Charles Dawes

Charles Gates Dawes was an Ohio-born lawyer, businessman, banker, diplomat, Republican politician, and the thirtieth vice president of the United States. He became nationally prominent through his work on post–World War I European economic reconstruction and shared the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the Dawes Plan. He later served as Calvin Coolidge's vice president from 1925 to 1929 and subsequently became U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Dawes was born on August 27, 1865, in Marietta, Ohio, to Rufus R. Dawes and Mary Beman Gates. His father was a Union general during the Civil War and later served in Congress. Dawes attended Marietta College, graduating in 1884, and studied law at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, receiving his law degree in 1886. He moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he practiced law and became involved in Republican politics.

Dawes became increasingly interested in economics and business and moved to Chicago in 1894, where he became a successful businessman and banker. He was also active in Republican politics and supported William McKinley's presidential campaigns. In 1898, McKinley appointed Dawes as comptroller of the currency, making him responsible for federal supervision of the nation's national banking system. Dawes resigned in 1901 and returned to private business, eventually becoming a prominent Chicago banker.

After World War I, Dawes became involved in the international problem of German reparations and European financial instability. In 1923, he chaired an international committee charged with finding a way to stabilize Germany's finances and facilitate the payment of reparations. The resulting Dawes Plan of 1924 reorganized Germany's reparations schedule and provided for substantial foreign loans to Germany. For this work, Dawes and British politician Sir Austen Chamberlain jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925.

Dawes became the Republican vice-presidential nominee in 1924 alongside Calvin Coolidge. The Coolidge-Dawes ticket defeated Democrat John W. Davis and Progressive Robert M. La Follette, and Dawes took office on March 4, 1925. As vice president, Dawes presided over the Senate, where he became involved in disputes with senators over Senate procedure. His relationship with Coolidge was generally cordial but not especially close. Dawes left the vice presidency in 1929 when Coolidge's second term ended.

After leaving the vice presidency, Dawes returned to diplomacy. President Herbert Hoover appointed him ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1929, and he served in London until 1932. He then returned to Chicago and resumed his business and civic activities. Dawes remained active in banking and public affairs until his death in Evanston, Illinois, on April 23, 1951, at the age of eighty-five.

Dawes's legacy is unusual because his most important contributions occurred outside the vice presidency. His work on the Dawes Plan made him a major figure in the international economic diplomacy of the 1920s, while his Nobel Peace Prize recognized his role in attempting to stabilize postwar Europe. His career also illustrates the increasingly international role of American financial and diplomatic leaders during the period between the two World Wars.