Patrick Anthony McCarran was an American farmer, attorney, judge, and Democratic politician who represented Nevada in the United States Senate from 1933 until 1954. McCarran's career in the Senate was marked by his ardent anti-communism and antisemitism, support for the aviation industry, and conflict with the Franklin Roosevelt administration over the New Deal and cooperation with the Soviet Union in World War II.
McCarran was born in Reno, Nevada, attended Nevada State University, and was a farmer and rancher. In 1902, he won election to the Nevada Assembly but left office in 1905 after an unsuccessful campaign for the Nevada State Senate. He studied law privately and was admitted to the bar in 1905, then won election as Nye County District Attorney. He served a two-year term, after which he returned to Reno. From 1913 to 1919, McCarran was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada, serving as Chief Justice from 1917 to 1919.
In 1932, McCarran unseated incumbent Republican Tasker Oddie to become the state's first U.S. Senator born in Nevada; he was reelected three times and served from 1933 until his death.