# Joseph McKenna *American politician and jurist; member of the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Attorney General and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court* Joseph McKenna (August 10, 1843 – November 21, 1926) was an American politician who held federal office in each of the three branches of government. He sat in the [[United States House of Representatives]], served as U.S. Attorney General, and was an Associate Justice of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]].[^1] He is counted among seventeen former House members who went on to sit on the Supreme Court, a group that includes two Chief Justices.[^1] McKenna was born in Philadelphia and admitted to the California bar in 1865. He won election to the House in 1885. President Benjamin Harrison placed him on the Ninth Circuit in 1892, and President William McKinley named him Attorney General in 1897.[^2] McKinley nominated him to the Court on December 16, 1897, and the Senate confirmed him by voice vote on January 21, 1898.[^3] ## Early life and career McKenna was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Irish Catholic immigrant parents. He studied at St. Joseph's College and at the Collegiate Institute in Benicia, California.[^2] After his admission to the California bar in 1865, he spent a year in private practice. He then became District Attorney for Solano County.[^2] He was elected to the California State Assembly and served a two-year term from 1875 to 1877.[^2] After seeking the speakership without success, he left the Assembly at the end of that single term.[^2] His first two campaigns for Congress failed. He won a House seat in 1885 and held it for four terms.[^2] The Wikipedia account describes him during that service as a "vehement proponent" of Chinese exclusion.[^2] President Benjamin Harrison named him to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1892.[^2] In 1897 President William McKinley made him the 42nd Attorney General of the United States, an office he held until 1898.[^2] ## Judicial career On December 16, 1897, McKinley nominated McKenna as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was to fill the seat of [[Stephen Johnson Field]].[^3] The Senate confirmed the nomination by voice vote on January 21, 1898. McKenna took the judicial oath five days later, on January 26, 1898.[^3] Between his nomination and his confirmation, McKenna spent about a month at Columbia Law School. The Wikipedia account attributes this to his awareness of his limited credentials and his wish to improve his legal education before joining the Court.[^3] According to the same account, McKenna never arrived at a consistent legal philosophy, though he wrote a number of important decisions.[^3] Among them it lists his opinion in *United States v. U.S. Steel Corporation* (1920). That opinion held that antitrust cases would be decided under the "rule of reason" principle, under which only alleged monopolistic combinations in unreasonable restraint of trade are unlawful.[^3] Over his tenure he wrote 614 majority opinions and 146 dissents.[^3] One case concerned the widow of a man killed while working on the railroad. McKenna's rebuttal to the denial of "pecuniary benefit" to her is listed among the opinions that led to a change in the Employer Liability Act.[^3] The account also singles out *Hipolite Egg Co. v. United States*, 220 U.S. 45 (1911). In that case a unanimous Court upheld the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.[^3] McKenna joined in upholding the Mann Act in *Hoke v. United States* (1913).[^3] In *Caminetti v. United States* (1917), the Court held that the Act reached private, noncommercial enticements to cross state lines for a sexual liaison, and McKenna dissented.[^3] In his reading, the Act covered only commercial vice, meaning "immoralities having a mercenary purpose."[^3] ## Personal life and death In 1869 McKenna married Amanda Borneman. The couple had three daughters and a son.[^4] Amanda McKenna died in 1924.[^4] McKenna died in Washington, D.C., on November 21, 1926, and was buried in the city's Mount Olivet Cemetery.[^4] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Joseph McKenna* (retrieved 2026-10-26, revision 1365307001) — lead: birth and death dates; service in the House, as Attorney General and as Associate Justice; one of seventeen House members later on the Supreme Court, including two Chief Justices. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McKenna [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *Joseph McKenna* (retrieved 2026-10-26, revision 1365307001), "Early life and career" section — birth, parentage, education, California bar admission in 1865, Solano County District Attorney, California Assembly 1875–1877, House service from 1885, Ninth Circuit appointment in 1892, Attorney General 1897–1898. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McKenna [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *Joseph McKenna* (retrieved 2026-10-26, revision 1365307001), "Judicial career" section — nomination December 16, 1897; confirmation January 21, 1898 by voice vote; oath January 26, 1898; Columbia Law School; *United States v. U.S. Steel Corporation* (1920); opinion counts; Employer Liability Act; *Hipolite Egg Co.* (1911); *Hoke* (1913) and *Caminetti* (1917). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McKenna [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *Joseph McKenna* (retrieved 2026-10-26, revision 1365307001), "Personal life and death" section — marriage in 1869, children, wife's death in 1924, death November 21, 1926 in Washington, D.C., burial at Mount Olivet Cemetery. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McKenna