Nat King Cole possessed one of the sweetest, smoothest voices of any American male singer of the 20th century. His tone seemed to carry warmth and genuine affection with effortless grace. If there were a contest among crooners, I’d place him firmly at the top. After all, I’ve long admitted to being a hopeless, sentimental romantic.

Some people attribute his tone and resonance to a rugged life that spared neither drinking nor heavy smoking (he died of lung cancer, in 1965, shortly before reaching age 46). That notion, however, misses the truth: Cole was genuinely gifted and dedicated to his craft. For proof, one need only listen to the polished, soulful voice of his daughter, Natalie Cole.

I have a Pandora station I like to play at low key get-togethers and quiet evenings that include, among other genres, some harmonica-based blues, ‘70s soft rock, ballads, bossa nova, and love songs. Cole’s voice comes up frequently.  I’m never disappointed.

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The year 1911 stood at the twilight of the Edwardian Era, ‘twixt the death of King Edward and the outbreak of The Great War. That year an amateur musician named Charles Dawes composed a little instrumental tune for violin and piano that he called, simply, “Melody in A Major.” Dawes was a self-taught pianist and flautist who composed merely as a hobby. The tune enjoyed modest popularity during his lifetime.

That Dawes found success in disparate fields surprised no one who knew him. Born in Ohio in 1865, just after the Civil War, he was the son of a decorated general from that nationally tragic and transformative conflict. After graduating from college and then law school, Dawes headed west to Nebraska—a frontier of opportunity. In Lincoln, he built a successful law practice and befriended both John “Black Jack” Pershing, the future commander of U.S. forces in World War I, and William Jennings Bryan, the famed champion of Free Silver who would earn the Democratic presidential nomination three times, serve as Woodrow Wilson’s Secretary of State, and later gain notoriety as a prosecutor in the “Scopes Monkey Trial.”

Dawes’s ambitions soon reached beyond the law. Seizing opportunities during the Panic of 1893, he moved to Evanston, Illinois, and began acquiring stakes in struggling companies—starting with a string of gas utilities—at bargain prices. His business success drew political attention, and in 1896 he managed William McKinley’s Illinois presidential campaign, opposing his old Nebraska friend Bryan. After McKinley’s victory, Dawes was rewarded with an appointment as the Treasury Department’s Comptroller of the Currency, where he helped recover millions in bank losses from the 1893 Panic.

Dawes resigned from the administration in 1901 to set up a run for Senator. He believed the timing was right, since he had McKinley’s support. But McKinley was assassinated at the World’s Fair in Buffalo in September of that year.  The new president, Theodore Roosevelt, would not be supporting Dawes (this was before direct election of Senators). Dawes failed in his attempt to become Illinois’ 16^th Senator to fellow Republican Albert Hopkins.

Returning to private life, Dawes expanded into banking and investment management, forming the Central Trust Company of Illinois.

By the time he penned “Melody in A Major” in 1911, he was already an accomplished lawyer, businessman, banker, and former government official.

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June 1, 2019 – Late evening in the Colorado mountains. My wife is working quietly on her laptop while I’m absorbed in Le Ly Hayslip’s memoir When Heaven and Earth Changed Places – subtitled A Vietnam Woman’s Journey from War to Peace.

We’re listening to the aforementioned Pandora station, when through the speakers comes a beautifully arranged father-daughter duet: When I Fall in Love (It Will Be Forever), sung by Nat and Natalie Cole. The 1997 Grammy-winning track was a technological marvel—Natalie’s voice paired with her father’s, though Nat had been gone for three decades.

I find myself wondering—does “falling in love” really last forever? It makes a lovely lyric, but…

I set the book aside. Le Ly’s life was marked by mostly disastrous relationships. Can someone truly be in love with more than one person at once—like Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) in Casablanca? Or Dr. Zhivago (Omar Sharif) in the film of the same name? And what about falling in love more than once—does that still count? What does it mean to “fall in love,” anyway? The date gives me pause: June 1, birthday of the young woman I fell for in 1978. I still remember so much—her smile, the way she moved, even her birthday. I carry a fond memory, a small corner of my heart still hers. But does that count? Probably not. Love, after all, isn’t love if it isn’t returned

Why do I even chase these thoughts? Maybe I’m simply a hopeless romantic.

Half a dozen songs later, Nat’s voice returns—this time with It’s All in the Game and its quietly wise refrain: “Many a tear has to fall, but it’s all in the game.” The “game,” of course, being love. No one ever promised it would be easy.

Cole’s silky smooth delivery is one of many covers—perhaps the best—of Tommy Edwards’ 1958 hit. Edwards’ rendition topped charts in both the U.S. and the U.K., though the melody was far older. In 1951, lyricist Carl Sigman had set words to an existing tune from 1911: Charles Dawes’ Melody in A Major.

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A successful banker and businessman with a can-do attitude, Dawes was appointed chief of Procurement and Supply Management for John “Black Jack” Pershing’s American Expeditionary Force during the Great War. By the war’s end, he had risen to the rank of Brigadier General

After the war, he returned his attention temporarily to private business, only to be appointed to be the first ever Director of the Budget, in 1921 by President Harding.  This is now called the Office of Budget Management.  Dawes helped grow the bureau into one of the most important serving under the president: producing the president’s budget, tracking expenses against the budget, and evaluate the efficiency of the federal agencies.

By 1923, Germany was in severe economic crisis — hyperinflation, limited industrial capacity, and crippling reparations. Dawes was appointed to a commission tasked with finding a solution. Excessive war debts and the Allied occupation of key industrial regions had devastated the German economy, fueling political unrest and setting the stage for events like Hitler’s failed Beer Hall Putsch.

The commission’s plan, which came to be known as the Dawes Plan, called for complete re-organization of Germany’s national bank (Reichsbank) and a reset on their currency, to be anchored by a loan from the United States. Re-industrialization was begun as the French accelerated their withdrawal of the Ruhr district. Concessions from the French allowed for slower, more gradual, and less painful reparations.

The plan’s success earned Charles Dawes the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925.

Dawes’ political star was ascendant. At the June 1924 Republican convention, he was selected as Calvin Coolidge’s running mate. That fall, they won the election, and Dawes served the next four years as Vice President of the United States and president of the Senate.

Dawes also served in the Hoover administration, first as ambassador to England and, later, as head of the newly formed Reconstruction Finance Corporation to help fight the depression.

After leaving government, Dawes served on numerous industrial and banking boards while continuing to run his own banking enterprises from his Evanston home until his death in 1951. Shortly afterward, songwriter Carl Sigman — inspired by Dawes’ extraordinary career — wrote the lyrics that completed Melody in A Major, from a Melody to a song.

Charles Dawes led a remarkable life. And if you remember him for one thing, well, here’s something that might help you in a trivia contest: Dawes is the only person in history to have co-written a #1 musical hit, served as Vice-President of the United States, and been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.

These sentimental romantic wishes you all a lifetime of fulfillment and requited love.

Peace,

Joe Girard © 2019, 2025

Thank you for reading. As always, you can add yourself to the notification list for newly published material by clicking here . Or emailing joe@girardmeister.com

 

I no longer have Pandora.  I now prefer Spotify.  Better product, a little pricier.