Charles G. Dawes
Charles G. Dawes | |
---|---|
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom | |
In office June 15, 1929 – December 30, 1931 | |
President | Herbert Hoover |
Preceded by | Alanson B. Houghton |
Succeeded by | Andrew Mellon |
1st Director of the Bureau of the Budget | |
In office June 23, 1921 – June 30, 1922 | |
President | Warren G. Harding |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Herbert Lord |
10th Comptroller of the Currency | |
In office January 1, 1898 – September 30, 1901 | |
President | William McKinley Theodore Roosevelt |
Preceded by | James H. Eckels |
Succeeded by | William Ridgely |
Personal details | |
Born | Charles Gates Dawes August 27, 1865 Rosehill Cemetery |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | |
Children | 4 |
Education | Marietta College (AB) University of Cincinnati (LLB) |
Civilian awards | Nobel Peace Prize |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | United States Army |
Years of service | 1917–1919 |
Rank | Brigadier general |
Unit | American Expeditionary Forces Liquidation Commission of the War Department |
Battles/wars | World War I |
Military awards | Army Distinguished Service Medal |
Charles Gates Dawes (August 27, 1865 – April 23, 1951) was an American diplomat and
Born in
The
Early life and family
Dawes was born in
Dawes's brothers were
Dawes was a descendant of Edward Doty, a passenger on the Mayflower, and William Dawes who rode with Paul Revere to warn American colonists of the advancing British army at the outbreak of the American Revolution.
Dawes married
Education
He graduated from
Early business career
Dawes was admitted to the bar in
Dawes relocated from Lincoln to Chicago during the Panic of 1893.[12] In 1894, Dawes acquired interests in several Midwestern gas plants. He became the president of both the La Crosse Gas Light Company in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and the Northwestern Gas Light and Coke Company in Evanston, Illinois.[5]
Interest in music
Dawes was a self-taught pianist, flutist and composer. His composition Melody in A Major became a well-known piano and violin piece in 1912.[13] Marie Edwards made a popular arrangement of the work in 1921.[14] Also, in 1921, it was arranged for a small orchestra by Adolf G. Hoffmann.[15] Melody in A Major was played at many official functions that Dawes attended.[16]
In 1951, Carl Sigman added lyrics to Melody in A Major, transforming it into the song "It's All in the Game".[16] Tommy Edwards's recording of "It's All in the Game" was a number-one hit on the American Billboard record chart for six weeks in 1958.[17] Edwards's version of the song became number one on the United Kingdom chart that year.[18]
Since then, it has become a pop standard. Numerous artists have recorded versions, including
.Dawes is the only vice president[clarification needed] to be credited with a number-one pop hit.[16] Dawes and Sonny Bono are the only people credited with a number-one pop hit who were also members of the United States Senate or House of Representatives.[19] Dawes and Bob Dylan (as a writer) are the only persons credited with a number-one pop hit to have also won a Nobel Prize.[a]
Dawes was a brother of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.[20]
Early political career
Dawes's prominent positions in business caught the attention of Republican party leaders. They asked Dawes to manage the Illinois portion of
In October 1901, Dawes left the Department of the Treasury to pursue a U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. He thought that, with the help of the McKinley Administration, he could win it. McKinley was assassinated and his successor, President Theodore Roosevelt, preferred Dawes's opponent.[22] In 1902, following this unsuccessful attempt at legislative office, Dawes declared that he was done with politics. He organized the Central Trust Company of Illinois, where he served as its president until 1921.[5]
On September 5, 1912, Dawes's 21-year-old son Rufus drowned in Geneva Lake,[23] while on summer break from Princeton University. In his memory, Dawes created homeless shelters in both Chicago and Boston[24] and financed the construction of a dormitory at his son's alma mater, the Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.[25]
World War I
Dawes helped support the first
During WWI, Dawes was commissioned as a major on June 11, 1917, in the 17th Engineers. He was subsequently promoted to lieutenant colonel (July 17, 1917), and colonel (January 16, 1918). In October 1918, he was promoted to brigadier general.
In February 1921, the U.S. Senate held hearings on war expenditures. During heated testimony, Dawes burst out, "Hell and Maria, we weren't trying to keep a set of books over there, we were trying to win a war!"[30] He was later known as "Hell and Maria Dawes" (although he always insisted the expression was "Helen Maria", an exclamation he claimed was common in Nebraska).[31] Dawes resigned from the Army in 1919[5] and became a member of the American Legion.
1920s: Financing Europe and the Nobel Peace Prize
He supported
Vice presidency (1925–1929)
I should hate to think that the Senate was as tired of me at the beginning of my service as I am of the Senate at the end.
— Charles G. Dawes[35]
At the
Dawes traveled throughout the country during the campaign, giving speeches to bolster the Republican ticket. On August 22, Dawes would appear at a rally located in
Speech to Senate
When Dawes took the oath on March 4, he would take action and infamously go on a tangent against the Senate's filibuster. In the speech, Dawes criticized rule XXII, calling it "undemocratic" and noted how it was easily taken advantage of due to its two-thirds voting procedure. Through most of the speech, Dawes pointed at specific senators and repeatedly slammed his fist on a table. Chief Justice William Howard Taft wrote to his son that the vice president had "made a monkey out of himself." Alongside annoying the entire Senate with a speech that left many shocked, Dawes ended up irritating them again that same day, by having the senators be sworn in one by one (usually they would take the oath in groups). Dawes would end up stealing the thunder from Coolidge that day. With many in the press afterwards making a joke out of Dawes, Coolidge was very upset with how the vice president was starting off his term.[40]
Nomination of Charles B. Warren
On March 10, the Senate debated the president's nomination of Charles B. Warren to be United States Attorney General. In the wake of the Teapot Dome scandal and other scandals, Democrats and Progressive Republicans objected to the nomination because of Warren's close association with the Sugar Trust. At midday, six speakers were scheduled to address Warren's nomination. Desiring to take a break for a nap, Dawes consulted the majority and minority leaders, who assured him that no vote would be taken that afternoon. After Dawes left the Senate, all but one of the scheduled speakers decided against making formal remarks, and a vote was taken. When it became apparent that the vote would be tied, Republican leaders hastily called Dawes at the Willard Hotel, and he immediately left for the Capitol. The first vote was 40-40, a tie which Dawes could have broken in Warren's favor. While waiting for Dawes to arrive, the only Democratic senator who had voted for Warren switched his vote. The nomination then failed 41-39—the first such rejection of a president's nominee in nearly 60 years.[35] This incident was chronicled in a derisive poem, based on the Longfellow poem "Paul Revere's Ride"; it began with the line, "Come gather round children and hold your applause for the afternoon ride of Charlie Dawes." The choice of poem was based on Charles Dawes being descended from William Dawes, who rode with Paul Revere.[citation needed]
Dawes and Coolidge became alienated from one another. Dawes declined to attend Cabinet meetings and annoyed Coolidge with his attack on the Senate filibuster. Dawes championed the McNary–Haugen Farm Relief Bill, which sought to alleviate the 1920s farm crisis by having the government buy surplus farm produce and sell that surplus in foreign markets. Dawes helped ensure the passage of the bill through Congress, but President Coolidge vetoed it.[12]
In 1927, Coolidge announced that he would not seek re-election. Dawes again favored Frank Lowden at the 1928 Republican National Convention, but the convention chose Herbert Hoover.[12] Rumors circulated about Dawes being chosen as Hoover's running mate. Coolidge made it known that he would consider the renomination of Dawes as vice president to be an insult. Charles Curtis of Kansas, known for his skills in collaboration, was chosen as Hoover's running mate.[41]
Post-vice presidency (1929–1951)
Court of St. James's and the RFC
After Dawes completed his term as vice president, he served as the
As the Great Depression continued to ravage the US, Dawes accepted President Herbert Hoover's appeal to leave diplomatic office and head the newly created Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC). After a few months, Dawes resigned from the RFC. As chairman of the failing Central Republic Bank and Trust Company of Chicago, he felt obligated to work for its rescue. Political opponents alleged that, under Dawes's leadership, the RFC had given preferential treatment to his bank. This marked the end of Dawes's career in public service. For the 1932 election, Hoover considered the possibility of adding Dawes to the ticket in place of Curtis, but Dawes declined the potential offer.[43]
Later in 1932, Dawes and associates formed the City National Bank and Trust Co. to take over the deposits of the failed Central Republic Bank and Trust Company.[44] In 1936, Republican congressional leaders informally approached Dawes about the possibility of heading up their presidential ticket at that year's presidential election, hoping for a candidate associated with the prosperous Coolidge years, but Dawes had no interest in returning to front-line politics; the (ultimately unsuccessful) ticket would instead be headed by Alf Landon.[43]
Later life
Dawes served for nearly two decades as chairman of the board of City National from 1932 until his death.
Personal life
Dawes belonged to several lineage societies and veterans' organizations. These included the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, Sons of the American Revolution, General Society of Colonial Wars, American Legion, and Forty and Eight.[48] Dawes was also a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts from 1925 until his death in 1951[49]
Honors
- In 1925, Dawes was a co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on WWI reparations.[50]
A Chicago public school located at 3810 W 81st Place is named in his honor, as are an Evanston public school at 440 Dodge Avenue and Evanston's Dawes Park at 1700 Sheridan Road.
United States military awards
Distinguished Service Medal citation:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, United States Army, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility during World War I. General Dawes rendered most conspicuous services in the organization of the General Purchasing Board as General Purchasing Agent of the American Expeditionary Forces and as the Representative of the U.S. Army on the Military Board of Allied Supply. His rare abilities, sound business judgment, and aggressive energy were invaluable in securing needed supplies for the Allied armies in Europe. (War Department, General Orders No. 12 (1919))
Foreign honors
- Companion of the Order of the Bath (United Kingdom)
- Commander of the Legion of Honor(France)
- Commander of the Order of Leopold (Belgium)
- Croix de Guerre with palm (France)
Legacy
According to Annette Dunlap, Dawes was:
a self-made man who valued hard work and thriftiness tempered with Christian generosity. He spent his life promoting solid Republican values of small government with restrained budgets. Franklin Roosevelt’s philosophy of big government spending was anathema to him.[51]
In 1944, he bequeathed his lakeshore home in Evanston to Northwestern University for the Evanston Historical Society (later renamed the Evanston History Center). Dawes lived in the house until his death. The Dawes family continued to occupy it until the death of Mrs. Dawes in 1957. Since then, the Evanston History Center operates out of the house and manages it as a museum. Designated a National Historic Landmark, the Charles G. Dawes House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Selected writings
- Dawes, C. G. (1894). The Banking System of the United States and Its Relation to the Money and the Business of the Country. Chicago: Rand McNally.
- ———— "The Sherman Anti-Trust Law: Why It has Failed and Why It Should Be Amended". The North American Review 183.597 (1906): 189–194.
- ———— (1915). Essays and Speeches. New York: Houghton.
- ———— (1921). Journal of the Great War. 2 vols. New York: Houghton. online copy vol 1; also online copy v2
- ———— (1923). The First Year of the Budget of the United States. New York: Harper. online copy
- ———— (1935). Notes as Vice President, 1928–1929. Boston: Little, Brown. online copy
- ———— (1937). How Long Prosperity? New York: Marquis.
- ———— (1939). Journal as Ambassador to Great Britain. New York: Macmillan. online copy
- ———— (1939). A Journal of Reparations. New York: Macmillan. online copy
- ———— (1950). A Journal of the McKinley Years. Bascom N. Timmons (Ed.). La Grange, IL: Tower.
See also
- List of covers of Time magazine (1920s) – December 14, 1925
- List of members of the American Legion
Notes
- ^ Dylan, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016, wrote "Mr. Tambourine Man", a No. 1 hit for the Byrds.
References
- ISBN 9780810134195.
- ^ Magnusen, Steve - cite book title: To My Best Girl, 2020, GoToPublish.
- ^ Gates Dawes Ancestral Lines
- ^ "The religion of Charles G. Dawes, U.S. Vice-President". www.adherents.com. Archived from the original on February 15, 2006. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ ISBN 1571970886.
- ^ a b Dunlap, Annette B. Charles Gates Dawes: a Life. p. 17.
- ^ Dunlap, Annette B. Charles Gates Dawes: a Life. p. 18.
- ^ Johnson, Rossiter, ed. (February 1884). "Alumni of Delta U". The Delta Upsilon Quarterly. Indianapolis, IN: Delta Upsilon Fraternity. p. 48 – via Google Books.
- ^ Dunlap, Annette B. Charles Gates Dawes: a Life. pp. 20–38.
- ^ Dunlap, Annette B. Charles Gates Dawes: a Life. pp. 24–25.
- ^ Smythe, Donald (1973). Guerrilla Warrior: The Early Life of John J. Pershing. Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 34.
- ^ a b c d e f "Charles G. Dawes, 30th Vice President (1925–1929)". US Senate. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
- OCLC 21885776
- OCLC 10115887
- OCLC 46679677
- ^ a b c "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 26, 2015. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Joel Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, revised and enlarged 6th edition (New York: Billboard Publications, 1996), 201.
- ^ (Hatfield 1997: 360)
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 539.
- ^ "The Vice President Who Wrote a Hit Song". August 16, 2011.
- OCLC 40298151
- ^ (Waller 1998: 274)
- ^ "Charles Gates Dawes Timeline – Evanston History Center". Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
- The National Magazine. 46 (September): 905. 1917. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
- ^ "Dawes House Dedicated.; Lawrenceville School Building Partly Financed by Ambassador". The New York Times. November 29, 1929.
- ^ Merchants of Death Revisited Mises Institute p. 61
- ^ The New York Times. October 4, 1918.
- ^ "Valor awards for Charles G. Dawes".
- ^ The New York Times. August 7, 1919.
- ^ Dunlap, Annette B. Charles Dawes Gates: a Life. p. 144.
- ^ "Vice President Dawes". Forbes Library. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
- ^ Dunlap, pp. 214–15.
- ^ Stephen A. Schuker, The End of French Predominance in Europe: The Financial Crisis of 1924 and the Adoption of the Dawes Plan (U of North Carolina Press, 1976).
- ^ "Charles G. Dawes". The Nobel Prize. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
- ^ a b Hatfield, M. O. (1997). Vice Presidents of the United States, 1789–1993. Senate Historical Office. Washington: United States Government Printing Office
- ^ a b Hatfield 1997: 363
- ISBN 978-0-8101-3419-5.
- ^ Hatfield 1997: 364
- ]
- ISBN 978-0-8101-3419-5.
- ^ Mencken, Henry Louis; George Jean Nathan (1929). The American Mercury. p. 404.
- ^ Dunlap, Annette B. Charles Gates Dawes: a Life. pp. 221–44.
- ^ a b Witcover, Jules (2014). The American Vice Presidency. Smithsonian Books. p. 296.
- ^ "Dawes's New Bank Opens in Chicago; City National and Trust Has $4,000,000 Capital and $1,000,000 Surplus. In Old Bank's Offices Institution Formed by Taking Over Some Departments of Central Republic". The New York Times. October 7, 1932.
- ^ "Dawes, Charles Gates – Biographical Information". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Archived from the original on September 15, 1999. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^ "Charles G. Dawes, Ex-Vice President, Dies (April 24, 1951)". September 15, 2023.
- ^ Rumore, Kori (October 4, 2022). "Buried in Chicago: Where the famous rest in peace". Chicago Tribune.
- ISSN 0886-1234 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ History of the AHAC, Boston, MA (membership roles and accession card)
- ^ Dunlap, Annette B. Charles Gates Dawes: a Life. pp. 178–79.
- ^ Cited in Indiana Magazine of History, (2018) 114(1) p. 76.
Bibliography
- Dunlap, Annette B. (2016). Charles Gates Dawes: a Life. Northwestern University Press and the Evanston History Center.
- Goedeken, Edward A. "Charles Dawes and the Military Board of Allied Supply". Journal of Military History 50.1 (1986): 1–6.
- Goedecken, Edward A. (1985). "A Banker at War: The World War I Experiences of Charles Gates Dawes". Illinois Historical Journal. 78 (3): 195–206. JSTOR 40191858.
- Goedecken, Edward (November 1987). "Charles G. Dawes Establishes the Bureau of the Budget, 1921-1922". The Historian. 50 (1): 40–53. JSTOR 24446946.
- Haberman, F. W. (Ed.). (1972). Nobel Lectures, Peace 1901–1925. Amsterdam: Elsevier Publishing.
- Hatfield, Mark O. (1997). "Vice Presidents of the United States Charles G. Dawes (1925–1929)" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022.
- Pixton, John E. "Charles G. Dawes and the McKinley Campaign". Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 48.3 (1955): 283–306.
- Pixton, J. E. (1952). The Early Career of Charles G. Dawes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Sherman, Richard G. (1965). "Charles G Dawes, a Nebraska Businessman, 1887-1894: The Making of an Entrepreneur" (PDF). Nebraska History. 46: 193–207. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022.* Timmons, B. N. (1953). Portrait of an American: Charles G. Dawes. New York: Holt; popular biography online copy
- Waller, R. A. (1998). The Vice Presidents: A Biographical Dictionary. Purcell, L. E. (Ed.). New York: Facts On File.
- Davis, Henry Blaine Jr. (1998). Generals in Khaki. Raleigh, NC: Pentland Press. OCLC 40298151.
- ISBN 978-1-4728-3863-6.
External links
- Charles G. Dawes on Nobelprize.org
- "Charles G. Dawes Archive" Archived July 30, 2020, at the Wayback Machine Finding aid for the Charles G. Dawes archival collection
- Evanston History Center, headquartered in the lakefront Dawes house
- United States Congress. "Charles G. Dawes (id: D000147)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.. Retrieved 2009-05-14
- Notes As Vice President 1928–1929 by Charles G. Dawes
- Portrait Of An American by Charles G. Dawes
- Newspaper clippings about Charles G. Dawes in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
- Image of Vice President Charles Dawes during a visit to Los Angeles, 1925. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.