He entered politics in the 1910s with him serving as a member of the state house before being elected as city attorney in Hot Springs.

During his tenure illegal gambling was rampant and criminals, such as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, received protection.

John left Ireland during the Great Famine and immigrated to Maryland in 1850, before moving to Memphis, Tennessee, and then Hot Springs.

[14] McLaughlin received the Democratic nomination to run for city attorney of Hot Springs and defeated Sam McConnell, a member of the Republican Party who ran as an independent, in the 1912 election.

[30] He was accused of electoral fraud during his tenure with allegations of paying people's poll taxes and threatening to fire government workers who did not vote.

[31][32] Criminals, such as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, received protection by McLaughlin's Hot Springs government from law enforcement.

[34] Sid McMath was one of the leading opponents against McLaughlin's political machine and the Government Improvement League, which was made up almost entirely of veterans, was formed under his leadership in 1945.

[4][35] McLaughlin's opponents, with McMath as one of their lawyers, challenged the receipts of 3,825 poll taxes, accounting for over one-third of the amount in the 1946 Democratic primary.

[39] McLaughlin filed to run in the 1947 election, but later announced that he would not seek reelection after a grand jury launched an investigation into his administration.

[45][46][47] A lawsuit attempting to remove him as chair of the Garland County Democratic Central Committee was withdrawn due to McLaughlin leaving office and his indictment.

[48] McLaughlin attempted to reenter politics after his mayoral tenure by running for city attorney as an independent in the 1952 election, but failed to qualify.

[4] McLaughlin attended the University of Arkansas for two weeks and never took a bar examination, but he worked as a lawyer for forty-five years.