Oscar Straus (politician)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oscar Straus

Oscar Solomon Straus (born December 23, 1850 in Otterberg , Kingdom of Bavaria , † May 3, 1926 in New York City ) was an American diplomat of German origin and Minister of Commerce and Labor of the United States . From 1906 to 1909 he was the first Jew in a US government cabinet under President Theodore Roosevelt .

Life

Straus' great-grandfather Jacob Lazarus was one of the Jewish representatives of the Sanhedrin in Paris, established in 1806 under Napoleon . Grandfather Isaac took the surname in 1808 on a decree by Napoleon. His father Lazarus Straus was - a close friend of Carl Schurz - involved in the German Revolution of 1848/49 and emigrated with his family to the USA in 1854. The family moved to New York in 1865, and Oscar Straus graduated from Columbia University in law in 1873 . Until 1881 he worked as a lawyer.

Straus took part in the successful elections of Grover Cleveland and on the recommendation of Henry Ward Beechers he was appointed envoy to the Ottoman Empire for two years in 1887 . Under President William McKinley , he served again as envoy to the Ottoman Empire from 1897 to 1900 and brought about the resettlement of the Muslims of the Sulu Archipelago during the Philippine-American War to the sultanate.

In 1902, Theodore Roosevelt appointed him to succeed the late ex-President Benjamin Harrison at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague . From 1906 to 1909 he was Republican Minister for Trade and Labor in the Roosevelt Cabinet . When William Howard Taft took office , he left the Ministry of Commerce and became US ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in 1909/10 . In 1912 he ran unsuccessfully as a member of the Progressive Party for the office of governor of New York and then acted as an advisor to President Wilson .

Straus was involved in numerous committees and boards. He was President of the National Primary League , the American Social Science Association, and Vice President of the National Civic Federation . He has also lectured on international law at Naval War College , Yale University, and Harvard University . He studied the history of the Jews in the United States and was the first president of the American Jewish Historical Society . In 1922 he published an autobiography.

Oscar Straus was buried in Beth-El Cemetery in Queens . The Oscar Straus Memorial was built for him in Washington, DC

Known family members

  • Brother Isidor Straus (1845–1912), co-founder of Macy’s
  • Grandson Roger Williams Straus, Jr. (1917-2004), publicist
  • Brother Nathan Straus (1848–1931), trader and philanthropist, namesake of the Israeli city of Netanya
  • Nephew Jesse Isidor Straus (1872–1936), US ambassador to France from 1933 to 1936

Fonts

  • The Origin of the Republican Form of Government in the United States of America. Putnam, New York NY 1885, ( digitized ).
  • Roger Williams. The Pioneer of Religious Liberty. The Century Co., New York NY 1894, ( digitized ).
  • Under four administrations. From Cleveland to Taffeta. Recollections. Houghton Mifflin et al., Boston MA et al. 1922, ( online ).

literature

  • Henry Marx: Oscar Salomon Straus (1850–1931), American diplomat and politician. In: Manfred Treml, Wolf Weigand (ed.): History and culture of the Jews in Bavaria. CVs (= publications on Bavarian history and culture. No. 18). Saur, Munich et al. 1989, ISBN 3-9801342-8-8 , pp. 183-188.

Remarks

  1. ^ Oscar Solomon Straus - jewishencyclopedia

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Straus, Oscar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Straus, Oscar Solomon; Strauss, Oscar Solomon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American diplomat and politician
DATE OF BIRTH December 23, 1850
PLACE OF BIRTH Otterberg , Germany
DATE OF DEATH May 3, 1926
Place of death New York City