Born near Marietta, Cobb County, Georgia. Attended the University of Tennessee. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1885. Married Sarah Houstown Fleming November 18, 1885. She died in February 1912. They had six children.

He was legal counsel for the Central Railroad and Banking Co. and for the Richmond and Danville Railroad Co. He was president of the Knoxville Street Railroad Co.

In 1902 McAdoo organized the Manhattan Railway Co. He built four tunnels in New York City between 1904 and 1909.

McAdoo was active in Democratic politics. He was delegate to the national conventions of 1912, 1932 and 1936. He was vice-chairman of the Democratic National Committee in 1912.

Appointed Secretary of the Treasury by President Wilson and served March 6, 1913, to December 15, 1918. On May 7, 1914, he married Ellen Randolph Wilson, the bosses daughter, in the White House. They were later divorced.

In 1920 McAdoo was a candidate for the party nomination for President. James M. Cox got the nomination but lost the election. He was a candidate again in 1924. John W. Davis won the nomination but lost the election. McAdoo married Doris I. Cross September 14, 1935.

Elected to the U.S. Senate and served March 4, 1933, to November 8, 1938. He died on a visit to Washington, D.C.

McAdoo appears on a medal (USM 209) as one of the series for Secretaries of the Treasury. The obverse was by George T. Morgan; reverse was by John Ray Sinnock.

bio: ApCAB; BDC; BDEB; DAB; EAB; Failor; NCAB 14, 61, 62; WAB; WWWA-1

obit: CB Mar 41