Charles Curtis Becomes Senator

Date: January 29, 1907 • Location: South Hutchinson, United States

Charles Curtis (pictured) of Kansas, a citizen of the Kaw Nation, became the first Native American U.S. Senator.

Charles Curtis was the 31st vice president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 under President Herbert Hoover. He was the Senate majority leader from 1924 to 1929. An enrolled citizen of the Kaw Nation born in the Kansas Territory, Curtis was the first Native American to serve in the United States Congress, where he served in the United States House of Representatives and Senate before becoming Senate majority leader. Curtis also was the first and only Native American, and first multiracial person, to serve as vice president.