225 Greenwood St
Evanston, IL 60201, USA

Charles Gates Dawes House (Dawes Mansion) - National Register of Historic Places

Statement of Significance:

Charles Gates Dawes, according to his biographer Bascom N. Timmons, bore chief responsibility for the "only completely successful conference on international governmental affairs between the end of World War I and the midway point of the twentieth century. " 1 Although the Dawes Plan, the finished product of the international committee he chaired in 1924, "did not solve the World War I reparations problem," says historian Richard W. Leopold, it "did arrange a rational schedule of payments" based on the performance of the German economy and removed that question, at least for a time, as an irritant to European amity.2 For his labors Dawes was awarded the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize.

Before tackling the reparations problem, Dawes had already earned a national reputation as first Director of the Budget. President Warren G. Harding appointed him to the newly created post in 1921 because Dawes, according to historian Robert K. Murray, was "renowned for his ability to effect efficiency and economy." 3 During his one-year tenure, Dawes established the Budget Bureau on a sound operating basis and was able to reduce Federal expenditures by almost 2 billion dollars.

Dawes' prestige made him the ideal running mate for Calvin Coolidge in the 1924 Presidential election. In fact, "not since the time of Theodore Roosevelt," says historian Donald Young, "had such a prominent American been honored with a vice presidential nomination. "4 As Vice President from 1925 to 1929 Dawes eschewed the quiet role expected of a man in his position--and at times even worked at cross purposes with President Coolidge. The Vice President waged a 4-year battle against what he considered the antiquated rules of the Senate and tried unsuccessfully to arouse the Nation on the issue. He disagreed with Coolidge on farm policy and in 1927 pushed the McNary-Haugen Plan--for the disposal of farm surpluses abroad--through the Senate despite strong Presidential opposition.

Dawes lived in this 2 ½ story, hip-roofed, brick mansion for 42 years, from 1929 until his death in 1951. There are two other known extant Dawes residences--one in Washington, D.C., occupied in 1925-28, and one in Lincoln, Nebr., occupied in 1887-94--but this littlealtered, excellently preserved structure clearly represents him best.

Biography
Charles Gates Dawes was born August 27, 1865, in Marietta, Ohio, to Rufus R. and Mary G. Dawes. His father, who had been a general in the Union Army and had served one term in Congress, was one of Marietta's most substantial citizens. As a result, young Charles received every cultural and educational advantage. He attended local Marietta College, graduated in 1884, and entered the University of Cincinnati Law School, receiving his LL.B. 2 years later.

Dawes left Ohio in 1887 and moved to Lincoln, Nebr., where he established his law practice. He quickly gained recognition in his profession when he successfully represented the Lincoln Board of Trade in the fight against discriminatory freight rates. Financial success soon followed, and within a few years, Dawes acquired extensive interests in a Lincoln real estate company, bank, and packing concern as well as in gas companies in several cities throughout the United States. He also became acquainted with two men whose paths would often cross his--William Jennings Bryan, a fellow attorney, and Lt. John J. Pershing, professor of military science at the University of Nebraska.

In 1895 Dawes moved to Chicago in the hope of recovering the heavy financial losses he had suffered as a result of the Panic of 1893. Apparently, he prospered quickly, because by 1896 he had turned much of his attention to politics. That year he spearheaded a successful drive to win the Illinois delegation to the Republican National Convention for William McKinley against the political machine of State boss William Lorimer. This Illinois victory, according to Dawes' biographer Bascom N. Timmons, had an important "psychological effect" and got the "McKinley band wagon ... rolling." 5 During the fall campaign against his friend Bryan, Dawes acted as party treasurer and operated the Republican National Headquarters in Chicago.

he Currency, a post he held until 1901. Personally close to the President and one of his chief advisors, Dawes' principal interest as Comptroller was the passage of a law for sound emergency currency which might lessen the danger of financial stringencies. Although the Dawes currency plan was originally included in the Senate version of the 1900 Gold Standard Bill, it was taken out in the conference with the House. Dawes' proposals were eventually carried out, however, in the Aldrich-Vreeland Act of 1908. When Dawes resigned as Comptroller, he returned to Illinois in the hope of winning a seat in the U.S. Senate--an ambition which was to be frustrated.

After his 1902 Senate defeat, Dawes devoted most of the next 15 years to his business interests, grew increasingly wealthy, and earned a reputation as one of the Nation's leading philanthropists. In 1902 he organized the Central Trust Company of Illinois, became its president, and made it one of the most important banks in the United States. Always generous to the unfortunate, in 1907, he attracted much attention by operating his own bread wagon which fed thousands of Chicago's most destitute people. After the tragic death of his son in 1912, Dawes built, in the boy's memory, transient hotels in Chicago and Boston. These offered first class lodging and food to the destitute for a nominal fee.

When the United States entered World War I in 1917, Dawes, with the assistance of his old friend Gen. John J. Pershing, received a commission as major in the 17th Engineers and was among the first 20,000 troops to arrive in France. Pershing appointed him as his General Purchasing Agent, and in this position Dawes, who eventually rose to the rank of brigadier general, by ingenuity and hard work, says military historian Edward M. Coffman, "obtained some ten million tons of supplies in Europe and thus saved that much valuable cargo space on the ships making the Atlantic crossing.

Unlike many Republicans, Dawes supported Woodrow Wilson's actions at the Versailles Conference and favored American membership in the League of Nations. Particularly critical of his party for its attemtps to make an issue of war-waste, Dawes attracted much National attention when he appeared before the House Committee on War Expenditures in February 1921. In his expletive-laden testimony, he gave the committee a tongue lashing, particularly when he declared: "Hell and Maria, we weren't trying to keep a set of books; we were trying to win the war."7 Thereafter, he carried the nickname of "Hell and Maria" Dawes.

In 1921 President Warren G. Harding appointed Dawes to the newly created position of Director of the Budget. Although he served only one year in this post, Dawes, according to eminent historian John D. Hicks, "took vigorous command of the new office" and by the time Harding submitted his first budget "had worked out a notable program of economy Before he resigned, Dawes established the Budget Bureau on a sound operating basis and reduced Federal expenditures by almost 2 billion dollars.

Late in 1923, Dawes agreed to serve as chairman of an international commission to deal with the question of German reparations payments after that nation defaulted and French troops had occupied the Ruhr. Under his forceful and dynamic leadership, the group worked from January 14 to April 9, 1924, and produced what came to be called the Dawes Plan. Although it "did not solve the reparations problem," says diplomatic historian Richard W. Leopold, "it did arrange a rational schedule of payments" based on the performance of the German economy and removed that question, at least for a time, as an irritant to European amity.9 For his labors Dawes was awarded the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize. In fact, says biographer Timmons, Dawes presided over the "only completely successful conference on international governmental affairs between the end of World War I and the midway point of the twentieth century."

Dawes' prestige made him the ideal running mate for Calvin Coolidge in the 1924 Presidential election. As Vice President from 1925 to 1929, Dawes, according to Coolidge biographer Donald R. McCoy, "was to biscotti recognized as one of the few outstanding" men to hold that office. _ Eschewing the quiet role expected of a man in his position, Dawes proved to be extremely active and at times worked at cross purposes with the President. He waged a what he considered the antiquated rules of the Senate and tried unsuccessfully to arouse the Nation on the issue. He disagreed with Coolidge on farm policy, and in 1927 pushed the McNary-Haugen Plan for the disposal of farm surpluses abroad through the senate despite Presidential opposition.

At the end of Dawes' term in 1929, President Herbert Hoover appointed him Ambassador to Great Britain. Primarily concerned with the disarmament question, he initiated the proceedings which led to the London Naval Conference of 1930. In 1932 he returned to the United States at Hoover's request to serve as president of the newly-created Reconstruction Finance Corporation. After seeing that the agency was operating properly, Dawes resigned after only 6 months in this post and returned to private life. He never again held any public office, devoting his attention instead to business and charitable interests. On April 24, 1951, Dawes died at his home in Evanston, Ill., of a coronary thrombosis at the age of 85.