Dawes, Charles Gates (1865-1951), a Republican, served as vice president of the United States from 1925 to 1929 under President Calvin Coolidge. He shared the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize for arranging a plan for Germany to pay for damages it caused in World War I (see Dawes Plan).
Dawes was born in Marietta, Ohio, on Aug. 27, 1865. He came from a prominent and successful family. He graduated from Marietta College in 1884 and then attended law school in Cincinnati. He then moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he practiced law and began investing in a number of businesses, notably gas and electric companies. In the early 1900’s, Dawes founded a bank and served as its president. He was on the Allied General Purchasing Board during World War I (1914-1918). He became the first director of the federal budget in 1921. From 1929 to 1932, he was ambassador to Britain. President Herbert Hoover named him president of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in 1932. Dawes resigned from the post later that year. Dawes was board chairman of the City National Bank & Trust Company of Chicago from 1932 until his death. He died on April 23, 1951.
