VICE PRESIDENT CHARLES G. DAWES - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 10/06/1949 - HFSID 33025

CHARLES G. DAWES
The former Vice President writes to Mark Twain's cousin that he cannot remember an incident.
Typed Letter signed: "Charles G. Dawes", 1p, 7¼x10½. Chicago, October 6, 1949. To Cyril Clemens, Webster Groves, Missouri. Features letterhead from the City National Bank of Chicago. In full: "While I have been of some assistance to the House of Good Shepherd here in Chicago, I have no recollection of the incident of which you write." Charles G. Dawes (1865-1951) was a United States politician who most notably served as Vice President of the United States under President Calvin Coolidge (1925-1929). He was at McKinley's side as US Comptroller of the Currency (1897-1902) when the President died in 1901, the victim of an assassin's bullet. Dawes organized and served as first President (1902-1921) and Chairman of the Board (1921-1925) of the Central Union Trust Co. In 1921, he became the first Director of the U.S. Bureau of the Budget. Two years later, he was president of the commission investigating the German budget and payments of war reparations. The commission created the "Dawes Plan" of reorganization and loans, which was in effect from 1924-1930. Dawes won the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize for the Dawes Plan. He served afterwards as US Ambassador to Britain. Dawes was a commissioned Brigadier General during WWI, serving overseas as an accounting expert and finances director for a number of different military departments. As Vice President, he was known for his tumultuous relationship with President Coolidge. The banker was even an accomplished musician; he composed “Melody in a Major” (1912) for the piano and violin. Lyrics were added to the popular tune and has since been covered dozens of times by major music stars like Elton John, Nat King Cole, and Van Morrison. Cyril Clemens was Samuel L. Clemens' cousin and founded the International Mark Twain Society in 1930. He edited the "Mark Twain Journal" and may have been asking the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize winner about a Mark Twain incident at the House of the Good Shepherd in Chicago. On Dawes' stationery as Chairman of the Board of the City National Bank and Trust Company. Horizontal fold touches signature. Otherwise, fine condition.