Alan MacGregor Cranston (June 19, 1914 – December 31, 2000) was an American politician and journalist who served as a United States Senator from California from 1969 to 1993, and as President of the World Federalist Association from 1949 to 1952.

Before enlisting in the armed forces in 1944, Cranston worked as an editor and writer for the magazine Common Ground, and later in the Office of War Information.

The CDC provided substantial support to Cranston in his bid for State Controller in 1958 and his numerous runs for the U.S. Senate.

He lost the Democratic primary to former White House Press Secretary Pierre Salinger, who went on to lose the general election to Republican George Murphy.

[6] In 1968, Cranston was elected to the first of four terms in the United States Senate, defeating Republican state Superintendent of Schools Max Rafferty in the general election after the staunchly conservative Rafferty had narrowly defeated the liberal Republican incumbent, Thomas Kuchel, in that party's primary.

A conservative writer, Frank Capell, authored a pamphlet suggesting that Cranston might have had Communist leanings in his youth, and that during his stint at the Office of War Information he helped falsely convince Franklin D. Roosevelt that Nazi Germany had perpetrated the Katyń massacre.

Many of the same allegations were recycled in an article that ran in American Opinion in 1974 titled "Alan Cranston: The Shadow in the Senate".

During his first few months in office, Cranston introduced a resolution calling for President Nixon to halt closing 59 Job Corps Centers.

In April 1969, the Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee approved the revised Cranston proposal in a vote of 10 to 6.

He said his support came after consulting "several hundred persons—Democrats and Republicans, business and labor leaders, elected politicians and party functionaries—in his own state of California" and finding little opposition to Ford.

Bandmate Glenn Frey took exception to Felder's comment, leading to onstage bickering and the band's breakup immediately after the concert.

[14][15] In March 1981, Cranston was one of 24 elected officials to issue a joint statement calling on the Reagan administration to find a peaceful solution to the Ulster conflict.

"[18] Cranston was reelected in 1986, narrowly defeating Republican nominee Congressman Ed Zschau after an expensive and heated election.

On October 2, 1990, Cranston was one of nine senators to vote against the nomination of David Souter for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

Despite his age (69) and appearance that seemed even older (he dyed his little remaining white hair a color that most called orange[21]), Cranston quickly became a recognized candidate.

His strong support for a nuclear freeze won him an intense following among anti-nuclear activists, support that translated into campaign donations, committed staff (future Washington Senator Maria Cantwell moved to the state in 1983 to head up Cranston's caucus campaign effort there) and volunteers and straw poll victories in Wisconsin, California, and Alabama.

His involvement with Charles Keating and the subsequent Senate Ethics Committee reprimand had severely damaged his public image.

[22] Throughout his public life, Cranston was notable for practicing and participating in the sport of track and field as a sprinter in special senior races.