US Secretary of Commerce. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1908, received a law degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1911, and became an attorney. He served on the Cincinnati City Council from 1912 to 1916, and lost a race for Mayor in 1916. In 1917 he joined the Army for World War I, married the daughter of a Procter & Gamble founder, and then served as an infantryman in France, where he attained the rank of Major. Sawyer was also involved in several business ventures, including a share of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team, the Cincinnati Garden sports arena, and a chain of newspapers and radio stations. He was Ohio's Lieutenant Governor from 1933 to 1935, and ran unsuccessfully for Governor in 1934 and 1938. Sawyer was a member of the Democratic National Committee from 1936 to 1944. In 1944 he was named US Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg, where he was an effective advisor during the recovery of those nations from Nazi occupation during World War II. In 1948 he was appointed Secretary of Commerce, and he carried out President Truman's 1952 order to seize the country's steel mills in an effort to avert a labor strike that Truman believed would hamper America's military during the Korean War. After leaving office at the end of Truman's administration in 1953, Sawyer returned to practicing law in Cincinnati as Managing Partner of the prominent Taft, Stettinius and Hollister firm.
US Secretary of Commerce. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1908, received a law degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1911, and became an attorney. He served on the Cincinnati City Council from 1912 to 1916, and lost a race for Mayor in 1916. In 1917 he joined the Army for World War I, married the daughter of a Procter & Gamble founder, and then served as an infantryman in France, where he attained the rank of Major. Sawyer was also involved in several business ventures, including a share of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team, the Cincinnati Garden sports arena, and a chain of newspapers and radio stations. He was Ohio's Lieutenant Governor from 1933 to 1935, and ran unsuccessfully for Governor in 1934 and 1938. Sawyer was a member of the Democratic National Committee from 1936 to 1944. In 1944 he was named US Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg, where he was an effective advisor during the recovery of those nations from Nazi occupation during World War II. In 1948 he was appointed Secretary of Commerce, and he carried out President Truman's 1952 order to seize the country's steel mills in an effort to avert a labor strike that Truman believed would hamper America's military during the Korean War. After leaving office at the end of Truman's administration in 1953, Sawyer returned to practicing law in Cincinnati as Managing Partner of the prominent Taft, Stettinius and Hollister firm.
Bio by: Bill McKern
Family Members
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Records on Ancestry
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