Veeps: Charles Curtis
It's pretty amazing to think that, while it took until the 21st century to break the color barrier in the oval office, a member of a significant racial or ethnic minority was elected to the Vice-Presidency eighty years earlier, at a time when Americans weren't all that enlightened on the issue of equality. Apparently there was a time when the state of Kansas wasn't known for being of the reddest of the red states or for the Westboro Baptist Church and was in fact quite a home for liberalism. It was Kansas that sent Charles Curtis, a man with native American ancestry, to congress in 1892, and it was 1928 America that elected him to the office of Vice President of the United States.
Charles Curtis was born on January 25, 1860 in Topeka, which was then part of the Kansas Territory, prior to its admission as a state a year later in January 1861. Curtis was of mixed ancestry which was nearly half Native American (Friends of mine of similar ancestry tell me that they prefer the term "First Nations" to "native" since everyone is native to somewhere.) His mother, Ellen Papin, was one-fourth French, one-fourth Kaw, one-fourth Osage, and one-fourth Pottawatomie. His father, Orren Curtis, was an American of English, Scots and Welsh ancestry. On his mother's side, Curtis was a descendant of the chiefs White Plume and Pawhuska, of the Kaw and Osage nations, respectively.
From his mother, Curtis first learned to speak the French and Kansa languages. As a boy he lived with his mother and her family on the Kaw reservation. The young Curtis started racing horses and became a highly successful jockey in prairie horse races. On June 1, 1868, one hundred Cheyenne warriors invaded the Kaw Reservation where Curtis lived. A battle ensured and ended after four hours. Nobody was hurt on either side. During the battle, a man of mixed-blood named Joe Jim rode 60 miles to Topeka to request assistance from the Governor. Riding along was eight-year old Charles Curtis who was known by the politically incorrect nickname of “Indian Charley”.
Curtis' mother died in 1863 when young Charles was three. His father remarried and divorced, then married again. The elder Curtis was imprisoned because of an event during his service in the American Civil War and Charles was raised by both sets of grandparents. Curtis was strongly influenced by both sets of grandparents. After living on the reservation with his maternal grandparents, Curtis returned to Topeka and lived with his Curtis grandparents while attending Topeka High School. Both his grandmothers encouraged him to get an education.
When he finished school, Curtis read law with a Topeka law firm and worked part-time. He was admitted to the Kansas state bar in 1881. He commenced his law practice in Topeka and served as prosecuting attorney of Shawnee County, Kansas from 1885 to 1889.
Charles Curtis married Annie Elizabeth Baird and the couple had three children: Permelia Jeannette Curtis, Henry "Harry" King Curtis and Leona Virginia Curtis. He and his wife also provided a home for his half-sister Theresa Permelia "Dolly" Curtis.
In 1892 Curtis was first elected to the House of Representatives. He was re-elected for the following six terms. Among his accomplishments as a Congressman, Curtis helped pass the Curtis Act of 1898, which affected the rights of Native Americans in Oklahoma. Curtis believed that Native Americans could benefit by getting educated, assimilating and joining the main society. Curtis maintained an interest in Indian law, issues and programs.
Curtis served in the House from March 4, 1893 until January 28, 1907, when he resigned, after being chosen by the Kansas Legislature, to fill the short unexpired term of Senator Joseph R. Burton in the United States Senate. On that same day of January 28, Curtis was also chosen by Kansas' state lawmakers for the full senatorial term commencing March 4 of that year and ending March 4, 1913. After passage of the 17th Amendment, which provided for direct election of senators, Curtis ran for and was elected in 1914 by popular vote for the six-year Senate term commencing March 4, 1915. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1920 and again in 1926. Curtis served without interruption from March 4, 1915 until his resignation on March 3, 1929, after being elected as Vice-President.
During his time in the Senate, Curtis was President pro tempore of the Senate as well as Chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Interior, of the Committee on Indian Depredations, of the Committee on Coast Defenses, and of the Republican Conference. In 1923 Senator Curtis, together with fellow Kansan, Representative Daniel Read Anthony, Jr., proposed the first version of the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution to each of their Houses. He was elected as Republican Whip from 1915 to 1924 and Majority Leader from 1925 to 1929. His fellow Republican Senator William Borah of Idaho called Curtis "a great reconciler, a walking political encyclopedia and one of the best political poker players in America." Time magazine featured Curtis on its cover in December 1926.
Curtis' wife died in 1924 and he remained a widower. In 1928 Curtis was chosen as the Republican candidate for Vice President. He ran with Herbert Hoover for president and vice-president. During the campaign Curtis himself made much of his rise "from Kaw tepee to Capitol", a phrase he used in campaign speeches. Following their landslide 58% to 41% victory, Curtis resigned from the Senate on March 3, 1929 to assume the office of Vice President. The pair was inaugurated on March 4, 1929. Curtis had his half-sister "Dolly" Curtis Gann act as his hostess for social events. To date, Curtis is the last Vice President who was unmarried while in office.
Soon after the Great Depression began, Curtis endorsed the five-day work week, with no reduction in wages, as a work-sharing solution to unemployment. He decorated his office with Native American artifacts and posed for pictures wearing Indian head-dresses. But the press who covered him noted that Charles Curtis had changed from a humble, affable man, to someone pompous and officious. One reporter wrote "his humility has been turned inside out." This may be an unfair criticism, and may simply have been the reaction of the establishment of the time being unaccustomed to showing the respect due to a vice-president to someone from a minority, though the criticism came from friends as well as foes. Curtis harbored presidential aspirations, which in turn led to resentment and mistrust of him by the Hoover White House. As a result, Curtis became frustrated, having previously been so busy and influential as majority leader.
It was on his watch that the issue of an official vice-presidential residence arose. The wealthy widow of Missouri Senator John B. Henderson lived in a brownstone "castle" on 16th Street, on a hillside several blocks north of the White House. Mrs. Henderson had lobbied to rechristen 16th Street as the Avenue of the Presidents and she persuaded many embassies to locate along the street by selling them inexpensive parcels of land. Mrs. Henderson believed that the street would be the perfect location for a permanent vice-presidential dwelling and she offered to give the government a house overlooking Meridian Hill Park. Earlier, Vice President Calvin Coolidge had declined a similar offer. Curtis was much more receptive, and sent his sister Dolly Curtis Gann out to inspect the property. She pronounced the house "lovely" and appropriate for its purposes. But a member of the Henderson family objected to the elderly Mrs. Henderson's penchant for giving away her property, and the deal fell through.
After the Stock Market Crash in 1929, the problems of the Great Depression led to the defeat of the Republican ticket in the next election. Curtis' term as Vice President ended on March 4, 1933. Curtis decided to stay in Washington, D.C. to resume his legal career. He died in Washington, D.C. on February 8, 1936 from a heart attack. His body was returned to Topeka for burial next to his wife at the Topeka Cemetery.
Charles Curtis was born on January 25, 1860 in Topeka, which was then part of the Kansas Territory, prior to its admission as a state a year later in January 1861. Curtis was of mixed ancestry which was nearly half Native American (Friends of mine of similar ancestry tell me that they prefer the term "First Nations" to "native" since everyone is native to somewhere.) His mother, Ellen Papin, was one-fourth French, one-fourth Kaw, one-fourth Osage, and one-fourth Pottawatomie. His father, Orren Curtis, was an American of English, Scots and Welsh ancestry. On his mother's side, Curtis was a descendant of the chiefs White Plume and Pawhuska, of the Kaw and Osage nations, respectively.
From his mother, Curtis first learned to speak the French and Kansa languages. As a boy he lived with his mother and her family on the Kaw reservation. The young Curtis started racing horses and became a highly successful jockey in prairie horse races. On June 1, 1868, one hundred Cheyenne warriors invaded the Kaw Reservation where Curtis lived. A battle ensured and ended after four hours. Nobody was hurt on either side. During the battle, a man of mixed-blood named Joe Jim rode 60 miles to Topeka to request assistance from the Governor. Riding along was eight-year old Charles Curtis who was known by the politically incorrect nickname of “Indian Charley”.
Curtis' mother died in 1863 when young Charles was three. His father remarried and divorced, then married again. The elder Curtis was imprisoned because of an event during his service in the American Civil War and Charles was raised by both sets of grandparents. Curtis was strongly influenced by both sets of grandparents. After living on the reservation with his maternal grandparents, Curtis returned to Topeka and lived with his Curtis grandparents while attending Topeka High School. Both his grandmothers encouraged him to get an education.
When he finished school, Curtis read law with a Topeka law firm and worked part-time. He was admitted to the Kansas state bar in 1881. He commenced his law practice in Topeka and served as prosecuting attorney of Shawnee County, Kansas from 1885 to 1889.
Charles Curtis married Annie Elizabeth Baird and the couple had three children: Permelia Jeannette Curtis, Henry "Harry" King Curtis and Leona Virginia Curtis. He and his wife also provided a home for his half-sister Theresa Permelia "Dolly" Curtis.
In 1892 Curtis was first elected to the House of Representatives. He was re-elected for the following six terms. Among his accomplishments as a Congressman, Curtis helped pass the Curtis Act of 1898, which affected the rights of Native Americans in Oklahoma. Curtis believed that Native Americans could benefit by getting educated, assimilating and joining the main society. Curtis maintained an interest in Indian law, issues and programs.
Curtis served in the House from March 4, 1893 until January 28, 1907, when he resigned, after being chosen by the Kansas Legislature, to fill the short unexpired term of Senator Joseph R. Burton in the United States Senate. On that same day of January 28, Curtis was also chosen by Kansas' state lawmakers for the full senatorial term commencing March 4 of that year and ending March 4, 1913. After passage of the 17th Amendment, which provided for direct election of senators, Curtis ran for and was elected in 1914 by popular vote for the six-year Senate term commencing March 4, 1915. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1920 and again in 1926. Curtis served without interruption from March 4, 1915 until his resignation on March 3, 1929, after being elected as Vice-President.
During his time in the Senate, Curtis was President pro tempore of the Senate as well as Chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Interior, of the Committee on Indian Depredations, of the Committee on Coast Defenses, and of the Republican Conference. In 1923 Senator Curtis, together with fellow Kansan, Representative Daniel Read Anthony, Jr., proposed the first version of the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution to each of their Houses. He was elected as Republican Whip from 1915 to 1924 and Majority Leader from 1925 to 1929. His fellow Republican Senator William Borah of Idaho called Curtis "a great reconciler, a walking political encyclopedia and one of the best political poker players in America." Time magazine featured Curtis on its cover in December 1926.
Curtis' wife died in 1924 and he remained a widower. In 1928 Curtis was chosen as the Republican candidate for Vice President. He ran with Herbert Hoover for president and vice-president. During the campaign Curtis himself made much of his rise "from Kaw tepee to Capitol", a phrase he used in campaign speeches. Following their landslide 58% to 41% victory, Curtis resigned from the Senate on March 3, 1929 to assume the office of Vice President. The pair was inaugurated on March 4, 1929. Curtis had his half-sister "Dolly" Curtis Gann act as his hostess for social events. To date, Curtis is the last Vice President who was unmarried while in office.
Soon after the Great Depression began, Curtis endorsed the five-day work week, with no reduction in wages, as a work-sharing solution to unemployment. He decorated his office with Native American artifacts and posed for pictures wearing Indian head-dresses. But the press who covered him noted that Charles Curtis had changed from a humble, affable man, to someone pompous and officious. One reporter wrote "his humility has been turned inside out." This may be an unfair criticism, and may simply have been the reaction of the establishment of the time being unaccustomed to showing the respect due to a vice-president to someone from a minority, though the criticism came from friends as well as foes. Curtis harbored presidential aspirations, which in turn led to resentment and mistrust of him by the Hoover White House. As a result, Curtis became frustrated, having previously been so busy and influential as majority leader.
It was on his watch that the issue of an official vice-presidential residence arose. The wealthy widow of Missouri Senator John B. Henderson lived in a brownstone "castle" on 16th Street, on a hillside several blocks north of the White House. Mrs. Henderson had lobbied to rechristen 16th Street as the Avenue of the Presidents and she persuaded many embassies to locate along the street by selling them inexpensive parcels of land. Mrs. Henderson believed that the street would be the perfect location for a permanent vice-presidential dwelling and she offered to give the government a house overlooking Meridian Hill Park. Earlier, Vice President Calvin Coolidge had declined a similar offer. Curtis was much more receptive, and sent his sister Dolly Curtis Gann out to inspect the property. She pronounced the house "lovely" and appropriate for its purposes. But a member of the Henderson family objected to the elderly Mrs. Henderson's penchant for giving away her property, and the deal fell through.
After the Stock Market Crash in 1929, the problems of the Great Depression led to the defeat of the Republican ticket in the next election. Curtis' term as Vice President ended on March 4, 1933. Curtis decided to stay in Washington, D.C. to resume his legal career. He died in Washington, D.C. on February 8, 1936 from a heart attack. His body was returned to Topeka for burial next to his wife at the Topeka Cemetery.