Connecticut Yankee Goes to Washington: Senator George P. McLean, Birdman of the Senate is a warm, if workmanlike, biography of an obscure New England Senator of the early twentieth century, written by his descendant, Will McLean Greeley.
Connecticut Yankee Goes to Washington: Senator George P. McLean, Birdman of the Senate
by Will McLean Greeley
RIT Press, 350 pages
Publication Date: March 3, 2023
George P. McLean called himself an “ardent progressive,” but from my reading of this biography, he seems more like a tepid one.
On the one hand, first as governor of Connecticut and then as a U.S. Senator, he campaigned in favor of fair representation, including the direct election of Senators. For this, he earned the praise of Senator Robert “Fighting Bob” La Follette. On the other hand, McLean wasn’t in favor of efforts like initiatives, referendums, and recalls.
Connecticut Yankee Goes to Washington: Senator George P. McLean, Birdman of the Senate
Laudably, McLean called attention to inequality and corporate power, but he also opposed tighter antitrust laws.
He campaigned for anti-lynching laws, but referred to Black people as “darkies.”
He advocated for equal treatment of women in the civil service, but voted against women’s suffrage four times, including in 1919, when a yes vote by him would have tipped the balance.
And unlike La Follette, McLean voted in favor of the declaration of war against Germany, and in favor of the Espionage Act and the Sedition Act.
I suppose I got assigned this book review because of the subtitle, “Birdman of the Senate,” as I’ve been a birdwatcher now for more than sixty years.
Senator McLean won that nickname because he campaigned tirelessly—and successfully—for the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which the National Audubon Society says has “saved millions, if not billions, of birds.”
McLean, the 'Birdman of the Senate' campaigned tirelessly—and successfully—for the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which the National Audubon Society says has “saved millions, if not billions, of birds.”
Greeley has an interesting chapter, “Saving the Birds,” on all of McLean’s efforts on this subject. For context, Greeley notes that “by the late 1800s, around 200 million birds were killed annually for making women’s and men’s hats.” While the most popular feathers came from egrets and herons, many other varieties of birds were slaughtered for this fashion statement, including “sparrows, warblers, cardinals, orioles, woodpeckers, flickers [which are a kind of woodpecker], grebes, terns, grouse, quail, jays, bluebirds, waxwings, buntings, tanagers, grosbeaks, and many others.”
McLean, we learn, was a duck hunter for many years but largely had given up the practice, Greeley writes, because “advances in continuous shotguns” made the sport unfair.
“Limiting excessive game-hunting was McLean’s original focus when he entered the Senate,” Greeley writes. “Just three months into his first term in the Senate, on May 15, 1911, McLean introduced legislation to protect migratory game birds in all states between January 10 and August 15, giving birds protection during their spring migration.”
Mike Boehm
Northern harrier.
When that effort failed, he proposed a “constitutional amendment to protect migratory birds.” That didn’t go anywhere, either, so in 1912, he crafted another bill, the Weeks-McLean bill, coauthored with Massachusetts Republican Representative John Weeks, that prohibited spring hunting as well as the importation of feathers for hats. In one floor speech in favor of the bill, McLean noted that “a coat composed of hundreds of hummingbird hides” had sold for $10,000 in Cuba. The bill passed in 1913, thanks to McLean’s dedication and skill. But he didn’t stop there. Fearing the Supreme Court might toss this new law to prevent the federal government from exerting power, McLean decided that a treaty would be the best way to protect migratory birds. Four years later, his hard work paid off, as the Senate passed the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
As a birder, I wanted more details on his love of birds in this book. Greeley quotes from one of McLean’s speeches where the Senator described the “intense pleasure many people find in the companionship and study of birds.” I can relate to that! He also said that he wanted to “save the birds for their beauty alone,” which I also get.
As a birder, I wanted more details on his love of birds in this book.
But as a birder, I’d like to know how he got so interested in birds in the first place.
What was his favorite bird?
What was his “nemesis” bird? (The bird he always wanted to see but never could find.)
Did he have a life list?
Did he have photos of birds in his office or at his home, like I always have?
Let me add one appreciation, one quibble, and one critique.
I appreciated Greeley’s sensitive treatment of McLean’s nervous breakdown during his second term as governor of Connecticut. And I was surprised that McLean was able to bounce back and serve three terms as Senator after that.
Quibble: In 1916, there was a small surge of support for McLean to run for President, and Greeley writes: “McLean likely had no interest in the Presidency.” In all my years of studying politics and politicians, I’ve never known of a U.S. Senator who had “no interest” in that post.
Critique: In one paragraph towards the very end, Greeley touches on the “riots and chaos in the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021,” and pines for more “moderation” in our politics. But the Trump coup attempt wasn’t just brought on by “political polarization” that can be cured by more activism by “centrists and moderates in America.” It was the design of a pathological narcissist and authoritarian, fueled by white supremacy and aided and abetted by a Republican Party that had sold its soul to this devil. Greeley would have been wiser just to omit mention of January 6 than to treat it in this way.
All in all, I enjoyed reading this book, and finding out more about the legislator who did so much to protect the migratory birds that I so adore.