Charles Curtis had the misfortune of being the Vice President during the Stock Market crash, and the economic down turn known as “The Great Depression”. 

He was born in North Topeka in 1860, the great-great grandson of Kaw Indian Chief White Plume, who had given assistance to Lewis and Clark. His grandfather Louis Gonville, Chief White Plume’s son in law, was French. Curtis life was dominated by his heritage and he learned to speak Kaw and French while growing up. When he was only three years old his mother died. During the Civil War his father Orren Curtis had been convicted of executing prisoners in violation of military law, served one year in prison at the Missouri State Penitentiary, and after that was never able to settle down. It was the responsibility of the grandparents to raise Charles Curtis. At first he was in the custody of his Paternal grandparents but then his maternal grandparents, the Gronvilles, wanted to be sure he that they and young Charles kept their membership in the tribe in case of any future land settlements. 

Even though he was only 1/8th Kaw he lived on the Reservation. His knowledge of the Kaw language and his skill with a bow and arrow made him popular with the other boys. 

He became a tribal hero after running sixty miles to Topeka for help when the Cheyenne raided the reservation. 

Curtis loved his life on the reservation but his grandmother Permelia Curtis, in Topeka, decided that he had enough of the frontier. He was enrolled in high school, but soon found that his riding skills could earn money at the racetrack owned by his grandfather William Curtis. Known as the “Indian Boy” he became a favorite of the local gamblers, and a madam from the local “Gentlemen’s place of leisure” bought him a brand new silk Jockey’s uniform. Young Charles was enjoying being a Jockey but Grandmother Curtis made him stop and insisted that he finish high school, something he would thank her for in later years. 

After graduation he worked as a custodian at a local law firm, and drove a hack. During his time off he spend hours studying law books. His perseverance paid off and in 1881 he passed the Kansas state bar exam. While working in private practice he became interested in local politics and was elected County Attorney for Shawnee Kansas. Although this makes a great Horatio Alger type story another fact to consider is the substantial sum of money he earned in real estate deals from land he inherited in northern Kansas. 

He was a tough enforcer of the states prohibition laws, in spite of the fact that his own father and grandfather had both owned saloons in Kansas. His uncompromising approach to law enforcement earned him a nomination to Congress. He didn’t succeed in his first attempt but William White, editor of the Emporia Gazette, saw Curtis as perfect Republican candidate for the next election. White took Curtis on a speaking tour, and people must have liked what they heard. In an election where the Populist candidate for President carried Kansas, and a Populist was elected Governor Curtis had an upset victory, and in 1893 was sworn in as the US Representative from Kansas. 

Republican House leader Thomas Reed was greatly outnumbered by Democrats and Populist, and was looking for someone to help him defend and promote legislation from the Republicans in Congress. He was greatly impressed with Curtis, made him one of his lieutenants, and nicknamed him “The Indian”. 

Curtis was a strong supporter of the Gold Standard act of 1900 which endeared him to the nations financial conservatives who were opposed to William Jennings Bryan’s bimetallism plan to back dollars with Gold and silver. 

When the Republicans gained control of the House Curtis became the chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs, and helped pass the Curtis Act, “An act for the protection of the people of the Indian Territory and for other purposes”. The Curtis Act abolished tribal courts, overturned some existing treaty agreements, and gave the Interior Department control over mineral leases on Indian land. Coincidentally Chairman Curtis had reinstated his name on tribal rolls the previous year and was able to use his position on the Committee to calculate the benefits he would receive from the government allotment to the tribe. In 1902 he drafted and helped pass the Kaw Allotment act, which by chance gave him title to Kaw land in Oklahoma. 

When Kansas Senator Burton was removed from office for failing to disclose a conflict of interest Curtis entered the battle for the nomination. He received help from Rhode Island’s powerful Nelson Aldrich, who convinced some of his fellow Republicans to send money to help the Curtis Campaign. Ironically for Curtis the same William White who had helped him campaign for Congress now opposed him saying he was controlled by the Railroad lobby. Finally Curtis got help from an unexpected source, the new President Theodore Roosevelt who said, “So far my experience with Curtis has been rather more pleasant than with the average of my colleagues”. He was appointed to the Senate in 1907. 

Curtis became one of Senator Aldrich’s trusted legislative partners, but when he helped him pass the controversial Payton Aldrich Tariff this put him in conflict with Republicans opposed to the Tariff. In 1911 Curtis was not re-nominated for the Senate. 

When the midterm election of 1914 began the 17th Amendment to the Constitution gave the election of US Senators directly to the voting public. Curtis was able to defeat the incumbent Republican for the nomination and became Kansas’s first popularly elected Senator. When he returned to the Senate the Democrats had created the position of Party Whip, and he served in that roll for the Republicans. He strongly supported women’s suffrage and led a floor fight for the 19th Amendment in 1918. In 1923 Curtis became the chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, and in 1925 he became the first Republican to have the official title of Senate Majority Leader. 

When the Republican met for their 1920 convention Curtis was the head of the Kansas delegation. When the two top contenders General Leonard Wood and Illinois Governor Frank Lowden were deadlocked he was one of the men in the “smoke filled room” that helped dark horse candidate Warren G. Harding win the nomination. 

President Harding appreciated Curtis’s help and included him in the inner circle that met and played poker at the White House. During one meeting Curtis inquired if Vice President Coolidge would remain on the ticket. Harding responded, “We are not worrying about the little man from Massachusetts, Charley Dawes is the man”. 

During the Coolidge years he and the President were on the opposite sides when it came to the McNary Haugen bill to extend the Federal Reserve and increase farm supports, but when it came time sustain a veto Senator Curtis shifted his vote saying he thought it was best to support his President. Although Coolidge appreciated his support it may have cost Curtis votes in his home state. 

In 1928 he was part of a group of Senators determined to keep the nomination away from Herbert Hoover. When Curtis had his turn at the podium a groups of farmers who had come to the convention to jeer Hoover cheered Curtis when he said, “We should not nominate a man who will put us on the defensive from the day he is named”. 

When Hoover won the nomination it was decided that only a member of the opposition could bring unity to the ticket. Hoping that the public would forget what Curtis said about Hoover at the beginning of the convention the two men hit the campaign trail. What a team, Hoover had never been publically elected to any office, and his running mate had years of experience in both the House and the Senate. Hoover was a graduate of Stanford University with an engineering degree, Curtis had his high school diploma and had self taught his way to being a lawyer. Whether or not Hoover won or Democrat Al Smith lost is a topic for historical speculation but one of the factors in the campaign was Smith’s being a Roman Catholic. 

Curtis enjoyed the status of being the Vice President saying he went from, “Kaw Teepee to Capitol”. He decorated his office with artifacts from his native tribe and often posed for pictures wearing a feather headdress. He was a strict enforcer of the rules when it came to presiding over the Senate, and even when not in the chamber he demanded that he be addressed as “Mr. Vice President”. One would think that a President who had never been a member of a legislative body would take advantage of having a former Majority leader as his Vice President, but that didn’t happen. Hoover pretty much ignored Curtis and even though he attended cabinet meetings his advice was never taken in to consideration. 

When the Bonus Marchers headed toward the capitol Curtis demanded that the D.C. Police Chief stop them since neither he nor Speaker John Nance Garner had issues parade permits. When the chief said he didn’t have the manpower Curtis told him to get the army, and the chief then explained that only the President has the power to call out the army. Not wanting to appear to be only a powerless figurehead Curtis contacted the local Marines and they appeared on the scene wearing trench helmets and riding trolley cars. It looked like something out of a comic opera and Curtis became the butt of jokes and newspaper cartoons that soon swept the nation. 

As the election of 1932 arrived Hoover was dropping in the Polls and Curtis considered running for the Senate instead of the Vice Presidency, but party leaders convinced him that any change in the ticket would be seen as a sign of weakness for the Party. He agreed, but this campaign was not like his ones for the House or the Senate. He often faced hecklers and was not used to being on the defensive. 

After Roosevelt’s landslide victory he did not return to Kansas but instead opened up a private law office in Washington D.C. He was appointed chairman of the Republican Senatorial Campaign in 1935, but his return to world of politics was didn‘t last long. He died in 1936. 

Charles Curtis certainly had an interesting life, and until he became Vice President a successful political career. It was certainly a life filled with “What if…?”