Lucius Nathan Littauer (January 20, 1859 – March 2, 1944) was an American politician, businessman, and

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

coach. He served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from

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for five terms between 1897 and 1907. Littauer graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1878 and was the school's first head football coach, guiding the

Crimson Crimson is a rich, deep red color, inclining to purple. It originally meant the color of the kermes dye produced from a scale insect, ''Kermes vermilio'', but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic term for slightly bluish-red colo ...

to a record of 6–1–1 in 1881. In 1936, Littauer's donation of $2 million helped found Harvard's Graduate School of Public Administration, which was later renamed the

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

in honor of former

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

and is routinely ranked as the world's top graduate school for public policy, social policy, international affairs, and government.

Biography

Littauer was born January 20, 1859 to a

Lithuanian-Jewish Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks () are Jews with roots in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (covering present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, the northeastern Suwałki and Białystok regions of Poland, as well as adjacent area ...

family ("Litauer" being German for "Lithuanian") in

Gloversville, New York Gloversville is a city in the Mohawk Valley region of Upstate New York, and the most populous city in Fulton County, New York, Fulton County. Gloversville was once the hub of the United States' glovemaking industry, with over two hundred manufac ...

He moved with his parents to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1865.

Education

After attending the Charlier Institute for boys and young gentlemen in

, Littauer attended and graduated from

in 1878, and later coached the

Harvard Crimson football The Harvard Crimson football program represents Harvard University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). Harvard's football program is one of the oldest in the world, having begun c ...

team in 1881.

Career

Returning to Gloversville, Littauer entered his father's glove making business and went on to become an officer and director of many commercial and financial institutions. Littauer was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the Fifty-fifth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1907). He chose not to stand for reelection in 1906, returning instead to his glovemaking business. Littauer served as delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1900, 1904, 1908, and 1928, and was Regent of the University of the State of New York from 1912 to 1914. On February 4, 1914, Littauer and his brother William were convicted of smuggling and conspiracy to defraud after admitting to having imported valuable jewels from

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

worth in excess of $40,000 without paying the necessary duty. Federal District Court Judge Edwin S. Thomas sentenced Littauer to six months in jail, though the sentence was suspended. In his decision, Thomas stressed that Littauer's high standing served to aggravate the crime: "For an ex-congressman so far to forget his oath taken five times and knowing so well the provisions of the law he helped to frame seems to be incomprehensible." Littauer retired in 1927 and devoted his energies to education, medical research, and philanthropic work. In 1936, Littauer donated $2 million to help found Harvard's Graduate School of Public Administration, which is known today as

at Harvard University. One of the buildings on Harvard Kennedy School's main campus is named in his honor. He also offered to build a hospital in memory of his father, Nathan Littauer. This act of generosity stirred the citizens of the community to contribute another $10,000, and on May 30, 1894, the original Nathan Littauer Hospital was opened. Littauer died at his country home near

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

, on March 2, 1944, and was interred in the Jewish Cemetery in New Rochelle.

Head coaching record

References

External links