Dwight F. Davis

Dwight Filley Davis (July 5, 1879–November 28, 1945) was an American tennis player and politician.

He was born St. Louis, Mo. Davis and partner Holcombe Ward won the U.S. men's doubles championship in tennis three years in a row from 1899-1901. In 1900, he developed the structure for and donated a silver bowl to go to the winner of a new international tennis competition designed by him and three others known as the International Lawn Tennis Challenge, which was later renamed the Davis Cup in his honor. He was a member of the U.S team that won the first two competitions in 1900 and 1902 and was also the captain of the 1900 team.

Though educated as a lawyer, Davis was never a practicing attorney. He was, however, politically active in his home town of St. Louis and served as the city's public park commissioner from 1911 to 1915. During his tenure, he expanded athletic facilities and created the first municipal tennis courts in the United States. He served Presiedent Calvin Coolidge as assistant secretary of war (1923-25) and then as secreatry of war (1925-29) and then served as Governor General of the Philippines (1929-32). He died in Washington, D.C.