Winthrop Murray Crane (commonly referred to as W. Murray Crane or simply Murray Crane; April 23, 1853October 2, 1920) was an American political figure and businessman. In 1879, he secured his family company, paper manufacturer Crane & Co., an exclusive government contract to supply the paper for United States currency, a monopoly the company holds to this day. During the 1890s he became increasingly active in state Republican politics, and became a dominant figure in the local, state, and national party. He was successively elected Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (in 1896) and Governor of Massachusetts (in 1899). In 1904, he was appointed to the United States Senate and served until 1913. Crane advised Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. His success as Governor in defusing a Teamsters strike prompted Roosevelt to bring him in as a negotiator to resolve the Coal Strike of 1902. He refused repeated offers for cabinet-level positions and was known to dislike campaigning and giving speeches. Near the end of his career, he served as a political mentor to future President Calvin Coolidge, who was elected Vice President one month after Crane's death. Early life Winthrop Murray Crane was born in Dalton, Massachusetts on April 23, 1853. His mother was Louise Fanny Laflin. His father, Zenas Marshall Crane, was owner of the Crane Paper Company, a dominant economic force in the small community and a major producer of paper products. Early career Crane & Co. In 1870, Crane entered the family business and, with his brother Zenas, Jr., presided over a period of significant growth of the company. In 1872, Crane secured a major contract for the supply of wrapping paper to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, and followed this up in 1879, with an exclusive contract to paper for the Federal Reserve Notes, the currency of the United States. The Crane Company continues to be the sole supplier of currency paper to the federal government today. The company continued to grow throughout the 1890s, and Crane amassed a significant fortune by investing in the Otis Elevator Company and in American Telephone and Telegraph Company. Entry to politics In 1892, Crane was elected as a delegate to the Republican National Convention as a candidate of the "Young Republican Club," a faction of Massachusetts Republicans, organized in 1888, who would come to dominate the state party apparatus and political landscape. After the convention, Crane was elected