Russell A. Alger

Russell Alexander Alger was an American politician and businessman. He served as the 20th governor of Michigan, U.S. Senator, and U.S. Secretary of War. Impoverished as a child, Alger accumulated wealth throughout his life and died a respected businessman. He was at various points an army officer, a financier, lumber baron, and railroad owner. He was supposedly a distant relation of author Horatio Alger, who often wrote about such "rags to riches" tales.