predecessor successor birth_name birth_place death_date death_place jr/sr party term_end birth_date term_start signature image article_title state name
john a. danaher william a. purtell james o'brien mcmahon norwalk , connecticut 28 july 1952 washington , d.c. united states senator democratic july 28 , 1952 6 october 1903 january 3 , 1945 brien mcmahon signature.jpg senbmcmahon.jpg brien mcmahon
 connecticut brien mcmahon
brien mcmahon

brien mcmahon , born james o'brien mcmahon -lrb- october 6 , 1903july 28 , 1952 -rrb- was an american lawyer and politician who served in the united states senate -lrb- as a democrat from connecticut -rrb- from 1945 to 1952 .
mcmahon was a major figure in the establishment of the atomic energy commission , through his authorship of the atomic energy act of 1946 -lrb- the mcmahon act -rrb- .
mcmahon served as chairman of the senate special committee on atomic energy , and the first chairman of the joint committee on atomic energy .
mcmahon was a key figure in the early years of atomic weapons development and an advocate for the civilian -lrb- rather than military -rrb- control of nuclear development in the usa .
also , in 1952 , mcmahon proposed an `` army '' of young americans to act as `` missionaries of democracy '' , which sowed the seeds for what later became the peace corps .
