to chair the Republican State Committee. He then represented Oregon in the United States Senate from 1917 to 1944, serving as minority leader from 1933 to 1944. McNary was also a vice presidential candidate on the Republican ticket in 1940, running alongside Wendell Willkie.

McNary married twice. He and Jessie Breyman were married in 1902; she died in an automobile collision in 1918. In 1923, he and Cornelia Woodburn Morton were married, and they later adopted one child. McNary died in 1944.