Career

Mackie was employed by an engineering firm in the Flint area from 1946 to 1952, and organized the Flint Surveying & Engineering Co. in 1952. He was Genesee County surveyor from 1952 until 1956 and was elected State Highway Commissioner of Michigan in 1957 and reelected in 1961 to a new four-year term. Mackie was quoted as being critical of the increasing popularity of compact cars, saying, "They may be socially desirable in some parts of the country, but I think they are a nuisance. If they really take hold—and I don't think they will—then it is inevitable that gas and weight taxes will have to go up, both for the federal and state government." He further claimed that they not only threatened tax revenues, but were also highway hazards. Mackie's criticism's were rebuked by George W. Romney, then the president of American Motors Corporation and leading proponent of compact cars in the United States.^[2] Mackie also aggressively expanded the system of freeways and expressways in Michigan. During most of his administration, Michigan led the nation in construction of its Interstate Highway System and was the first to build a cross-state Interstate freeway (I-94) He was president of the American Association of State Highway Officials in 1963.^[3]

Congress

Mackie was elected as a Democrat from Michigan's 7th congressional district to the 89th United States Congress, serving from January 4, 1965, to January 3, 1967. He was known as one of the Michigan Five Fluke Freshmen and was defeated in 1966 by Donald W. Riegle, Jr., a Republican who eventually switched to the Democrats in 1973.

Later career and death

He was subsequently a business owner and a resident of Warrenton, Virginia. Mackie died on March 5, 2008, after an extended illness.^[4]

The welcome center located on the median of US 127 and US 10 in Clare, Michigan, is named in his honor.^[5]