Charles Nagel - Autograph card signed - 1930

Description

Member of Taft cabinet as Sec. of Commerce and Labor. Business card sized card, signed and dated April 18/30. Pencil annotations from earlier collector, ink smearing on first name.
See Wikipedia article below:
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Charles Nagel
4th
United States Secretary of Commerce and Labor
In office
March 6, 1909 – March 4, 1913
President
William Howard Taft
Preceded by
Oscar Straus
Succeeded by
William Redfield
(
Commerce
)
William Wilson
(
Labor
)
Personal details
Born
August 9, 1849
Colorado County, Texas
, U.S.
Died
January 5, 1940 (aged 90)
St. Louis
, Missouri, U.S.
Political party
Republican
Spouse(s)
Fannie Brandeis
​
​
(m. 1876
⁠
–
⁠
1889)​
Anne Shepley
​
(m. 1895)​
Children
Charles Nagel, Jr.
Education
Washington University
(
LLB
)
University of Berlin
Charles Nagel
(August 9, 1849 – January 5, 1940) was a United States politician and lawyer from
St. Louis, Missouri
. He was
Secretary of Commerce and Labor
during
President
William Howard Taft
's administration (1909–1913) and was one of the key founders of the
United States Chamber of Commerce
.
Life and career
Nagel was born on August 9, 1849, in
Colorado County, Texas
, the son of Friedericke (Litzmann) and Hermann Nagel.
[1]
Nagel moved to a boarding school in St. Louis, Missouri, for high school and stayed to study law at
Washington University Law School
. He graduated with his law degree in 1872. Nagel furthered his education by traveling to Europe and learning political economy at the
University of Berlin
.
Returning to St. Louis in 1873, Nagel joined the state bar and began to practice law. He was a member of the firm Finkelnburg, Nagel and Kirby, and later of Nagel and Kirby. His first foray into politics came when he won election to the
Missouri House of Representatives
in 1881, where he served until 1883. He was president of the
St. Louis
city council from 1893 to 1897. He also taught at St. Louis Law School (1885–1909) and was a member of the
Republican National Committee
(1908–1912).
Nagel was a corporate attorney for
Adolphus Busch
when
President
William Howard Taft
chose him, in 1909, as
Secretary of Commerce and Labor
, a position he held until the end of the Taft administration in 1913. He was the last person to serve in the post before it was separated to two
cabinet
positions,
Secretary of Commerce
and
Secretary of Labor
. While heading the Department of Commerce and Labor, Nagel made it more accessible to the needs of businessmen while also expanding the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization.
Nagel was also a founder of the
United States Chamber of Commerce
. Following his time in the cabinet, Nagel returned to the practice of law, arguing before the Supreme Court three times before his death. He died in
St. Louis, Missouri
on January 5, 1940 and was interred there in
Bellefontaine Cemetery
.
Family
Nagel was married twice: first, in 1876, to Fannie Brandeis, the sister of
Louis Dembitz Brandeis
, later a
Supreme Court justice
. She died in 1889 and he married Anne Shepley in 1895. He had six children, including
Charles Nagel, Jr.
, an architect and curator.
[1]