Carl Schurz
Schurz, Carl (1829–1906), a German-born American reformer, public official, and journalist. He is regarded as one of the great American statesmen of foreign birth. During an age when corruption was commonplace, he was an influential champion of social and political reform.
Schurz was born in Liblar, near Cologne, Germany. While at the University of Bonn, he took part in the unsuccessful Revolution of 1848 and was forced to flee Germany. He came to the United States in 1852, settling in Watertown, Wisconsin, in 1856. Schurz soon became active as an opponent of slavery and joined the newly organized Republican party. In 1860 he campaigned extensively for Abraham Lincoln, who named him United States minister to Spain. Schurz held this post, 1861–62, resigning to become a brigadier general in the Union Army. He commanded German-American troops at Second Bull Run, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg.
After the war, Schurz became a journalist. While joint editor of the St. Louis Westliche Post in 1868, he was elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri. There he led the anti-Grant Republicans and helped organize the reform Liberal Republican party. Schurz advocated civil service reform and a moderate policy toward the South. As secretary of the interior under President Hayes, 1877–81, he initiated reforms in the treatment of the Indians. He spent most of his later years lecturing and writing.