Charles G. Dawes
Encyclopedia
Charles Gates Dawes was an American banker and politician who was the 30th Vice President of the United States
(1925-1929). For his work on the Dawes Plan
for World War I
reparations
he was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
. He served in the First World War, was U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, the first director of the Bureau of the Budget
, and, in later life, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Dawes was married to Caro Blymyer on January 24, 1889, and they had two biological children, Rufus Fearing Dawes and Carolyn Dawes, and two more adopted children, Dana McCutcheon and Virginia Dawes (Waller 1998: 273).
Dawes was born in Marietta
, Washington County, Ohio
to Civil War
soldier Rufus R. Dawes
and Mary Beman Gates. He graduated from Marietta College
in 1884, and from the Cincinnati Law School in 1886. While attending Marietta College
he joined The Delta Upsilon
Fraternity. He was admitted to the bar and practiced in Lincoln, Nebraska
, between 1887 and 1894. When Lt. John Pershing, the future Army general, was appointed military instructor at the University of Nebraska while attending the law school, he and Dawes became acquainted, forming a lifelong friendship.
Dawes' was the great-great-grandson of the Revolutionary War
figure William Dawes
and the son of Brigadier General Rufus Dawes, who commanded the 6th Wisconsin regiment of the Iron Brigade
from 1863-1864 during the American Civil War
. His brothers were Rufus C. Dawes
, Beman Gates Dawes
, and Henry May Dawes, all prominent businessmen or politicians. He also had two sisters, Mary B. Dawes and Betsy D. Dawes.
In 1894, Dawes acquired interests in a number of midwestern gas plants and became president of both the La Crosse Gas Light Company in La Crosse
, Wisconsin
and the Northwestern Gas Light and Coke Company in Evanston
, Illinois
.
Dawes was a self-taught pianist and composer and a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
, the national fraternity for men in music. His 1912 composition, "Melody in A Major," became a well-known piano and violin piece, and was played at many official functions as his signature tune. It was transformed into the pop song, "It's All In The Game", in 1951 when Carl Sigman
added lyrics. Tommy Edwards'
recording of "It's All in the Game" was a number one hit on the American Billboard
record chart for six weeks in the fall of 1958. Edwards' version of the song also hit number one on the UK chart that year. Since then, it has since become a pop standard recorded hundreds of times by artists including Cliff Richard
, The Four Tops, Isaac Hayes
, Jackie DeShannon
, Van Morrison
, Nat "King" Cole, Brook Benton
, Elton John
, Mel Carter
, Barry Manilow
, and Keith Jarrett
. Dawes is the only Vice-President or winner of the Nobel Peace Prize credited with a #1 pop hit.
's bid for the Presidency of the United States
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 1898–1901, he collected more than $25 million from banks that had failed during the Panic of 1893
, and also changed banking practices to try to prevent a similar event in the future.
In October 1901, Dawes left the Department of the Treasury in order to pursue a U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. Dawes believed that with the help of the McKinley Administration, he could win the Senate seat. After McKinley's assassination, however, Dawes's hopes of winning faded because President Theodore Roosevelt
preferred Dawes's opponent. 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, serving as president of the company until 1921.
On September 5, 1912, Dawes' son, Rufus (21), drowned in Geneva Lake
while on summer break from Princeton University
. Reverend W.T. McElveen read Dawes's tribute to his son. Inspired by his son's charity, Dawes writes, "I have taken him with me among the greatest in the nation and looked in vain for any evidence in him of awe or even curiosity. He has taken me, asking me to help them among the poor and lowly of earth." In his memory, Dawes created residence homes for down-and-out individuals in both Chicago
and Boston
. Dawes's biological daughter, Carolyn, later married Melvin Burton Ericson, and his adopted daughter, Virginia, married Richard Thompson Cragg in 1936.
as he otherwise could never hope to make." (Loans were seen as possibly violating Neutrality and Wilson was still resisting permitting loans.)
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 the war, the U.S. Senate held hearings on overcharges by military suppliers, and 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!" He was later known as "Hell and Maria Dawes" (although he always insisted the expression was "Helen Maria").
After his resignation from the Army in 1919, and upon the creation of the Bureau of the Budget
, he 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. Unfortunately, the Dawes Plan was unworkable and was replaced with the Young Plan
.
At the 1924 Republican National Convention
, Calvin Coolidge
was quickly selected almost without opposition to be the Republican
Presidential Nominee. The Vice Presidential Nominee, on the other hand, was more contested. At first Illinois Governor Frank Lowden was nominated for the Vice Presidency, but he declined the nomination. Coolidge's next choice was Idaho Senator William Borah, but he also declined the nomination. The Republican National Chairman, William Butler, pledged to nominate then Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover
, but he proved to be too unpopular to garner the nod. Eventually, the delegates chose Dawes to be the Vice Presidential Nominee. Though Coolidge had already sent a congratulatory statement to Lowden, Coolidge quickly accepted the delegates' choice and felt that Dawes would be loyal to him and make a strong addition to his campaign.
Dawes was elected Vice President of the United States on November 4, 1924 with more popular votes than the candidates from the Democratic
and Progressive
parties combined. Dawes and Coolidge were inaugurated on March 4, 1925.
As Vice President, Dawes feuded bitterly with President Coolidge. Soon after his election he sent an insulting letter to President Coolidge informing him that he would not be attending cabinet meetings. This is believed to be the beginning of a feud between the two which brought the reputation of the Vice Presidency to its nadir for the 20th century.
Having angered the President, he then proceeded to publicly attack the entire U.S. Senate. The inauguration of the Vice President was held in the Senate Chamber in those days, and the Vice President would give an inaugural address before everyone headed on to the outside platform where the President would take the oath. Dawes made a fiery, half-hour address denouncing the rules of the Senate, the seniority system and many other things that Senators held dear.
This speech overshadowed Coolidge's, something that made the President even more angry with Dawes.
Dawes' Vice Presidency reached a low point on March 10, only days after Dawes started presiding over the Senate, as the president's nomination of Charles B. Warren
to be attorney general was being debated. In the wake of the Teapot Dome scandal
and other business-related 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 return to his room at the Willard Hotel 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, however, 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. The roused vice president jumped in a taxi and sped toward the Capitol. But enough time intervened to persuade the only Democratic senator who had voted for Warren to switch his vote against him. By the time Dawes arrived there was no longer a tie to break, and the nomination had failed by a single vote—the first such rejection in nearly sixty years.
This incident was chronicled in a derisive poem, based on the Longfellow poem "Paul Revere's Ride
" which 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.
Dawes convinced the Senate to pass the McNary-Haugen farm relief bill; Coolidge vetoed the bill.
In 1928, the Republican nomination went to Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover, whose supporters considered putting Dawes on their ticket as vice president. But President Coolidge let it be known that he would consider Dawes' re-nomination to be a personal affront. Instead the nod went to Senate Majority Leader Charles Curtis
of Kansas.
) from 1929 to 1932. However, Dawes found some of his duties as Ambassador, such as presenting American débutante
s to King George V, to be insulting. He further alienated his hosts by refusing (in deference to American public opinion) to wear the customary Court dress, including knee breeches
, on his first visit to the royal court. While Dawes himself gave scant importance to this episode, it upset King George even though illness had prevented the King from personal attendance. Barring this one incident Dawes was a very effective U.S. ambassador, as George's son, the future King Edward VIII, would later confirm in his memoirs.
As the Great Depression
continued to ravage the United States, Dawes accepted President Herbert Hoover
's urgent appeal to leave diplomatic office and head the newly-created Reconstruction Finance Corporation
. However, Dawes resigned from the RFC after a few months because he felt obliged, as one of its board members, to attempt a rescue of the failing City National Bank and Trust Company of Chicago. (Political opponents also alleged that, under his leadership, the RFC had given Dawes' bank preferential treatment.) This marked the end of Dawes' career in public service.
in 1951. He is interred in Rosehill Cemetery
, Chicago.
His landmark lakeshore home in Evanston is owned by Northwestern University
and operated by the Evanston History Center as a museum.
|-
|-
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
(1925-1929). For his work on the Dawes Plan
Dawes Plan
The Dawes Plan was an attempt in 1924, following World War I for the Triple Entente to collect war reparations debt from Germany...
for World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
reparations
World War I reparations
World War I reparations refers to the payments and transfers of property and equipment that Germany was forced to make under the Treaty of Versailles following its defeat during World War I...
he was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
. He served in the First World War, was U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, the first director of the Bureau of the Budget
United States Office of Management and Budget
The Office of Management and Budget is a Cabinet-level office, and is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States .The current OMB Director is Jacob Lew.-History:...
, and, in later life, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Dawes was married to Caro Blymyer on January 24, 1889, and they had two biological children, Rufus Fearing Dawes and Carolyn Dawes, and two more adopted children, Dana McCutcheon and Virginia Dawes (Waller 1998: 273).
Early life, family, and career
Marietta, Ohio
Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Ohio, United States. During 1788, pioneers to the Ohio Country established Marietta as the first permanent American settlement of the new United States in the Northwest Territory. Marietta is located in southeastern Ohio at the mouth...
, Washington County, Ohio
Washington County, Ohio
Washington County is a county located in the state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 61,778. Its county seat is Marietta. The county, the oldest in the state, is named for George Washington. Washington County is included in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna, West Virginia-Ohio...
to Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
soldier Rufus R. Dawes
Rufus R. Dawes
Rufus R. Dawes was a military officer in the United States Army during the American Civil War. He used the middle initial "R" but had no middle name. He was noted for his service in the famed Iron Brigade, particularly during the Battle of Gettysburg...
and Mary Beman Gates. He graduated from Marietta College
Marietta College
Marietta College is a co-educational private college in Marietta, Ohio, USA, which was the first permanent settlement of the Northwest Territory. The school offers 42 majors along with a large number of minors, all of which are grounded in a strong liberal arts foundation...
in 1884, and from the Cincinnati Law School in 1886. While attending Marietta College
Marietta College
Marietta College is a co-educational private college in Marietta, Ohio, USA, which was the first permanent settlement of the Northwest Territory. The school offers 42 majors along with a large number of minors, all of which are grounded in a strong liberal arts foundation...
he joined The Delta Upsilon
Delta Upsilon
Delta Upsilon is the sixth oldest international, all-male, college Greek-letter organization, and is the oldest non-secret fraternity in North America...
Fraternity. He was admitted to the bar and practiced in Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln, Nebraska
The City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....
, between 1887 and 1894. When Lt. John Pershing, the future Army general, was appointed military instructor at the University of Nebraska while attending the law school, he and Dawes became acquainted, forming a lifelong friendship.
Dawes' was the great-great-grandson of the Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
figure William Dawes
William Dawes
William Dawes, Jr. was one of several men and a woman who alerted colonial minutemen of the approach of British army troops prior to the Battle of Lexington and Concord at the outset of the American Revolution....
and the son of Brigadier General Rufus Dawes, who commanded the 6th Wisconsin regiment of the Iron Brigade
Iron Brigade
The Iron Brigade, also known as the Iron Brigade of the West or the Black Hat Brigade, was an infantry brigade in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. Although it fought entirely in the Eastern Theater, it was composed of regiments from Western states...
from 1863-1864 during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. His brothers were Rufus C. Dawes
Rufus C. Dawes
Rufus Cutler Dawes was an American businessman from a prominent Ohio family.Dawes was born in Marietta, Ohio, to American Civil War Brigadier General Rufus R. Dawes and Mary Beman Dawes. He was a younger brother of Charles G. Dawes and great-great-grandson of Revolutionary War figure William Dawes...
, Beman Gates Dawes
Beman Gates Dawes
250px|right|thumbBeman Gates Dawes was a politician and oil executive who served two terms as a Republican Congressman from Ohio....
, and Henry May Dawes, all prominent businessmen or politicians. He also had two sisters, Mary B. Dawes and Betsy D. Dawes.
In 1894, Dawes acquired interests in a number of midwestern gas plants and became president of both the La Crosse Gas Light Company in La Crosse
La Crosse, Wisconsin
La Crosse is a city in and the county seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. The city lies alongside the Mississippi River.The 2011 Census Bureau estimates the city had a population of 52,485...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
and the Northwestern Gas Light and Coke Company in Evanston
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
.
Dawes was a self-taught pianist and composer and a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music...
, the national fraternity for men in music. His 1912 composition, "Melody in A Major," became a well-known piano and violin piece, and was played at many official functions as his signature tune. It was transformed into the pop song, "It's All In The Game", in 1951 when Carl Sigman
Carl Sigman
Carl Sigman was an American songwriter.-Biography:Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York, Sigman graduated from law school and passed his Bar exams to practice in the state of New York...
added lyrics. Tommy Edwards'
Tommy Edwards
Tommy Edwards was a singer and songwriter. His biggest-selling record was with the multi-million-selling song, "It's All in the Game."-Career:...
recording of "It's All in the Game" was a number one hit on the American Billboard
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
record chart for six weeks in the fall of 1958. Edwards' version of the song also hit number one on the UK chart that year. Since then, it has since become a pop standard recorded hundreds of times by artists including Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
, The Four Tops, Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
, Jackie DeShannon
Jackie DeShannon
Jackie DeShannon is an American singer-songwriter with a string of hit song credits from the 1960s onwards. She was one of the first female singer-songwriters of the rock 'n' roll period.- Life and early career :...
, Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, Nat "King" Cole, Brook Benton
Brook Benton
Brook Benton was an American singer and songwriter who was popular with rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music audiences during the late 1950s and early 1960s, when he scored hits such as "It's Just A Matter Of Time" and "Endlessly", many of which he co-wrote.He made a comeback in 1970...
, Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, Mel Carter
Mel Carter
Mel Carter is an American singer and actor. He is best known for his 1965 million selling recording, "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me".-Biography:Carter recorded for Sam Cooke's SAR record label in the early 1960s...
, Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
, and Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer who performs both jazz and classical music.Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey, moving on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s he has enjoyed a great deal of success in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music; as...
. Dawes is the only Vice-President or winner of the Nobel Peace Prize credited with a #1 pop hit.
Early political career
His prominent positions in business caught the attention of Republican party leaders, who put Dawes in charge of managing the Illinois portion of William McKinleyWilliam McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
's bid for the Presidency of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
in 1896
United States presidential election, 1896
The United States presidential election held on November 3, 1896, saw Republican William McKinley defeat Democrat William Jennings Bryan in a campaign considered by political scientists to be one of the most dramatic and complex in American history....
. Following McKinley's election, Dawes was rewarded for his efforts by being named Comptroller of the Currency, United States Department of the Treasury
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
. Serving in that position from 1898–1901, he collected more than $25 million from banks that had failed during the Panic of 1893
Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...
, and also changed banking practices to try to prevent a similar event in the future.
In October 1901, Dawes left the Department of the Treasury in order to pursue a U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. Dawes believed that with the help of the McKinley Administration, he could win the Senate seat. After McKinley's assassination, however, Dawes's hopes of winning faded because 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...
preferred Dawes's opponent. 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, serving as president of the company until 1921.
On September 5, 1912, Dawes' son, Rufus (21), drowned in Geneva Lake
Geneva Lake
Geneva Lake is a body of freshwater in southeastern Wisconsin in Walworth county. On its shores are the city of Lake Geneva, and the villages of Fontana-on-Geneva-Lake, and Williams Bay....
while on summer break from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. Reverend W.T. McElveen read Dawes's tribute to his son. Inspired by his son's charity, Dawes writes, "I have taken him with me among the greatest in the nation and looked in vain for any evidence in him of awe or even curiosity. He has taken me, asking me to help them among the poor and lowly of earth." In his memory, Dawes created residence homes for down-and-out individuals in both Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. Dawes's biological daughter, Carolyn, later married Melvin Burton Ericson, and his adopted daughter, Virginia, married Richard Thompson Cragg in 1936.
World War I participation
Dawes helped support the first Anglo-French Loan to the Entente of $500,000,000. Dawes support was important because the House of Morgan needed public support from a non-Morgan banker. Morgan Banker Lamont said Dawes support would "make a position for him in the banking world suchas he otherwise could never hope to make." (Loans were seen as possibly violating Neutrality and Wilson was still resisting permitting loans.)
During the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Dawes was commissioned Major, Lieutenant Colonel, and Brigadier General of the Seventeenth Engineers. He served with the American Expeditionary Force
American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces or AEF were the United States Armed Forces sent to Europe in World War I. During the United States campaigns in World War I the AEF fought in France alongside British and French allied forces in the last year of the war, against Imperial German forces...
as chief of supply procurement and was a member of the Liquidation Commission, United States War Department. After the war, the U.S. Senate held hearings on overcharges by military suppliers, and 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!" He was later known as "Hell and Maria Dawes" (although he always insisted the expression was "Helen Maria").
After his resignation from the Army in 1919, and upon the creation of the Bureau of the Budget
United States Office of Management and Budget
The Office of Management and Budget is a Cabinet-level office, and is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States .The current OMB Director is Jacob Lew.-History:...
, he was appointed its first Director in 1921. He was appointed to the Allied Reparations Commission in 1923. For his work on the Dawes Plan
Dawes Plan
The Dawes Plan was an attempt in 1924, following World War I for the Triple Entente to collect war reparations debt from Germany...
, a program to enable Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to restore and stabilize its economy, Dawes shared the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
in 1925. Unfortunately, the Dawes Plan was unworkable and was replaced with the Young Plan
Young Plan
The Young Plan was a program for settlement of German reparations debts after World War I written in 1929 and formally adopted in 1930. It was presented by the committee headed by American Owen D. Young. After the Dawes Plan was put into operation , it became apparent that Germany could not meet...
.
Vice Presidency
At the 1924 Republican National Convention
1924 Republican National Convention
The 1924 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States was held in Cleveland, Ohio at the Public Auditorium from June 10 to June 12. For this convention the method of allocating delegates changed in order to reduce the overrepresentation of the South...
, Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
was quickly selected almost without opposition to be the 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...
Presidential Nominee. The Vice Presidential Nominee, on the other hand, was more contested. At first Illinois Governor Frank Lowden was nominated for the Vice Presidency, but he declined the nomination. Coolidge's next choice was Idaho Senator William Borah, but he also declined the nomination. The Republican National Chairman, William Butler, pledged to nominate then Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
, but he proved to be too unpopular to garner the nod. Eventually, the delegates chose Dawes to be the Vice Presidential Nominee. Though Coolidge had already sent a congratulatory statement to Lowden, Coolidge quickly accepted the delegates' choice and felt that Dawes would be loyal to him and make a strong addition to his campaign.
Dawes was elected Vice President of the United States on November 4, 1924 with more popular votes than the candidates from the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
and Progressive
Progressive Party (United States, 1924)
The Progressive Party of 1924 was a new party created as a vehicle for Robert M. La Follette, Sr. to run for president in the 1924 election. It did not run candidates for other offices, and it disappeared after the election except in Wisconsin. Its name resembles the 1912 Progressive Party, which...
parties combined. Dawes and Coolidge were inaugurated on March 4, 1925.
As Vice President, Dawes feuded bitterly with President Coolidge. Soon after his election he sent an insulting letter to President Coolidge informing him that he would not be attending cabinet meetings. This is believed to be the beginning of a feud between the two which brought the reputation of the Vice Presidency to its nadir for the 20th century.
Having angered the President, he then proceeded to publicly attack the entire U.S. Senate. The inauguration of the Vice President was held in the Senate Chamber in those days, and the Vice President would give an inaugural address before everyone headed on to the outside platform where the President would take the oath. Dawes made a fiery, half-hour address denouncing the rules of the Senate, the seniority system and many other things that Senators held dear.
This speech overshadowed Coolidge's, something that made the President even more angry with Dawes.
Dawes' Vice Presidency reached a low point on March 10, only days after Dawes started presiding over the Senate, as the president's nomination of Charles B. Warren
Charles B. Warren
Charles Beecher Warren was an American diplomat and politician.Charles B. Warren was born in Bay City, Michigan. During World War I, He served in the U.S...
to be attorney general was being debated. In the wake of the Teapot Dome scandal
Teapot Dome scandal
The Teapot Dome Scandal was a bribery incident that took place in the United States in 1922–23, during the administration of President Warren G. Harding. Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome and two other locations to private oil companies at low...
and other business-related scandals, Democrats and Progressive Republicans objected to the nomination because of Warren's close association with the Sugar Trust
American Sugar Refining Company
The American Sugar Refining Company was the largest American business unit in the sugar refining industry in the early 1900s.-Establishment:...
. At midday six speakers were scheduled to address Warren's nomination. Desiring to return to his room at the Willard Hotel 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, however, 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. The roused vice president jumped in a taxi and sped toward the Capitol. But enough time intervened to persuade the only Democratic senator who had voted for Warren to switch his vote against him. By the time Dawes arrived there was no longer a tie to break, and the nomination had failed by a single vote—the first such rejection in nearly sixty years.
This incident was chronicled in a derisive poem, based on the Longfellow poem "Paul Revere's Ride
Paul Revere's Ride (poem)
"Paul Revere's Ride" is a poem by an American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that commemorates the actions of American patriot Paul Revere on April 18, 1775.-Overview:...
" which 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
William Dawes
William Dawes, Jr. was one of several men and a woman who alerted colonial minutemen of the approach of British army troops prior to the Battle of Lexington and Concord at the outset of the American Revolution....
who rode with Paul Revere.
Dawes convinced the Senate to pass the McNary-Haugen farm relief bill; Coolidge vetoed the bill.
In 1928, the Republican nomination went to Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover, whose supporters considered putting Dawes on their ticket as vice president. But President Coolidge let it be known that he would consider Dawes' re-nomination to be a personal affront. Instead the nod went to Senate Majority Leader Charles Curtis
Charles Curtis
Charles Curtis was a United States Representative, a longtime United States Senator from Kansas later chosen as Senate Majority Leader by his Republican colleagues, and the 31st Vice President of the United States...
of Kansas.
The Court of St. James's and the RFC
After Dawes had finished his term as Vice President, he served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom (i.e., to the Court of St. James'sCourt of St. James's
The Court of St James's is the royal court of the United Kingdom. It previously had the same function in the Kingdom of England and in the Kingdom of Great Britain .-Overview:...
) from 1929 to 1932. However, Dawes found some of his duties as Ambassador, such as presenting American débutante
Debutante
A débutante is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal "début" presentation. It should not be confused with a Debs...
s to King George V, to be insulting. He further alienated his hosts by refusing (in deference to American public opinion) to wear the customary Court dress, including knee breeches
Breeches
Breeches are an item of clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for each leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles...
, on his first visit to the royal court. While Dawes himself gave scant importance to this episode, it upset King George even though illness had prevented the King from personal attendance. Barring this one incident Dawes was a very effective U.S. ambassador, as George's son, the future King Edward VIII, would later confirm in his memoirs.
As the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
continued to ravage the United States, Dawes accepted President Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
's urgent appeal to leave diplomatic office and head the newly-created Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was an independent agency of the United States government, established and chartered by the US Congress in 1932, Act of January 22, 1932, c. 8, 47 Stat. 5, during the administration of President Herbert Hoover. It was modeled after the War Finance Corporation...
. However, Dawes resigned from the RFC after a few months because he felt obliged, as one of its board members, to attempt a rescue of the failing City National Bank and Trust Company of Chicago. (Political opponents also alleged that, under his leadership, the RFC had given Dawes' bank preferential treatment.) This marked the end of Dawes' career in public service.
Later life
Dawes resumed a role in the banking business, becoming chairman of the board of the City National Bank and Trust Co. from 1932 until his death in EvanstonEvanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
in 1951. He is interred in Rosehill Cemetery
Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago
Rosehill Cemetery is a Victorian era cemetery on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois, USA, and at , is the largest cemetery in the City of Chicago. The name "Rosehill" resulted from a City Clerk's error – the area was previously called "Roe's Hill", named for nearby farmer Hiram Roe...
, Chicago.
His landmark lakeshore home in Evanston is owned by Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
and operated by the Evanston History Center as a museum.
See also
- List of people on the cover of Time Magazine: 1920s - Dec 14. 1925
Selected bibliography
The list below was retrieved from Haberman's 1972 Nobel Lectures, Peace 1901-1925. This list can also be obtained here.- 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.
- Dawes, C. G. (1915). Essays and Speeches. New York: Houghton.
- Dawes, C. G. (1921). Journal of the Great War. 2 vols. New York: Houghton.
- Dawes, C. G. (1923). The First Year of the Budget of the United States. New York: Harper.
- Dawes, C. G. (1935). Notes as Vice President, 1928-1929. Boston: Little, Brown.
- Dawes, C. G. (1937). How Long Prosperity? New York: Marquis.
- Dawes, C. G. (1939). Journal as Ambassador to Great Britain. New York: Macmillan.
- Dawes, C. G. (1939). A Journal of Reparations. New York: Macmillan.
- Dawes, C. G. (1950). A Journal of the McKinley Years. B. N. Timmons (Ed.). La Grange, IL: Tower.
External links
- Evanston History Center, headquartered in the lakefront Dawes house Retrieved on 2009-05-14
- Notes As Vice President 1928-1929 by Charles G. Dawes
- Portrait Of An American by Charles G. Dawes
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