Oscar Straus (politician)

Oscar Straus
Straus in 1912
3rd United States Secretary of Commerce and Labor
In office December 17, 1906 – March 5, 1909
President	Theodore Roosevelt
Preceded by	Victor H. Metcalf
Succeeded by	Charles Nagel
United States Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire
In office July 1, 1887 – June 16, 1889 Envoy
President	Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison
Preceded by	Samuel S. Cox
Succeeded by	Solomon Hirsch
In office October 15, 1898 – December 20, 1899 Minister
President	William McKinley
Preceded by	James Angell
Succeeded by	John Leishman
In office October 4, 1909 – September 3, 1910
President	William Howard Taft
Preceded by	John Leishman
Succeeded by	William Rockhill
Personal details
Born	Oscar Solomon Straus (1850-12-23)December 23, 1850 Otterberg, Bavaria, Germany
Died	May 3, 1926(1926-05-03) (aged 75) New York City, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Other political affiliations	Progressive "Bull Moose" (1912)
Spouse	Sarah Lavanburg
Children	3
Relatives	Lazarus Straus (father) Isidor Straus (brother) Nathan Straus (brother) Roger Williams Straus Jr. (grandson) Oscar Schafer (grandson)
Education	Columbia University (BA, LLB)

Oscar Solomon Straus (December 23, 1850 – May 3, 1926) was an American politician and diplomat. He served as United States Secretary of Commerce and Labor under President Theodore Roosevelt from 1906 to 1909, making him the first Jewish United States Cabinet Secretary.^[1]

Straus also served in four presidential administrations as America's representative to the Ottoman Empire and ran for Governor of New York in 1912 as the candidate of then-former president Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive "Bull Moose" Party, in tandem with Roosevelt's own unsuccessful run for a nonconsecutive third term as president that same year.