Albert Foster Dawson was a three-term Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Iowa's 2nd congressional district

Iowa's 2nd congressional district

Iowa's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that generally covers most of the southeastern part of the state including Iowa City and Cedar Rapids.The district is currently represented by Democrat Dave Loebsack....

.

Born in Spragueville, Iowa

Spragueville, Iowa

Spragueville is a city in Jackson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 89 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Spragueville is located at ....

, Dawson attended the public schools and the University of Wisconsin–Madison

University of Wisconsin–Madison

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...

. He engaged in newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

 work at Preston, Iowa

Preston, Iowa

Preston is a city in Jackson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 949 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Preston is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....

, in 1891 and 1892, and was the city editor for the Clinton

Clinton, Iowa

Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 26231as of 2010. Clinton, along with DeWitt, Iowa , was named in honor of the seventh governor of New York, DeWitt Clinton. Clinton is the principal city of the Clinton Micropolitan Statistical...

 Herald from 1892 to 1894. He was secretary to Representative George M. Curtis

George M. Curtis

George Martin Curtis was a two-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district.Born near Oxford, New York, to John S. and Elizabeth Curtis, Curtis moved to Ogle County, Illinois, in 1856 with his parents, who settled on a farm near Rochelle, Illinois...

 and Senator William B. Allison

William B. Allison

William Boyd Allison was an early leader of the Iowa Republican Party, who represented northeastern Iowa for four consecutive terms in the U.S. House before representing his state for six consecutive terms in the U.S. Senate...

 of Iowa from 1895 to 1905. He studied finance at George Washington University

George Washington University

The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...

.

In 1904, Dawson challenged incumbent Democratic Congressman Martin J. Wade for the U.S. House seat for Iowa's 2nd congressional district. Riding the coattails of President Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...

's re-election, Dawson, like every other Republican congressional candidate in Iowa, defeated his Democratic opponent. After serving in the Fifty-ninth

59th United States Congress

The Fifty-ninth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1905 to March 4, 1907, during the fifth and sixth...

 Congress, Dawson was re-elected in 1906 (to serve in the Sixtieth

60th United States Congress

The Sixtieth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1907 to March 4, 1909, during the last two years of...

 Congress), and in 1908 (to serve in the Sixty-first

61st United States Congress

The Sixty-first United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1909 to March 4, 1911, during the first two years of...

 Congress). In 1910 he declined to run for a fourth term, citing business and family reasons. In all, he served in Congress from March 4, 1905 to March 3, 1911.

In 1911, he also declined an offer to serve as private secretary to President William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...

. Returning to Iowa at age thirty-eight, he served as president of the First National Bank of Davenport, Iowa

Davenport, Iowa

Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...

 from 1911 to 1929. He was executive secretary of the Republican National Senatorial Committee in 1930, and he was a public utility executive from 1931 to 1945.

He retired from business activities and resided in Highland Park, Illinois

Highland Park, Illinois

Highland Park is a suburban municipality in Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. As of 2009, the population is 33,492. Highland Park is one of several municipalities located on the North Shore of the Chicago Metropolitan Area.-Overview:Highland Park was founded...

, until his death on March 9, 1949, on a train as it neared Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

. He was interred in Preston Cemetery.