Background
DAWSON, Charles I. was born on February 13, 1881 in Logan Company, Kentucky, United States. Son of S. N. and Franqes (Coleman) Dawson.
DAWSON, Charles I. was born on February 13, 1881 in Logan Company, Kentucky, United States. Son of S. N. and Franqes (Coleman) Dawson.
Born in Logan County, Kentucky, Dawson studied at the University of Kentucky and read law in 1905, practicing law in Russellville, Kentucky before returning to Pineville.
He was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1906, and became county attorney for Bell County, Kentucky in 1910, a post he would hold for ten years. In 1920, he was elected Attorney General of Kentucky. In 1923 Dawson, still serving as Attorney General, was the Republican nominee for Governor of Kentucky.
The Democratic nominee, J. Campbell Cantrill, suddenly died that September, after defeating Alben Barkley for the nomination.
Democrat William J. Fields quickly replaced Cantrill on the ticket after Barkley declined the nomination. Dawson lost the general election to Fields, winning 306,277 votes (462%) to Fields" 356.035 (538%).
On January 2, 1925, Dawson was nominated by President Calvin Coolidge to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky seat vacated by Charles H. Moorman. He was confirmed by the Senate on January 13, 1925, and received his commission the same day.
Dawson resigned from the court on 30 June 1935.
In 1950 Dawson was the Republican nominee for a seat in the United States Senate. Clements went on to become the assistant majority floor leader under Lyndon B. Johnson, serving as Majority Leader of the United States Senate during Johnson"s extended absence due to medical reasons.
Spouse Eleanor Hopson.