government, he skillfully marshaled his contacts and political contribu-
tions to that end. In 1896 he suggested to President-elect William McKin-
ley that Edwin Einstein, a former congressman from New York, be ap-
pointed ambassador to Italy. The Jews had almost unanimously supported
McKinley’s campaign, he said, and the appointment of one who repre-
sented the “best elements of our race” would do credit to American princi-
ples. Whether or not an appointment was made (and in this case it wasn’t)
was less important than alerting the president to Jewish demands. Five
years later, Schiff instructed Mayor Seth Low in no uncertain terms that
one of Low’s tax commissioners “had better be of the Hebrew faith.” Al-
though he denied the existence of a Jewish vote, he reminded Low that
Jews had supported him in the recent election. Schiff warmly endorsed ap-
pointments of Jews to major national posts like those of Oscar Straus to the
cabinet, Louis Brandeis to the Supreme Court—two “firsts” for American
Jews—and Paul Warburg to the Federal Reserve Board. Some even said
that the appointments of Straus and Warburg were made at his suggestion.
In each case, Schiff was well aware that the Jewish factor figured in the se-
lection or confirmation of the candidate.^29
The banker and his friends consistently fought the rampant private dis-
crimination of the early twentieth century that excluded Jews from busi-
ness firms, hotels, private schools, and clubs. The fight itself was a gamble,
for it could compound gentile resentment and bias. Usually, the prejudice
was too strong to be uprooted, but the stewards scored an unusual victory
in 1904 when they forced the resignation of Melvil Dewey, state librarian
of New York. Since Dewey’s Lake Placid Club barred Jews, they argued
that his official position implied the state’s sanction of dicrimination.^30
At least as troubling were the negative stereotypes of Jews held by some
of Schiff’s Christian friends. In 1893 the stewards were stung by Andrew
D. White’s criticism of “medieval” talmudic practices and, by extension,
Jews who lived by talmudic law. Since White was then American minister
to St. Petersburg, the Jewish leaders had hoped to enlist his aid on behalf of
Russian Jewry. They may have agreed privately with White, but the situa-
tion demanded a rebuttal. Furthermore, as Schiff bitterly asked, if the min-
ister entertained such ideas, what could Jews expect of others? The ste-
wards therefore arranged for explanatory articles by the renowned
theologian Dr. Kaufmann Kohler, which they then sent on to White.^31 An-
other friend, Charles W. Eliot, held fixed assumptions about the power of
an international and interlocking Jewish money power. To be sure, he
didn’t charge the Jewish bankers with conspiracy, but the myth itself fed
anti-Semitism. Like White, the ex-president of Harvard had no intention
of insulting Schiff. The association of Jews with money power was an age-
old myth that commanded credence and acceptance by other Christian lib-
erals as well. Neither Eliot nor White understood Schiff’s sensitivity to
52 Jacob H. Schiff