Oscar S. Straus – 1850-1926

Straus was born in Germany. He was the brother of department store owners Isidor and Nathan Straus. When President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him secretary of commerce and labor, he became the first Jewish member of a U.S. Cabinet. Straus also served as U.S. emissary to the Ottoman Empire (1887–1889, 1898–1900, 1909–1910) and was an adviser to President Woodrow Wilson.