John Little McClellan (1896-1977) served for 35 years as a U.S. senator from Arkansas. He was one of the old-time Southern senators, born at the turn of the century, who opposed all civil rights legislation and rose to power because of seniority.

John Little McClellan was born on a farm in southcentral Arkansas near Sheridan on February 25, 1896, the son of Issac Scott and Belle (Suddeth) McClellan. His mother died while he was a youth. Educated in the local schools, he graduated from the Sheridan High School. At age 12 he began five years of legal studies in his father's office and under a special Arkansas statute was admitted to the bar at age 17. He practiced law in Sheridan until he joined the army during World War I and rose to the rank of first lieutenant in the aviation section of the Signal Corps.

After the war he settled in...