Douglas McKay

Douglas McKay
35th United States Secretary of the Interior
In office
January 21, 1953 – April 15, 1956
PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded byOscar L. Chapman
Succeeded byFred A. Seaton
25th Governor of Oregon
In office
January 10, 1949 – December 27, 1952
Preceded byJohn Hall
Succeeded byPaul L. Patterson
Personal details
Born
James Douglas McKay

(1893-06-24)June 24, 1893
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
DiedJuly 22, 1959(1959-07-22) (aged 66)
Salem, Oregon, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Mabel Hill
(m. 1917)
Children3
EducationOregon State University, Corvallis
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Battles/warsWorld War I

James Douglas McKay (June 24, 1893 – July 22, 1959) was an American businessman and politician from the U.S. state of Oregon. He served in World War I before going into business, where he was most successful as a car dealership owner in Salem. A Republican, he served as a city councilor and mayor of Salem before election to the Oregon State Senate. McKay served four terms in the state senate, also served stateside with the rank of major in the U.S. Army during World War II, and was then elected as the twenty-fifth governor of Oregon in 1948. He left that office before the end of his term when he was selected as the thirty-fifth U.S. Secretary of the Interior during the Eisenhower administration. McKay's conservative policies were denounced by environmentalists; they forced his resignation in 1956.