 Dawes served as a general during World War I, holding the position of chairman of the general purchasing board for the American Expeditionary Forces.In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed Dawes as the first Director of the Bureau of the Budget.Dawes also served on the Allied Reparations Commission, where he helped formulate the Dawes Plan to aid the struggling German economy, though the plan was eventually replaced by the Young Plan.