Charles W. Sawyer

Charles W. Sawyer (February 10 1887 – April 7 1979) was an American lawyer, diplomat, and public servant who held several prominent positions in the mid‑twentieth century. He served as United States Secretary of Commerce from May 6 1948 to January 20 1953 under President Harry S. Truman. Prior to that appointment he had been a member of Cincinnati’s city council, lieutenant governor of Ohio, ambassador to Belgium and minister to Luxembourg, and a senior officer in the U.S. Army during World War I.

Early life and career

Charles William Sawyer was born in Cincinnati on February 10 1887. His parents were Caroline (née Butler) Sawyer and Edward Milton Sawyer, who had moved from Maine to Ohio and worked as a school principal. He received his undergraduate education at Oberlin College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1908, before attending the University of Cincinnati Law School where he graduated with an LL.B. in 1911.

After completing his legal studies, Sawyer joined the Cincinnati law firm Dinsmore & Shohl. His early public service began with his election to the Cincinnati City Council, where he served from 1912 until 1916. In that year he ran for mayor of Cincinnati but was defeated by George Puchta.

In August 1917, Sawyer entered military service in World War I as a captain of infantry. He completed initial training at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, and then served with the 158th Depot Brigade at Camp Sherman, Ohio, where he acted as the post’s provost marshal. In August 1918 he was promoted to major and subsequently served in France as adjutant of the 178th Infantry Brigade, a component of the 89th Division. Following the Armistice on November 11 1918, Sawyer remained in Europe as part of the occupation forces in the Rhineland until his return to the United States in May 1919, when he was discharged on May 31. He maintained active participation in veterans’ organizations, including long‑standing membership in both the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

After the war Sawyer pursued a variety of business interests. He held positions with the American Rolling Mill Company and owned shares in several local enterprises such as the Cincinnati Reds baseball club, the Cincinnati Gardens arena, and a chain of newspapers and radio stations operated through Great Trails Broadcasting Corporation.

In the interwar period Sawyer emerged as a leading figure within Ohio Democratic politics. He was involved in factional contests for control of the state party alongside Martin L. Davey. From 1933 to 1935 he served as the forty‑fourth lieutenant governor of Ohio, and during that tenure he authored the Twenty‑first Amendment, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment and ended national prohibition. He was a member of the Democratic National Committee from 1936 until 1944 and ran unsuccessfully for governor of Ohio in 1938.

Cabinet tenure

In 1944 President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Sawyer as United States Ambassador to Belgium, concurrently serving as Minister to Luxembourg during the early years of the Belgian Royal Question concerning King Leopold III. After his diplomatic service, two years later President Harry S. Truman named him to the U.S. Civil Service Commission’s Review Board.

On May 6 1948, Truman selected Sawyer to succeed W. Averell Harriman as Secretary of Commerce. During his tenure he was directed by the president to seize and operate steel mills in 1952, a measure intended to avert a labor strike that could have disrupted wartime production during the Korean conflict. In June 1952 he instituted the first National Secretaries Week, running from June 1 to 7, and designated June 4 as National Secretaries Day to honor the contributions of individuals serving in secretarial positions across federal agencies. Sawyer’s service concluded on January 20 1953 with the end of Truman’s administration; he was succeeded by Sinclair Weeks under President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Legacy

After leaving the cabinet, Sawyer returned to Cincinnati and joined the law firm Taft, Stettinius, and Hollister as managing partner. Following the death of Robert A. Taft, he assumed a seat on the board of Central Trust Company, a local banking institution. In 1968 he published *Concerns of a Conservative Democrat* through Southern Illinois University Press. His civic engagement extended to participation in the Hoover Commission on Overseas Economic Operations Task Force, the Commission on Money and Credit, and the World’s Fair Site Committee.

Sawyer also contributed to public recreation; he donated one million dollars for the acquisition of 123 acres of riverfront property in Cincinnati, which became Sawyer Point Park. His personal life included two marriages: first to Margaret Sterrett Johnston on July 15 1918, with whom he had five children—Anne Johnston Sawyer, Charles W. Sawyer II, Jean Johnston Sawyer, John William Sawyer, and Edward Milton Sawyer—before her death in 1937; second to Countess Elizabeth (née Lippelman) de Veyrac on June 10 1942, with whom he had no children.

Charles W. Sawyer died at his home in Palm Beach, Florida, on April 7 1979 at the age of 92 and was interred at Spring Grove Cemetery near Cincinnati. His career spanned law, military service, local and state politics, diplomacy, federal administration, legal practice, and civic philanthropy, reflecting a broad engagement with public affairs during a formative period in American history.