George Edward MacKinnon (April 22, 1906 – May 1, 1995) was an American politician, attorney, and judge who served as a United States representative and United States Attorney for Minnesota, and as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. He was the father of feminist legal scholar Catharine MacKinnon.
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Education and career
Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, MacKinnon received a Bachelor of Laws from University of Minnesota Law School in 1929. MacKinnon was a member of the editorial board of the Minnesota Law Review and played as a center on the Golden Gophers football team. MacKinnon was also an All-American javelin thrower for the Minnesota Golden Gophers track and field team, finishing 5th at the 1928 NCAA Track and Field Championships. He was an assistant counsel for Investors Syndicate (now a component of Ameriprise Financial) of Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1929 to 1942. He was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1935 to 1942. He was in the United States Navy as a Commander from 1942 to 1946.
MacKinnon was elected as a Republican to serve as a United States representative for the Third District of Minnesota to the 80th congress (January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949), but was defeated when he sought re-election. The Republican district was interrupted for a term in 1936 by a Farmer-Labor Party representative and in 1944 by a Democrat who died in 1946. MacKinnon reclaimed it for the Republican Party only to yield it in two years to the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party candidate he defeated in 1946, who then served until 1961. MacKinnon’s one term in the House was notable for his persistence in accusing members of the Truman Administration for insider trading on commodity futures. He served on the Education and Labor Committee.