Charles W. Sawyer was United States Secretary of Commerce

United States Secretary of Commerce

The United States Secretary of Commerce is the head of the United States Department of Commerce concerned with business and industry; the Department states its mission to be "to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce"...

 from May 6, 1948 to January 20, 1953 in the administration of Harry Truman.

Sawyer was born in 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 served as a member of Cincinnati City Council from 1912–1916. Prior to his political career, he worked at the Cincinnati law firm of Dinsmore & Shohl

Dinsmore & Shohl

Dinsmore is a large U.S. law firm based in Cincinnati, Ohio. According to the National Law Journal's 2011 rankings, it is the 107th largest law firm in the United States...

. Between the world wars, he was a prominent Democratic politician in Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

. In the 1930s, a faction led by Sawyer vied with a faction led by Martin L. Davey

Martin L. Davey

Martin Luther Davey was a Democratic politician from Ohio. He was the 53rd Governor of Ohio.-Childhood:Davey was born in Kent, Ohio in 1884. His father was John Davey, better known as the tree doctor and founder of the Davey Tree Expert Company. His mother was Bertha Reeves, the daughter of a...

 for control of the state Democratic party. He was the 44th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio

Lieutenant Governor of Ohio

The position of lieutenant governor of Ohio was established in 1852. The lieutenant governor becomes governor if the governor resigns, dies in office or is removed by impeachment. Before 1852, the president of the Ohio State Senate would serve as acting governor if a vacancy in the governorship...

 from 1933–1935. In 1938, Sawyer was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Ohio governor.

Charles Sawyer authored the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment.Sawyer, Concerns of a Conservative Democrat,Southern Illinois University Press, Pgs 48-51.

He was also appointed as United States Ambassador to Belgium

United States Ambassador to Belgium

In 1832, shortly after the creation of the Kingdom of Belgium, the United States established diplomatic relations. Since that time, a long line of distinguished envoys have represented American interests in Belgium. These diplomats included men and women whose career paths would lead them to...

 by Franklin Delano Roosevelt and was Minister to Luxembourg during the difficult period 1944–1946 in this country, the beginning of the Belgian royal question concerning King Leopold III of Belgium

Leopold III of Belgium

Leopold III reigned as King of the Belgians from 1934 until 1951, when he abdicated in favour of the Heir Apparent,...

.

While Secretary of Commerce, Sawyer was ordered by Truman to seize and operate the steel mills

Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer

Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, , also commonly referred to as The Steel Seizure Case, was a United States Supreme Court decision that limited the power of the President of the United States to seize private property in the absence of either specifically enumerated authority under Article...

 in 1952. This seizure was executed to prevent a labor strike

1952 steel strike

The 1952 steel strike was a strike by the United Steelworkers of America against U.S. Steel and nine other steelmakers. The strike was scheduled to begin on April 9, 1952, but President Harry S. Truman nationalized the American steel industry hours before the workers walked out. The steel companies...

 which Truman believed would hamper the ability of the United States to proceed in the war in Korea.

When he returned to Cincinnati after serving for President Truman, he joined the law firm Taft, Stettinius, and Hollister, which had been founded by another prominent Cincinnati politician, Robert Taft

Robert Taft

Robert Alphonso Taft , of the Taft political family of Cincinnati, was a Republican United States Senator and a prominent conservative statesman...

, and became its managing partner.

In 1968, he authored Concerns of a Conservative Democrat (Southern Illinois University Press). Charles Sawyer served on the following commissions, Hoover Commission on Overseas Task Force, the Commission on Money and Credit, and the World's Fair Site Committee. He had five children.

Sawyer died in Palm Beach, Florida

Palm Beach, Florida

The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...

.