James McLachlan (August 1, 1852 – November 21, 1940) was an American educator, lawyer and politician who served six terms as a U.S. Representative from California.

[1] On November 6, 1894, McLachlan was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1897),[2] defeating Democrat George S. Patton (whose son, George S. Patton, Jr., was the famous World War II general).

In 1896, McLachlan was unsuccessful for re-election to Congress, losing to Charles A. Barlow, who had both the Populist and Democratic nominations.

McLachlan resumed the practice of law in Los Angeles and served as a member of the National Monetary Commission in 1911-1912.

He died in Los Angeles on November 21, 1940 at the age of 88,[1] and was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park in Glendale, California.