Ernest William McFarland (October 9, 1894 – June 8, 1984) was an American politician, jurist and, with Warren Atherton, one of the "Fathers of the G.I.

In late 1914 and early 1915, McFarland taught in a one-room school in Schoolton, Oklahoma, to raise funds for his education.

[6] McFarland completed his studies at East Central in mid-1915, and left the school with a lifetime teaching certificate.

[8] He entered the military on December 11, 1917, as a seaman second class and was assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station.

The climate on the shore of Lake Michigan did not agree with him, and he was admitted to a naval hospital on March 3, 1918, as suffering from pneumonia.

[9] McFarland spent the next several months in the hospital dealing with a variety of problems, including pericarditis, emphysema, and pleurisy.

[10] It was not until early 1919 that he had recovered enough for a navy medical board to recommend he receive an honorable discharge, which became effective on January 31, 1919.

[4] Upon graduation from law school, McFarland moved to Casa Grande to "prove up" his homestead claim and open his first legal practice.

[14] They had corresponded after their initial meeting, and by the time McFarland was elected, Collins was working at a teacher at Florence's high school.

The third child, Juliette, was stillborn, and Clare McFarland developed postpartum complications, which led to her death on December 12, 1930.

[24] By February 1930, McFarland represented the state during Eva Dugan's final appeal before her execution, a task that he found very unpleasant.

[25] Instead, McFarland ran for a seat on the Superior Court in Pinal County but lost the race to the incumbent, Judge E. L. Green, by 1464 to 1358.

[8] The practice gained public recognition when McFarland won an appeal that determined Winnie Ruth Judd to be insane, but its primary area of effort was water law.

[28] While on the bench, McFarland became romantically involved with a widow, Edna Eveland Smith, who had a young daughter, Jewell.

[33] During the Senate election of 1940, McFarland counted on voters in Phoenix and Tucson to oppose any candidate from the other city.

[30] He toured the state and reacquainted himself to various political leaders he had met during his time on the bench, but he waited to announce his intentions to run.

[30] McFarland's late entry did not hurt him, for he won the primary by nearly two-to-one and defeated the incumbent, Henry F.

[4] His initial committee assignments were to Indian Affairs, Interstate Commerce, Irrigation and Reclamation, Judiciary, and Pensions.

[30] As a member of the Communications subcommittee, McFarland was involved in hearings dealing with the impact of developments in airmail, radio, telephones, and teletypes to the nation's telegraph services.

[30] Arguing that many members of the military had left jobs, families, and schools to fight during the war, McFarland sponsored the G.I.

[37] As majority leader, McFarland hosted a monthly lunch meeting to which he invited all committee chairmen and all freshmen senators.

Both men then friends during this time, a situation that made it easy for the Senate Majority Leader to work with Truman after he became president.

(This was the last time a Senate party leader lost a bid for reelection until 2004, when John Thune defeated Tom Daschle in South Dakota.)

He worked with members of the Bureau of Reclamation to pick a location for the Glen Canyon Dam, and he emphasized education during his two terms in office.

In his mid-1970s, McFarland served as director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco and president of the Arizona Television Company.