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The 1920s in America

Dawes, Charles G.

by Daniel P. Murphy

Identification: American politician

Born: August 27, 1865, Marietta, Ohio

Died: April 23, 1951, Evanston, Illinois

A leading banker and politician of the 1920s, Charles G. Dawes served as the first director of the U.S. Bureau of the Budget before going on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in resolving the post–World War I reparations crisis. Dawes’s reputation earned him a place as Calvin Coolidge’s running mate in the presidential election of 1924, and he served as vice president of the United States until 1929.

Charles Gates Dawes, a lawyer and businessman, entered politics in 1895 in support of Republican presidential candidate William McKinley. For his assistance in the campaign, Dawes was appointed comptroller of the currency. His further political aspirations were impeded by McKinley’s assassination, so Dawes instead returned to business, flourishing as a banker. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, Dawes joined the army and was placed in charge of the critical task of procuring supplies for the troops. Dawes later became the American representative to the Military Board of Allied Supply, working cooperatively with officials from Allied governments and militaries.

Dawes returned to government work following the end of World War I. In 1921, President Warren Harding named Dawes the first director of the Bureau of the Budget (later the Office of Management and Budget). In this role, Dawes helped make the federal budgeting process more efficient, contributing to the prosperity of the 1920s.

Dawes Plan

As a member of the Allied Reparations Commission, Dawes was sent to Europe in 1923 to investigate the ongoing German reparations crisis. According to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, Germany was considered responsible for World War I and therefore owed monetary reparations to several European nations. When Germany defaulted on these obligations in 1923, French and Belgian troops occupied a German industrial region known as the Ruhr, causing further social and economic disruption. Dawes was appointed leader of a committee tasked with resolving this crisis. The resulting Dawes Plan created a schedule of manageable reparations payments intended to stabilize the German economy until larger payments would be possible. The plan also placed the German central bank under Allied supervision and brought an end to the military occupation of the Ruhr. For his role in the mediation of this crisis, Dawes was awarded the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize.

Vice President

In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge asked Dawes to be his running mate after other prominent Republicans declined. Campaigning strenuously, Dawes contributed to the ensuing Republican victory. As vice president, Dawes did not get along with President Coolidge. His inaugural address, criticizing Senate procedures, upstaged that of the president. A few days later, he missed casting a tie-breaking vote on the confirmation of a cabinet appointee because he had returned to his hotel to rest. Dawes also refused to attend cabinet meetings. Despite his frustration with such senatorial traditions as the filibuster, Dawes worked well with the Senate, helping pass several bills. Dawes also brokered the negotiations that resulted in the McNary-Haugen bill on farm relief, which was subsequently vetoed by Coolidge.

When Coolidge announced that he was not running for reelection, Dawes was suggested as a possible presidential candidate, but he declined to run. Party leaders considered asking Dawes to join Herbert Hoover on the 1928 Republican ticket, but decided against it after Coolidge made his hostility to the idea clear. Instead, after the election, President Hoover appointed Dawes ambassador to Great Britain, a position he held until 1932.

Impact

In addition to his ambassadorial duties, Dawes served as an American delegate to the London Naval Disarmament Conference of 1930. He was preparing to lead the American delegation at another disarmament conference in 1932 when he was asked to return to the United States to head the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, a new federal agency that combated the Great Depression by providing credit to banks, other financial institutions, and railroads. Dawes resigned after four months to return to Chicago and help rescue the City National Bank and Trust Company, on whose board he sat. He reorganized and saved the bank, staying active as chairman of the board until his death in 1951. Although he never returned to politics, Dawes wrote a number of books in retirement, ensuring his legacy as a prominent figure of the era.

Citation Types

Type

Format

MLA 9th

Murphy, Daniel P. "Dawes, Charles G.." The 1920s in America, edited by Carl Rollyson, Salem Press, 2012. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=1920_0163.

APA 7th

Murphy, D. P. (2012). Dawes, Charles G.. In C. Rollyson (Ed.), The 1920s in America. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.

CMOS 17th

Murphy, Daniel P. "Dawes, Charles G.." Edited by Carl Rollyson. The 1920s in America. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2012. Accessed December 14, 2025. online.salempress.com.

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