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Oliver Barr McClellan (born 1939), the first husband of former Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Carole Keeton Strayhorn, graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with honors, BA, JD. As a student McClellan was an active supporter of Senator John F. Kennedy's presidential bid. After qualifying as a lawyer in 1964 he went to work for the administration of Kennedy's successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson. Initially he was attorney-clerk for the National Labor Relations Board; soon after, he became attorney for a Commissioner of the Federal Power Commission.
In 1966 McClellan joined the legal firm of Clark, Thomas, Harris, Denius and Winters, based in Austin. At that time the firm was run by the partners Edward Clark, Sam Winters, Don Thomas, Martin Harris and Frank Denius. The firm was closely associated with Lyndon B. Johnson and the Democratic Party in Texas. McClellan's work included advising on political strategy, campaign contributions, media issues, and labor disputes. His main focus was utility regulation and oil and gas litigation. He also obtained a Supreme Court ruling to protect parklands from freeways.
In 1972 McClellan became a full partner in the firm but later resigned from the firm after a dispute with Clark over representing a client in direct conflict with existing clients. After one year as University Attorney, in 1977 he established his own law firm. Some of McClellan notable cases include litigation for exploding Ford Pintos, tobacco-caused expenses on the health care system and the licensing and regulation of cell phones.
During litigation with a local bank, McClellan resigned his Texas law license. The litigation was subsequently dismissed and McClellan resigned in lieu of disciplinary action by the State Bar of Texas Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel. [1]
McClellan is the father of Scott McClellan, former White House press secretary, and Mark McClellan, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner and former director of Medicare for the George W. Bush administration* [2] Two other sons, Dudley McClellan and Bradley McClellan, are attorneys in Austin, Texas.
McClellan and his wife Cecile live in Gulfport, Mississippi. He is rewriting a novel on the death penalty that was recognized in international competition in 1982 and is producing a play first presented in Houston in 1992.
John F. Kennedy assassination
McClellan published Blood, Money & Power: How LBJ Killed JFK, which became a best-seller in November 2003. In the book McClellan presents the theory that Lyndon B. Johnson and Edward Clark were involved in the planning and cover-up of the Kennedy assassination. McClellan also named Malcolm Wallace as one of the assassins. The killing of Kennedy, he alleged, was paid for by oil millionaires such as Clint Murchison, Sr. and H. L. Hunt. McClellan purports that Clark got $6 million for this work. French journalist William Reymond published a book the same year in which he claims that Cliff Carter and Malcolm "Mac" Wallace were key to helping plot the murder of JFK. McClellan's book has been translated into Japanese. He is presently completing a sequel to his book.
McClellan states that the assassination of Kennedy allowed the oil depletion allowance to be kept at 27.5 percent. It remained unchanged during the Johnson presidency. According to McClellan this resulted in a saving of over 100 million dollars to the American oil industry. During President Richard M. Nixon's term, in 1970, it dropped to 15 percent.
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