Miles Poindexter (April 22, 1868 – September 21, 1946) was an American politician and author.
As a Republican and later a Progressive, he served as a United States Representative and United States Senator from the state of Washington.
Poindexter also served as United States Ambassador to Peru during the presidential administrations of Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge.
A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Poindexter was raised in Virginia, received a law degree from Washington and Lee University in 1891 and moved to Walla Walla, Washington, where he practiced law and entered politics as a Republican.
He served as prosecuting attorney in Walla Walla, and then moved to Spokane, where he was assistant prosecuting attorney and a superior court judge.
In 1908, Poindexter was elected to the U.S.
House.
He served one term (1909-1911), and was reelected in 1910.
He resigned before his new term began in March 1911 because the state legislature elected him to the U.S.
Senate.
He was reelected in 1916, and served from 1911 to 1923.
Poindexter became a Progressive Party member in 1913, but returned to the Republicans in 1915.
Poindexter was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 1920, and for reelection to the Senate in 1922.
In 1923, Poindexter was appointed Ambassador to Peru.
He served until 1928, when he returned to Washington and waged an unsuccessful campaign for the Senate.
After losing the 1928 election, Poindexter moved to Natural Bridge Station, Virginia.
He died there in 1946, and was buried at Fairmount Memorial Park in Spokane.