McLenaghen was known as a likeable figure, though essentially conservative on policy matters. Like other Attorneys-General in the coalition government, he refused to devote crown resources to prison reform during the 1940s. He was also an influential figure in the Conservative Party, and frequently defended the coalition against other Tories who saw it as detrimental to party interests. His death in 1950 deprived the pro-coalition forces in the party of their most powerful voice, and the Conservatives in fact left the coalition soon after.
