| Office1: | Chair of the House Judiciary Committee |
| Term Start1: | March 4, 1851 |
| Term End1: | March 4, 1853 |
| Predecessor1: | James Thompson |
| Successor1: | Frederick P. Stanton |
| Office2: | Member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 16th district |
| Term Start2: | March 4, 1849 |
| Term End2: | March 4, 1853 |
| Predecessor2: | Jasper E. Brady |
| Successor2: | William H. Kurtz |
| Office3: | Member of the Pennsylvania Senate from the 14th district |
| Term Start3: | 1841 |
| Term End3: | 1842 |
| Predecessor3: | William R. Gorgas |
| Successor3: | Jesse C. Horton |
| Office4: | Member of the Pennsylvania Senate from the 18th district |
| Term Start4: | 1843 |
| Term End4: | 1844 |
| Birth Place: | Greencastle, Pennsylvania, US |
| Birth Date: | 17 May 1809 |
| Death Place: | New York City, US |
| Party: | Democratic |
James Xavier McLanahan (May 17, 1809December 16, 1861) was an American lawyer and politician who served two terms as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 16th congressional district from 1849 to 1853.
McLanahan was born near Greencastle, Pennsylvania, to William and Mary (Gregg) McLanahan.[1] He was the grandson of Pennsylvania Senator Andrew Gregg and second cousin to Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin.[2] He graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1827. He studied law under George Chambers who went on to become a Congressman and Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice.[3] He was admitted to the bar in 1837 and commenced practice in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
He served as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 14th district from 1841 to 1842 and for the 18th district from 1843 to 1844.[4]
McLanahan was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-first and Thirty-second Congresses. He was the chairman of the United States House Committee on the Judiciary during the Thirty-second Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1852.
He resumed the practice of law and died in New York City in 1861, aged 52.
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