Charles Dawes was here.

Charles Dawes

Who?

Well, it’s been over 80 years since his visit, and he would doubtless be better remembered if anything had ever happened to his boss, Calvin Coolidge.

Vice-presidents are often the “forgotten men” of U.S. history, and, in the long view, are often less well remembered than prominent members of Congress such as Daniel Webster or Henry Clay.

If Dawes is recalled at all today, it’s probably not because he was vice-president from 1925-29, but rather because of the famous “Dawes Plan” he is credited with formulating. The plan addressed the issue of German reparations following World War I.

In July 1927, Dawes was certainly well enough known when he disembarked at Glen Haven from the steamer Manitou with a dozen other “movers and shakers” of the era.

The group had embarked at Chicago, bound for Traverse City, where Dawes was scheduled to officially dedicate the golf course at the country club.

The vice-presidential “motorcade” traveled through the villages of Lake Leelanau and Suttons Bay, where American flags were waved in profusion.

Before heading out for Traverse City, however, the men landed early enough in the morning to first enjoy breakfast at Sleeping Bear Inn. Then they were driven through Day Forest Estates, a development that was killed by the Great Depression before it had a chance to get off the ground.

Who knows how things might have worked out had not the stock market crashed a bit over two years later, in October 1929? But, in the summer of 1927, everything looked rosy and promoters claimed “Day Forest Estates will be so restricted as to ultimately become America’s premier summer community.”

And there was even considerable talk about a “Summer White House” at Glen Lake.

Charles Gates Dawes, the son of Gen. Rufus Dawes, was born Aug. 27, 1865, at Marietta, Ohio. He attended Marietta College and Cincinnati Law School, and distinguished himself as a lawyer early in his long career.

He worked to put Illinois behind William McKinley in 1896 and on Jan. 1, 1898, President McKinley appointed him Comptroller of the Currency.

He retired from the post in 1902 and organized the Central Trust of Illinois, which became one of Chicago’s strongest financial institutions at the time.

Following his stint as vice president, he was appointed U.S. ambassador to Great Britain. He was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, which he shared with Sir Joseph Austen (not to be confused with Neville) Chamberlain.

In his book, Rendezvous With Destiny, Princeton professor Eric Goldman tells how another professor, J. Allen Smith, ran afoul of the powerful Gates family in 1896.

“His (Smith’s) first teaching post was at Marietta College, where most of the board of trustees was connected by blood or business with the Dawes family that was to produce Calvin Coolidge’s Vice President. The Dawes group, controlling gas, traction, and other monopolies throughout Ohio, were in no mood to employ a professor, particularly an exceedingly popular professor, who denounced the postulates of their economics. In the election of 1896 Smith announced that he was voting for William Jennings Bryan, and the board of trustees announced that unfortunately the need for economy required them to dispense with Professor Smith.”

Dawes died in Evanston, Ill., on April 23, 1951.

During a visit to the Black Hills on Aug. 2, 1927, Calvin Coolidge famously said “I do not choose to run for president in 1928.” And he meant it, resisting all “draft Coolidge” efforts. There is little doubt he could have been easily re-elected had he chosen to run.

In retrospect, Calvin Coolidge and Charles Dawes did well to “retire” quietly from office in March 1929.

How is Herbert Hoover best remembered today? As being president during the stock market crash and ensuing Great Depression.

And his vice-president generally isn’t remembered at all.