Carter Glass

Carter Glass (January 4, 1858 – May 28, 1946) was a newspaper publisher and politician from Lynchburg, Virginia. He served many years in Congress as a member of the Democratic Party. As House co-sponsor, he played a central role in the development of the 1913 Glass-Owen Act that created the Federal Reserve System. Glass subsequently served as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under President Woodrow Wilson. Later elected to the Senate, he became widely known as co-sponsor of the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933, which enforced the separation of investment banking and commercial banking, and established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Carter Glass in Joe Steele
Senator Carter Glass was one of several Southern Democrats who initially opposed President Joe Steele's proposed legislation to nationalize the country's banks on states' rights ground. The fact that he'd been Secretary of the Treasury gave his opinions some additional weight.

However, after a one-on-one meeting with Steele, Glass abruptly changed his mind, calling the nationalization bill a "worthy piece of legislation." Other Southern Democrats fell in line.

What the public never knew was that Steele's ally, J. Edgar Hoover, had found "evidence" that Glass had had an affair with his colored family maid, Emma, which produced a son. Steele threatened to release that information to the public unless Glass fell in line.

Literary comment
The historical record doesn't seem to support the idea that Glass had an illegitimate child. The novel does depict the Steele Administration's willingness to lie about its enemies, so it is probably the case that Glass's affair is another lie.