Editing Charles G. Dawes (section)

==Early political career==
Dawes's prominent positions in business caught the attention of Republican party leaders. They asked Dawes to manage the Illinois portion of [[William McKinley]]'s bid for the [[President of the United States|Presidency of the United States]] in [[1896 United States presidential election|1896]].<ref>Davis, Jr., Henry Blaine (1998). ''Generals in Khaki''. Pentland Press, Inc. p. 81. {{ISBN|1571970886}}. {{OCLC|40298151}}</ref> Following McKinley's election, Dawes was named [[Comptroller of the Currency]], [[United States Department of the Treasury]]. Serving in that position from 1898 to 1901, he collected more than $25 million from banks that had failed during the [[Panic of 1893]] and changed banking practices to try to prevent another panic.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}

In October 1901, Dawes left the Department of the Treasury to pursue a U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. He thought that, with the help of the McKinley Administration, he could win it. McKinley was assassinated and his successor, President [[Theodore Roosevelt]], preferred Dawes's opponent, [[Albert J. Hopkins]].<ref>(Waller 1998: 274)</ref> In 1902, following this unsuccessful attempt at legislative office, Dawes declared that he was done with politics. He organized the Central Trust Company of Illinois, where he served as its president until 1921.<ref name="Davis"/>

On September 5, 1912, Dawes's 21-year-old son Rufus drowned in [[Geneva Lake]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://evanstonhistorycenter.org/charles-gates-dawes-timeline/|title=Charles Gates Dawes Timeline – Evanston History Center|access-date=January 26, 2017|archive-date=January 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109143813/https://www.evanstonhistorycenter.org/charles-gates-dawes-timeline/|url-status=dead}}</ref> while on summer break from [[Princeton University]]. In his memory, Dawes created [[homeless shelter]]s in both [[Chicago]] and [[Boston]]<ref name="The National Magazine">{{cite journal|title=Let's Talk It Over|journal=[[The National Magazine]]|volume=46|issue=September|page=905|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TstOAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA905|access-date=January 26, 2017|year=1917}}</ref> and financed the construction of a dormitory at his son's alma mater, the [[Lawrenceville School]] in [[Lawrenceville, New Jersey]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1929/11/29/archives/dawes-house-dedicated-lawrenceville-school-building-partly-financed.html "Dawes House Dedicated.; Lawrenceville School Building Partly Financed by Ambassador"]. ''[[The New York Times]]''. November 29, 1929.</ref>