| John McClaughry | |
| State Senate1: | Vermont |
| District1: | Caledonia |
| Term Start1: | 1989 |
| Term End1: | 1993 |
| Alongside1: | Joseph M. Sherman |
| Predecessor1: | Gerald Morse |
| Successor1: | Julius D. Canns |
| State House2: | Vermont |
| District2: | 26th |
| Term Start2: | 1969 |
| Term End2: | 1973 |
| Alongside2: | Harry U. Lawrence |
| Predecessor2: | W. Arthur Simpson |
| Successor2: | Cola Hudson |
| Party: | Republican |
| Education: | Miami University (AB) Columbia University (MA) University of California, Berkeley (MA) |
John McClaughry is an American author and politician. He served in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1969 to 1972 and the Vermont State Senate from 1989 to 1992.[1] [2]
McClaughry grew up in Paris, Illinois.[3] In 1958, he earned an AB in physics and mathematics from Miami University. In 1960, he earned an MS in nuclear engineering from Columbia University. In 1963, he earned a MA in political science from University of California, Berkeley.[4] From 1962 to 1965, McClaughry spent time living as a hobo and hopped trains, traveling in boxcars about 5,000 miles across 19 states.[3]
McClaughry moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked at the moderate Republican magazine Advance.[5] In 1968, John F. Osborne in The New Republic called McClaughry "a remarkable white Republican activist" who was working "to promote black opportunity and black control of black communities."[6] He moved to Vermont permanently in 1970.[5] In 1969, McClaughry was elected to a seat in the Vermont House of Representatives. He served until 1972.[1]
McClaughry served as a senior policy advisor in Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign of 1980. Afterwards, he served in the White House Office of Policy Development until March 1982.[7] McClaughry ran for senate in the 1982 United States Senate election in Vermont. He placed third in the Republican primary.[8] In 1989, McClaughry was elected to the Vermont State Senate where he served until 1992.[1]
In 1992, he was the Republican candidate for Governor of Vermont, ultimately losing to incumbent Democrat Howard Dean.[7] McClaughry had been the Town meeting day moderator in Kirby, Vermont, since 1967.[9] [10] [6] In 1993, McClaughry founded the Ethan Allen Institute. He served as president from 1993 to 2009, and as acting president in 2010, then vice president to retirement in 2023.[11]