James Douglas McKay

James Douglas McKay (1893–1959) was an insurance and automobile salesman and later owned his own dealership. He rose through the ranks of Oregon politics, serving as mayor of Salem, four-term state senator and then governor. For being one of Dwight D. Eisenhower's earliest supporters in the West, McKay was nominated for secretary of the Interior. He was a man of the people and maintained high visibility among his staff. He instituted departmental reforms by cutting 4,000 jobs and nearly $200 million from the budget. During his administration, McKay turned a profit for the Interior-managed Alaska Railroad and expanded educational facilities for American Indians. Mission 66 was also created to address deferred maintenance and to add parkland in time for the National Park Service's 50th anniversary. McKay resigned in 1956 to run for the U.S. Senate, and although he lost the election, he remained in public service. Eisenhower appointed him chairman of the International Joint Commission dealing with Canada on water resource policies and issues.

In this portrait McKay is wearing a Purple Heart Ribbon lapel pin. He was awarded the Purple Heart for life-threatening injuries sustained in 1918 during World War I that left him partially disabled.