James McClellan, R.I.P.

Human Events, Feb 7, 2005 by Gizzi, John

The conservative movement was saddened last week by the loss of one of its intellectual powerhouses. Dr. James McClellan, constitutional scholar, attorney, teacher, historian and author, died January 28 after a long illness.

A graduate of the University of Virginia Law School who also earned a doctorate from the University of Virginia, McClellan had a distinguished career as president of the Center for Judicial Studies and as the John M. Olin Professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College. His mastery of constitutional history and insight into American history and government held classes spellbound at the University of Alabama, Emory University (Ga.), and HampdenSydney College in Virginia.

McClellan's good nature and sweet drawl masked his cerebral nature. Along with his distinguished academic career, the Virginian was a fixture on Capitol Hill, working for the U.S. Senate. From 1981-83, he was chief counsel and staff director of the Subcommittee on the Separation of Powers of the Senate Judiciary Committee under the chairmanship of the late Sen. (1954-2002) Strom Thurmond (R.-S.C.).

McClellan made a strong-but-losing bid for the Virginia House of Delegates. But ideas and discourse were more his love than politics, and in 1999, he was named a James Bryce Visiting Fellow at the Institute of United States Studies at the University of London.

The author of numerous scholarly monographs and studies, including in-depth philosophical books about Robert Taft, Joseph Story and James Madison, Jim McClellan worked right to the end on his writing projects.