Dan Glickman
American businessman and politician
Charles Curtis
vice president of the United States from 1929 to 1933
Charles Curtis was the first Native American and first person in a racial minority group to become Vice President of the United States. He served under President Herbert Hoover from 1929 to 1933. Curtis had a long career in politics, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and as Senate Majority Leader before becoming Vice President.
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About the Charles Curtis
Charles Curtiswas an American attorney and Republican politician from Kansas who served as the 31st vice president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 under Herbert Hoover and the Senate Majority Leader from 1924 to 1929. A member of the Kaw Nation born in the Kansas Territory, Curtis was the first Native American to serve in the United States Congress, where he served in the United States House of Representatives and Senate before becoming Senate Majority Leader. Curtis was the first Native and person of color to serve as Senate Majority Leader and Vice President.
Curtis believed that Native Americans could benefit from mainstream education and assimilation. He entered political life when he was 32 years old and won several terms from his district in Topeka, Kansas, beginning in 1892 as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives. There, he sponsored and helped pass the Curtis Act of 1898, which extended the Dawes Act to the Five Civilized Tribes of Indian Territory. Despite Curtis being unhappy with the final version of it, implementation of the Act completed the ending of tribal land titles in Indian Territory and prepared the larger territory to be admitted as the State of Oklahoma, which occurred in 1907. The government tried to encourage Indians to accept individual citizenship and lands and to take up European-American culture.
Curtis was elected to the U.S. Senate first by the Kansas Legislature in 1906 and then by popular vote in 1914, 1920, and 1926. Curtis served one six-year term from 1907 to 1913 and then most of three terms from 1915 to 1929, when he was elected as vice-president. His long popularity and connections in Kansas and federal politics helped make Curtis a strong leader in the Senate. He marshaled support to be elected as Republican Whip from 1915 to 1924 and then as Senate Majority Leader from 1924 to 1929. In those positions, he was instrumental in managing legislation and in accomplishing Republican national goals.
Curtis ran for vice president alongside Herbert Hoover for president in 1928–winning a landslide victory. In 1932, he became the first United States vice president to open the Olympic Games. However, when Curtis and Hoover ran together again in 1932 during the Great Depression, they lost as the public gave the Democrats Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Nance Garner a landslide victory that year.
Curtis remains the highest-ranking enrolled Native American who ever served in the federal government. He is also the most recent officer of the executive branch to have been born in a territory, rather than a state or federal district. Kamala Harris became the second person of color to become Vice President in 2021.
Frequently Asked Questions
Charles Curtis was an American attorney and Republican politician from Kansas who served as the 31st Vice President of the United States from 1929 to 1933 under Herbert Hoover.
Charles Curtis was a member of the Kaw Nation and was born in the Kansas Territory, making him the first Native American to reach the highest offices in the federal executive branch.
Charles Curtis served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, eventually becoming Senate Majority Leader from 1924 to 1929 before being elected Vice President in 1928.
Charles Curtis sponsored and helped pass the Curtis Act of 1898, which extended the Dawes Act to the Five Civilized Tribes of Indian Territory, leading to the ending of tribal land titles and the statehood of Oklahoma.
Based on his personal experience, Charles Curtis believed that Native Americans could benefit from mainstream education and assimilation into European-American culture.
In 1932, Charles Curtis became the first United States Vice President to open the Olympic Games.
When Charles Curtis and Herbert Hoover ran for re-election in 1932, they lost to Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Nance Garner during the Great Depression.