Hilles, Charles Dewey, 1867-1949

Charles D. Hilles: insurance executive and politician; chairman of the Republican National Committee, 1912-1937; secretary to President Taft, 1911-1913; assistant secretary of the Treasury, 1909-1911; administrator of the Ohio Industrial School, 1892-1902, and of the New York Juvenile Asylum, 1902-1909.

Charles D. Hilles: insurance executive and politician; Chairman of the Republican National Committee, 1912-1937; Secretary to President Taft, 1911-1913; Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, 1909-1911; administrator of the Ohio Industrial School, 1892-1902, and of the New York Juvenile Asylum, 1902-1909.

Hilles was an influential spokesman for the conservative wing of his party, and during the first two Roosevelt administrations he attained the stature of an elder statesman. In 1920 he supported Nicholas Murray Butler for the Presidency, but the Harding administration nevertheless acknowledged his prominent position in New York. A firm supporter of Coolidge, he headed the Eastern Headquarters in 1924. After the election he became the chief dispenser of federal patronage in New York and was prominent among advocates of a second candidacy in 1928. He joined with other conservative leaders in never fully accepting Hoover and his supporters; throughout his term they felt they had been pushed aside by young upstarts who knew little about running a political organization. Giving Hoover weak support in 1932, they anticipated the debacle, and after Roosevelt's victory the breach widened. Hilles came increasingly under attack for refusing to agree that the party needed thorough overhauling, and he retired from the National committee in 1937 with the admission that his post would be given to a younger man. From his retirement until his death in 1949, conservative leaders continued to seek his counsel.