Representative Robert McDowell McCracken - Contact Information

Robert McDowell McCracken (March 15, 1874 – May 16, 1934) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Idaho who served one term in Congress from 1915 to 1917. Over the course of his public life he was active in business and politics in Idaho and participated in the legislative process during a significant period in American history, representing the interests of his constituents at the federal level.

McCracken was born in Vincennes, Knox County, Indiana, on March 15, 1874. He attended the public schools of Vincennes during his youth. As a young man he moved west, part of the broader migration to the developing states of the Intermountain West in the late nineteenth century. He eventually settled in Idaho, where he became engaged in business pursuits and established himself in the commercial life of his community.

After relocating to Idaho, McCracken engaged in mercantile and related enterprises, activities that helped bring him into contact with civic affairs and Republican Party politics. By the early twentieth century he had become sufficiently prominent in state political circles to seek federal office. His business background and party involvement provided the foundation for his later congressional career and informed his perspective on economic and developmental issues affecting Idaho.

McCracken was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1914 as a Republican, winning one of two at-large seats from Idaho and thereby representing the entire state alongside fellow Republican Addison T. Smith. He took his seat in the Sixty-fourth Congress and served from March 4, 1915, to March 3, 1917. His term coincided with a pivotal era in American history, as the nation debated issues of preparedness and neutrality in the years immediately preceding its entry into World War I. As a member of the House of Representatives, Robert McDowell McCracken participated in the democratic process and contributed to the legislative work of the chamber on behalf of his statewide constituency.

In 1916 McCracken sought renomination but was defeated in the Republican primary by former congressman Burton L. French, who returned to Congress after reclaiming the seat. Following the end of his term on March 3, 1917, McCracken returned to private life in Idaho. He resumed his business interests and remained identified with the Republican Party and public affairs, maintaining his interest in national and state politics and periodically reemerging as a candidate for office.

In 1934 McCracken attempted a political comeback and was actively campaigning for a return to Congress when his career and life were cut short. On May 16, 1934, while traveling near Emmett, Gem County, Idaho, his automobile went through a guard rail and tumbled down Freezeout Hill, resulting in his death at the age of 60. Robert McDowell McCracken was buried at Blackfoot Cemetery in Blackfoot, Idaho, closing the career of a onetime at-large representative who had taken part in Idaho’s early twentieth-century congressional history.