Charles G. Dawes

Charles Gates Dawes (August 27, 1865 – April 23, 1951) was the 30th Vice President of the United States. He married Caro Blymer of Cincinnati on January 24, 1889. They had two children, a son and daughter, and they also adopted a boy and girl.

Early life, family, and career

Born in Marietta, Washington County, Ohio, Dawes graduated from Marietta College in 1884 and from the Cincinnati Law School in 1886. He was admitted to the bar in that year and practiced in Lincoln, Nebraska 1887-1894.

Dawes' lineage made him the great-grandson of the Revolutionary War figure William Dawes and the son of brigadier general Rufus Dawes, who during the U.S. Civil War had briefly commanded the Iron Brigade of Wisconsin. His brothers were Rufus C. Dawes, Beman Gates Dawes and Henry May Dawes, all prominent businessmen or politicians.

In 1894, Dawes acquired interests in a number of midwestern gas plants and became president of both the Lacrosse Gas Light Company in LaCrosse, Wisconsin and the Northwestern Gas Light and Coke Company in Evanston, IL.

Early political career

Those prominent positions caught the attention of Republican party leaders, who put Dawes in charge of managing the Illinois portion of William McKinley's bid for U.S. President in 1896. Following McKinley's election, Dawes was rewarded for his efforts by being named Comptroller of the Currency, United States Department of the Treasury. Serving in that position from 1897-1902, he collected more than $25 million from banks that had failed during the Panic of 1893, and also changed banking practices to try and prevent a similar event in the future.

Following an unsuccessful attempt for the United States Senate in 1902, Dawes declared that he was done with politics. He organized the Central Trust Company of Illinois, serving as president of the company until 1921.

In 1912, Dawes' son, Rufus, drowned in Geneva Lake while on summer break from Princeton University. In his memory, Dawes created residence homes for down-and-out individuals in both Chicago and Boston.

World War I participation

During the First World War, Dawes was commissioned major, lieutenant colonel, and brigadier general of the Seventeenth Engineers. He served with the American Expeditionary Force as chief of supply procurement and was a member of the Liquidation Commission, United States War Department.

After his resignation from the Army in 1919, and upon the creation of the Bureau of the Budget was appointed its first Director in 1921. He was appointed to the Allied Reparations Commission in 1923. For his work on the Dawes Plan, a program to enable Germany to restore and stabilize its economy, Dawes shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925.

Vice Presidency and later life

Dawes was elected on November 5, 1924, Vice President on the Republican ticket with President Calvin Coolidge and was inaugurated March 4, 1925 for the term ending March 3, 1929.

He was U.S. ambassador to the Court of St. James's (that is, to the United Kingdom) from 1929 to 1932, but found duties such as introducing American girls to the King to be insulting. He further alienated his hosts by refusing to wear the customary knee breeches.

Dawes resumed a role in the banking business, becoming chairman of the board of the City National Bank and Trust Co., Chicago, Illinois, from 1932 until his death in Evanston, Illinois. He is interred in Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois.

Dawes was also a self-taught pianist and composer. His 1912 composition "Melody in A Major" became a pop song ("It's All In The Game") in 1951 when Carl Sigman added lyrics. The song was later recorded by such artists as Tommy Edwards, Van Morrison, Cliff Richard, Brook Benton, Elton John, and Barry Manilow.

External links

Evanston Historical Society, headquartered in the lakefront Dawes house

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Charles G. Dawes

Early life, family, and career

Early political career

World War I participation

Vice Presidency and later life

External links