Oscar Solomon Straus

Oscar Solomon Straus (born Dec. 23, 1850, Otterberg, Bavaria [Germany]—died May 3, 1926, New York, N.Y., U.S.) was the first Jewish U.S. Cabinet member (1906–09), three-time emissary to Ottoman Turkey (1887–89, 1898–1900, 1909–10), and adviser to President Woodrow Wilson. A brother of Nathan Straus, the philanthropist and owner of R.H. Macy & Company, a New York City department store, Oscar Straus represented the United States in Constantinople (now Istanbul) on two missions between 1887 and...