L. M. Shaw

Template:Short description Template:Infobox officeholder Leslie Mortier Shaw (November 2, 1848Template:Spaced ndashMarch 28, 1932) was an American businessman, lawyer, and politician. He served as the 17th Governor of Iowa and was a Republican candidate in the 1908 United States presidential election. He was Secretary of the Treasury from 1902 to 1907.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Early life

Shaw was born on November 2, 1848 in Morristown, Vermont, the son of Boardman O. Shaw and Louise Spaulding "Lovisa" Shaw.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="uofi">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="nga">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="uva">Template:Cite web</ref> He attended Cornell College in 1874 and then University of Iowa Law in 1876.<ref name="uofi"/><ref name="nga"/><ref name="uva"/> Shaw married the former Alice Crenshaw on December 6, 1877, with whom he had three children.<ref name="uofi"/>

Shaw was a part-time lawyer and part-time apple salesman in Denison, Iowa.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="uofi"/> He later became a banker and founded, with partner Carl F. Kuehnle, the Bank of Dennison, in Dennison, Iowa.<ref name="uofi"/><ref name="nga"/><ref name="uva"/> They would go on to found banks in Manilla, Iowa and Charter Oak, Iowa.<ref name="uofi"/> He was a Methodist, and superintendent of his Sunday school for over 25 years.<ref name="uofi"/><ref name="uva"/> He also founded, in 1893, the Denison Business and Normal College, which stayed opened until 1917.<ref name="uva"/><ref name="Crawfordcounty">Template:Cite web</ref>

Governorship

In 1898, he became the 17th Governor of Iowa, serving until 1902.<ref name="nga"/><ref name="uva"/> During his tenure, he established the Board of Control for Iowa's state institutions. He set the foundation to build the Memorial, Historical, and Art Department.<ref name="uofi"/> He created the Library Commission and helped to establish free public libraries and school libraries throughout the state.<ref name="uofi"/> He was also the first governor of Iowa to drive a car.<ref name="uofi"/>

Secretary of Treasury

He became active in politics during the 1896 presidential election where he held speeches in favor of William McKinley, arguing in favor of his monetary policy.<ref name=":0" /> He then became the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, being nominated by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1902.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="nga"/><ref name="uva"/>

Like his predecessor Secretary Lyman Gage, Shaw firmly believed that the Treasury should serve the money market in times of difficulty through the introduction of Treasury funds. To this end, Shaw bought back the government bonds from commercial banks that owned them, increased the number of government depository banks, and in 1902, he told the banks that they no longer needed to keep cash reserves against their holdings of public funds. The intended effect of these actions was to provide a more elastic currency which would then respond to the needs of the market. The government intervention in the money market reached its height with Shaw. He supported tariff theory according to the New York Times.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He resigned on March 3, 1907, to become a banker in New York City.<ref name="uva"/> Later that year, the Panic of 1907 took place.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

He was a candidate for the Republican Party nomination during the U.S. presidential election in 1908. Shaw was a critic of Woodrow Wilson and the League of Nations.<ref name=":0" /> He campaigned for Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover.<ref name=":0" /> He was a strong supporter of the Smoot-Hawley tariff.<ref name=":0" />

Later life

After leaving the Presidential Cabinet, he returned to banking, working in New York City and Philadelphia, eventually becoming president of banks in both cities.<ref name="uofi"/>

Shaw died of pneumonia in Washington, D.C. in 1932, and was buried in a mausoleum at Oakland Cemetery in Denison, Iowa.<ref name="uofi"/><ref name="nga"/><ref name="uva"/>

Further reading

• Template:Cite journal

External links

• U.S. Department of the Treasury biography
• Men of Mark in America
• Template:Find a Grave

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