US Congressman, Judge. He was born to Irish immigrant William McLaughlin and his wife Mary Ann Cavanaugh McLaughlin in Lincoln, Nebraska, on June 19, 1887. He was educated locally and attended the public school system. He then attended the prestigious University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he received an Artium Baccalaureus Degree (or Bachelor of Arts) from in 1908. He then studied law at the distinguished Columbia Law School in New York and received his Bachelor of Laws from there in 1910. He was admitted to the bar and he began his private practice of law in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1910. He then served as a Special Master in Chancery for the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska from 1916 to 1918. At the outbreak of the First World War, he put his law career on hold to serve his country. He served during the war in the United States Army American Expeditionary Forces from 1918 to 1919, and with the rank of Captain of the 347th Field Artillery of the 91st Division. He was discharged from the military on April 30, 1919, but then served with the rank of Major in the Officers Reserve Corps of the United States Army Reserve from 1919 to 1921. Following his military service, he resumed his practice of law and continued in politics. He served as a Delegate to the Nebraska State Constitutional Convention from 1919 to 1920. He then continued with his practice of law until 1935. He had been in private practice for twenty-five years. He then decided to run for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected. A Member of the Democratic Party, he then served Nebraska's 2nd District (Seventy-Fourth Congress and to the three succeeding Congresses) in the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 1935, to January 3, 1943. He was an unsuccessful Candidate for reelection to the Seventy-Eighth Congress in 1942. After his term in the United States Congress expired he was succeeded in office by United States Representative Howard Homan Buffett on January 3, 1943. He also served as a Member of the American-Mexican Claims Commission in Washington, D.C. from 1943 to 1947, and as a Member of the Indian Claims Commission from April 5, 1947, to November 14, 1949. He received a recess appointment by then-President Harry S. Truman on October 21, 1949, as a Judge to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for a new seat created by 63 Stat, 493, taking his oath and commencing service on November 15, 1949. He was nominated to the same seat by then-President Harry S. Truman on January 5, 1950. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 27, 1950, and received his commission on March 1, 1950. He assumed senior status on December 31, 1964. He had served as a Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia from October 21, 1949, to December 31, 1964, for a total of fifteen years. He then served as a Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia beginning on December 31, 1964, and continued hearing cases until assuming senior status in June of 1974. He served until his death on February 5, 1976. He had served in that position from December 31, 1964, to February 5, 1976, for a total of twelve years. Some of the well-known cases he presided over while on the bench include the trial of playwright Arthur Miller who was charged in contempt of the United States Congress for refusing to answer questions about a Communist writers meeting he had attended, and a case where he had to uphold the right of an employer to fire workers who took the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer questions regarding Communist affiliations. His service was terminated due to his death. He had also served as President of the Omaha Bar Association. He passed away in Washington, D.C., on February 5, 1976, at the age of 88, and was buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Silver Spring, Maryland. He was married to Helen Margaret Bruce McLaughlin with whom he had a son, Edward Bruce, and two daughters, Ann and Mary Elizabeth. His wife passed away on April 15, 1970, at the age of 82, and she was buried with her husband.