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 President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

's administration (1909–1913) and was one of the key founders of the

United States Chamber of Commerce The United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) is the largest lobbying group in the United States, representing over three million businesses and organizations. The group was founded in April 1912 out of local chambers of commerce at the urgin ...

Life and career

Nagel was born on August 9, 1849, in

Colorado County, Texas Colorado County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 20,557. Its county seat is Columbus. It is named for the Colorado River of Texas. The county was founded in 1836 and organized the next y ...

, the son of Friedericke (Litzmann) and Hermann Nagel. Nagel moved to a boarding school in St. Louis, Missouri, for high school and stayed to study law at

Washington University Law School Washington University in St. Louis School of Law (WashULaw) is the law school of Washington University in St. Louis, a private university in St. Louis, Missouri. WashULaw has consistently ranked among the top law schools in the country; it is c ...

. 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 Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

. 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 The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

in 1881, where he served until 1883. He was president of the

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

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 The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in ...

(1908–1912). Nagel was a corporate attorney for

Adolphus Busch Adolphus Busch (10 July 1839 – 10 October 1913) was the German-born co-founder of Anheuser-Busch with his father-in-law, Eberhard Anheuser. He introduced numerous innovations, building the success of the company in the late 19th and early ...

when

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 Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

positions,

Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...

and

Secretary of Labor The United States Secretary of Labor is a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and as the head of the United States Department of Labor, controls the department, and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all o ...

. 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

. 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 Bellefontaine Cemetery is a nonprofit, non-denominational cemetery and arboretum in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1849 as a rural cemetery, Bellefontaine is home to a number of architecturally significant monuments and mausoleums such as t ...

Family

Nagel was married twice: first, in 1876, to Fannie Brandeis, the sister of

Louis Dembitz Brandeis Louis Dembitz Brandeis (; November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an American lawyer and associate justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1939. Starting in 1890, he helped develop the "right to privacy" concept ...

, later a

Supreme Court justice The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme ...

. She died in 1889 and he married Anne Shepley in 1895. He had six children, including Charles Nagel, Jr., an architect and curator.

Sources

Charles Nagel
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations ...

* *

External links

Charles Nagel papers (MS 364)
Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library. , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nagel, Charles 1849 births 1940 deaths Burials at Bellefontaine Cemetery Republican Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives Missouri lawyers American people of German descent Politicians from St. Louis Judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri Taft administration cabinet members 20th-century American politicians United States Chamber of Commerce people United States Secretaries of Commerce and Labor Washington University School of Law alumni Washington University in St. Louis faculty Lawyers from St. Louis