Representative Clinton Dotson McKinnon

Clinton Dotson McKinnon (February 5, 1906 – December 29, 2001) was an American Democratic politician, journalist, and newspaper publisher from San Diego, California, who served as a Representative from California in the United States Congress from 1949 to 1953. A member of the Democratic Party, he served two terms in the United States House of Representatives during a significant period in American history, participating in the legislative process and representing the interests of his constituents in what was then the at-large district for all of San Diego County.

McKinnon was born on February 5, 1906, in Dallas, Texas, to Dr. John McKinnon and Tennie McKinnon, a nurse. He was their only child. His father died when Clinton was twelve years old, an early loss that shaped his upbringing and likely contributed to his later independence and entrepreneurial drive. As a young man, he moved to California, where he completed his secondary education and began to establish the academic foundation for his later career in journalism and politics.

McKinnon graduated from Palo Alto High School in Palo Alto, California. He pursued higher education at several institutions, reflecting broad intellectual and international interests. He attended Stanford University in 1924 and later studied at the University of Geneva in 1930. That same year, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Redlands in Redlands, California. His education, which combined California institutions with European study, preceded his entry into journalism and publishing, fields in which he would first gain prominence.

Before entering public office, McKinnon built a substantial career as a journalist and newspaper owner in both Texas and California. By the early 1940s he had become known as an energetic and innovative publisher. In 1942, Time magazine described him as “a jockey-sized little fireball with unruly black hair and bounding energy” who had started several local “throwaway” newspapers in Los Angeles’s San Fernando Valley. These papers specialized in neighborhood- or industry-focused human-interest stories, supported by advertising sold to local merchants. In 1943, McKinnon sold his three Los Angeles–area papers and purchased the three-times-a-week San Diego Progress-Journal. In January 1944, he announced its conversion to a daily newspaper, the San Diego Daily Journal, which became the only daily newspaper established during World War II. The Franklin D. Roosevelt administration allocated scarce, rationed newsprint to the Daily Journal, enabling it to compete with the Republican-leaning San Diego Tribune. The paper became a training ground for future journalists, including Neil Morgan, later a prominent editor and columnist at the Tribune, and Lionel Van Deerlin, who would himself become a Member of Congress. Van Deerlin later recalled McKinnon as an unusually approachable publisher who knew his employees personally, remembered details about their families, and participated in company events such as softball games. Ahead of his first run for Congress, McKinnon sold the Daily Journal in 1947 to journalist John A. Kennedy, who in turn sold it to the Union-Tribune Publishing Company in 1950. McKinnon’s other media ventures included involvement with the La Jolla Light, the Coronado Journal, and radio station KSDJ (now KCBQ). Throughout his life he preferred to be known primarily as a journalist rather than as a politician.

McKinnon entered electoral politics as a Democrat from San Diego. In the 1948 election, he was first elected to the United States House of Representatives, defeating Republican incumbent Charles K. Fletcher, a prominent local businessman and founder of Home Federal Savings and Loan. During that campaign, McKinnon shared a stage with President Harry S. Truman and, according to later accounts, spoke at such length—about fifteen minutes—that he delayed Truman’s appearance before the waiting crowd. When McKinnon later apologized to the President in Washington, Truman reportedly glared at him and then replied, “Well, you got elected, didn’t you? That’s the only thing that matters.” McKinnon took office on January 3, 1949, and served two consecutive terms, leaving Congress on January 3, 1953. During his tenure in the House of Representatives, he participated actively in the democratic process and legislative deliberations, focusing in particular on issues of importance to his rapidly growing district. He fought for federal water projects for San Diego, recognizing the centrality of water resources to the region’s development. Colleagues and political observers, including Gordon Luce, then chairman of the California Republican Party, later described him as a bright and hard-working leader who earned respect even from political opponents. Because California’s congressional districts were redrawn in 1952, McKinnon was the last Representative to serve all of San Diego County in a single district.

In 1952, rather than seek reelection to the House, McKinnon ran for the United States Senate, entering the race for the Democratic nomination against incumbent Republican Senator William F. Knowland. Under California’s then-existing cross-filing system, candidates could run in multiple party primaries, and Knowland ultimately won both the Republican and Democratic primaries, effectively ending McKinnon’s Senate bid. McKinnon’s congressional service concluded in January 1953, but he remained active in Democratic Party affairs. He served as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1952 and 1956, maintaining his influence in party politics and public affairs even after leaving elective office.

In his later life, McKinnon continued to be associated with journalism and broadcasting through his family and business interests. He and his wife, Lucille, had two sons, Clinton Daniel (“Dan”) McKinnon and Michael Dean (“Mike”) McKinnon, and a daughter, Connie. Mike McKinnon, who died in 2012, became the majority stockholder in McKinnon Broadcasting, which owned San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles magazine, and he served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1972 to 1976. Dan McKinnon, a former owner of KSON radio and a minority stockholder in McKinnon Broadcasting, ran for the United States Congress as a Republican in 1980 and later served as national campaign chairman for the Duncan Hunter for President campaign in 2008. Through these ventures and his family’s continued involvement in media and politics, Clinton McKinnon’s influence extended well beyond his own years in office.

Clinton Dotson McKinnon died on December 29, 2001, in La Jolla, California. His long life spanned nearly the entire twentieth century, and his career combined journalism, entrepreneurship, and public service. As a newspaper publisher who established the only new daily paper during World War II and as a Democratic Representative from California from 1949 to 1953, he played a notable role in both the civic and political life of San Diego and the broader region.