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Charles Curtis (January 25, 1860February 8, 1936) was the 31st Vice President of the United States (1929–1933). After serving as a United States Representative, then becoming a longtime United States Senator from Kansas, Curtis was chosen as Senate Majority Leader by his Republican colleagues. A Kaw Nation Native American Indian, he was the first person with significant Native American ancestry and the first person with acknowledged non-European ancestry to reach either of the two highest offices in the United States government's executive branch. As an attorney, Curtis entered political life at the age of 32, winning multiple terms from his district in Topeka, Kansas, starting in 1892 as a Republican to the US House of Representatives. He was elected to the US Senate first by the Kansas Legislature (in 1906), and then by popular vote (in 1914, 1920 and 1926), serving one six-year term from 1907 to 1913, and then most of three terms from 1915 to 1929 (when he became Vice President). His long popularity and connections in Kansas and national politics helped make Curtis a strong leader in the Senate; he marshaled support to be elected as Senate Minority Whip from 1915 to 1925 and then as Senate Majority Leader from 1925 to 1929. In these positions, he was instrumental in managing legislation and accomplishing Republican national goals. Curtis ran for Vice President with Herbert Hoover as President in 1928. They won a landslide victory. Although they ran again in 1932, the population saw Hoover as failing to alleviate the Great Depression, and they were defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Nance Garner. ==Early life and education== Born on January 25, 1860 in Topeka, Kansas Territory, prior to its admission as a state in January 1861, Charles Curtis is notable as an Executive Branch officer born in a territory rather than a state of the Union. Curtis was nearly half American Indian in ancestry. His mother, Ellen Papin (also spelled Pappan), was one-fourth French, one-fourth Kaw, one-fourth Osage, and one-fourth Potawatomi. His father, Orren Curtis, was of English, Scots, and Welsh ancestry. On his mother's side, Curtis was a descendant of the chiefs White Plume of the Kaw Nation and Pawhuska, of the Osage.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Genealogy of Vice President Charles Curtis - Mother's side: Pappans (of Charles Curtis) )〕 Curtis's first words as an infant were in French and Kansa, learned from his mother, who died when he was only three. He also learned to love racing horse living with his mother's family on the Kaw reservation, and later was a highly successful jockey in prairie horse races.〔, reprinted from 〕 On June 1, 1868, one hundred Cheyenne warriors invaded the Kaw Reservation. Terrified white settlers took refuge in nearby Council Grove. The Kaw men painted their faces, donned their tribal regalia, and rode out on horseback to confront the Cheyenne. The rival Indian armies put on display of superb horsemanship, accompanied with war cries and volleys of bullets and arrows. After about four hours, the Cheyenne retired with a few stolen horses and a peace offering of coffee and sugar from the Council Grove merchants. No one had been injuring on either side. During the somewhat halfhearted battle, the mixed-blood Kaw interpreter, Joe Jim, galloped 60 miles to Topeka to seek assistance from the Governor. Riding along with Joe Jim was eight-year-old Charles Curtis, then nicknamed "Indian Charley").〔 and 〕 Curtis' mother had died in 1863, and his father remarried, only to divorce. He finally married a third time. The elder Curtis was captured and imprisoned during his Civil War service, and the infant Charles was cared for by his grandparents. They also helped him gain possession of his mother's land in North Topeka, which he inherited despite his father's attempt to gain control for himself.〔 Curtis was strongly influenced by both sets of grandparents. After living on the reservation with his maternal grandparents, M. Papin and Julie Gonville, he returned to Topeka. He then lived with his paternal grandparents while attending Topeka High School. Both grandmothers encouraged him to get an education. Curtis read law in an established firm where he worked part-time. He was admitted to the bar in 1881,〔 and began his practice in Topeka. He served as prosecuting attorney of Shawnee County, Kansas from 1885 to 1889. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Charles Curtis」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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