HELL AND MARIA! : THE STORY OF CHARLES DAWES
file their stories, leaving few of them to hear Coolidge's inaugural address. Again, Coolidge was not pleased. It was a week later that the Senate got its revenge on Dawes.
Coolidge had nominated Charles Warren of Michigan to be Attorney-General, but many Senators were opposed to the nomination because of Warren's ties to big business. The vote was going to be very close, and President Coolidge was counting on Dawes to cast the deciding vote in the case of a tie. (Note: The Vice-President, as President of the Senate, presides over the Senate and casts the deciding vote in the case of a tie.)
On the day the appointment was scheduled to come up for a vote, several Democratic Senators were scheduled to speak against the nomination. After checking with the Republican leadership, Dawes turned the chair over to a President Pro Tem (a Senator who presides in the absence of the President of the Senate). It was well known that Dawes took a nap every afternoon, and this day was no different. The Democrats waited until they figured Dawes was safely asleep in his bed at the Willard Hotel, and then they struck.
The Democrats scheduled to speak against the nomination waived their chance to speak, and the nomination was called to a vote. Republican leaders were caught off guard, and in a panic, sent word to Dawes to get back to the Senate immediately. As they waited, it became obvious that the vote was going to end in a tie. (Note: A majority vote is required to confirm a nomination in the Senate. A tie vote defeats the nomination.)
Charles Dawes made a fast ride, much like his great-great-grandfather did with Paul Revere. Dawes ran down the hotel hallway and out the door still putting on his clothes. The taxi took him to the front of the Capitol, where a group of younger Republicans "pulled and tugged him up the steps like a rugby scrum." He ran through the halls of Congress and got to the chamber just in time to see the gavel come down announcing the defeat of Charles Warren's appointment. Again, Coolidge was not pleased.
The Senators had their revenge on Dawes for his lecturing them. Remembering his Minutemen of the Constitution, one Senator remarked that the Minuteman of Chicago was two minutes too late. Another person hung a sign on the doors of the Willard Hotel proclaiming that "Dawes Slept
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