Charles Curtis

Charles Curtis, born on January twenty-fifth, eighteen sixty in the Kansas Territory, was a prominent politician, lawyer, and prosecutor who made history as the thirty-first vice president of the United States from nineteen twenty-nine to nineteen thirty-three under President Herbert Hoover. An enrolled member of the Kaw Nation, Curtis was the first Native American to serve in the United States Congress, holding positions in both the House of Representatives and the Senate before ascending to the role of Senate Majority Leader from nineteen twenty-four to nineteen twenty-nine.

Entering political life at the age of thirty-two, Curtis began his career as a Republican representative for Topeka, Kansas, winning several terms starting in eighteen ninety-two. He was instrumental in sponsoring the Curtis Act of eighteen ninety-eight, which extended the Dawes Act to the Five Civilized Tribes of the Indian Territory. Although he was dissatisfied with the final version, the Act played a crucial role in the dissolution of tribal land titles in the Indian Territory, paving the way for Oklahoma's statehood in nineteen oh-seven.

In the Senate, Curtis was first elected by the Kansas Legislature in nineteen oh-six and subsequently by popular vote in nineteen fourteen, nineteen twenty, and nineteen twenty-six. He served one full term from nineteen oh-seven to nineteen thirteen and most of three additional terms from nineteen fifteen to nineteen twenty-nine. Notably, he introduced the first version of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Senate in nineteen twenty, although it would not be ratified until nineteen seventy-two.

As a skilled legislator, Curtis held the position of Republican Whip from nineteen fifteen to nineteen twenty-four and then became Senate Majority Leader. His adept management of legislation and strong connections in both Kansas and federal politics solidified his reputation as a formidable leader. In nineteen twenty-eight, he was nominated for vice president at the Republican National Convention, winning the election alongside Herbert Hoover in a landslide.

During his vice presidency, Curtis made history again by being the first vice president to open the Olympic Games in nineteen thirty-two. However, their re-election bid during the Great Depression was unsuccessful, as they faced a significant defeat against Democrats Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Nance Garner. Curtis remains the highest-ranking Native American to have served in the federal government and is notable for being the most recent executive branch officer born in a territory rather than a state or federal district.