John Alfred McDowell Adair (December 22, 1864 - October 5, 1938) was a U.S. Representative from Indiana. Born near Portland, Indiana, Adair attended the public schools and Portland High School. He engaged in mercantile pursuits. He served as clerk of the city of Portland 1888-1890. He served as clerk of Jay County 1890-1895. He studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1895 and commenced practice in Portland, Indiana. He served as member of the State house of representatives in 1902 and 1903. He engaged in banking, being elected president of the First National Bank of Portland in 1904. Adair was elected as a Democrat to the Sixtieth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1907-March 3, 1917). He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War (Sixty-third and Sixty-fourth Congresses). He did not seek renomination in 1916 but was an unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Governor of Indiana. He resumed the banking business in Portland, Indiana. He moved to Washington, D.C., in 1924 and served as vice president of Southern Dairies (Inc.) until 1931. He served as chairman of the board of the Finance Service Co., in Baltimore, Maryland from 1933 to 1935. He served as vice president of the Atlas Tack Corporation, Fairhaven, Massachusetts from 1935 to 1937. He served as director of the Artloom Corporation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1937. He died in Portland, Indiana, October 5, 1938. He was interred in Green Park Cemetery.
