author
Leslie M. (Leslie Mortier) Shaw
1848–1932
A farm boy turned lawyer, banker, governor, and U.S. Treasury secretary, he built a national reputation as a sharp speaker on money and banking. His career carried him from small-town Iowa to the center of American politics in the Theodore Roosevelt years.
1 Audiobook
Vanishing Landmarks: The Trend Toward Bolshevism
by Leslie M. (Leslie Mortier) Shaw
About the author
Born in Morristown, Vermont, on November 2, 1848, Leslie Mortier Shaw grew up on a farm and later moved west to Iowa. He graduated from Cornell College in Mount Vernon in 1874, studied law, and settled in Denison, where he built successful careers in both law and banking.
Shaw entered national notice through politics. He served as governor of Iowa from 1898 to 1902, earning attention for his command of public finance and for speeches defending the gold standard. President Theodore Roosevelt then appointed him U.S. secretary of the treasury, a post he held from 1902 to 1907.
After leaving the cabinet, he remained active in banking, public speaking, and writing on economic and political questions. He also sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1908. Shaw died in Washington, D.C., on March 28, 1932, remembered as a prominent figure in Republican politics and financial policy in the early twentieth century.