Brien McMahon

Brien McMahon
McMahon in 1945
Chair of the Joint Atomic Energy Committee
In office
January 3, 1949 – July 28, 1952
Preceded byBourke B. Hickenlooper
Succeeded byCarl T. Durham (Acting)
In office
August 1, 1946 – January 3, 1947
Preceded byHimself (Senate Atomic Energy Committee)
Succeeded byBourke B. Hickenlooper
Chair of the Senate Atomic Energy Committee
In office
October 22, 1945 – August 1, 1946
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byHimself (Joint Atomic Energy Committee)
Secretary of the Senate Democratic Caucus
In office
January 3, 1945 – July 28, 1952
LeaderAlben W. Barkley
Scott W. Lucas
Ernest McFarland
Preceded byFrancis T. Maloney
Succeeded byThomas C. Hennings Jr.
United States Senator
from Connecticut
In office
January 3, 1945 – July 28, 1952
Preceded byJohn A. Danaher
Succeeded byWilliam A. Purtell
Personal details
Born
James O'Brien McMahon

(1903-10-06)October 6, 1903
Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S.
DiedJuly 28, 1952(1952-07-28) (aged 48)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationFordham University (BA)
Yale University (LLB)
Signature

Brien McMahon (born James O'Brien McMahon) (October 6, 1903 – July 28, 1952) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the United States Senate (as a Democrat from Connecticut) from 1945 to 1952. McMahon was a major figure in the establishment of the Atomic Energy Commission, through his authorship of the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 (the McMahon Act).

McMahon served as chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Atomic Energy, and the first chairman of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. McMahon was a key figure in the early years of atomic weapons development and an advocate for the civilian (rather than military) control of nuclear development in the USA. Also, in 1952, McMahon proposed an "army" of young Americans to act as "missionaries of democracy", which sowed the seeds for what later became the Peace Corps.