Andrew William Mellon (; March 24, 1855 – August 26, 1937), sometimes A. W. Mellon, was an American banker, businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector, and politician. From the wealthy
Mellon family
The Mellon family is a wealthy and influential American family from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The family includes Andrew Mellon, one of the longest-serving U.S. Treasury Secretaries, along with prominent members in the judicial, banking, financi ...
of
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, Pennsylvania, he established a vast business empire before moving into politics. He served as
United States Secretary of the Treasury
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
from March 9, 1921 to February 12, 1932, presiding over the boom years of the 1920s and the
Wall Street crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...
. A conservative
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, Mellon favored policies that reduced taxation and the national debt in the aftermath of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Mellon's father,
Thomas Mellon
Thomas Mellon (February 3, 1813 – February 3, 1908) was an American entrepreneur, lawyer, and judge, best known as the founder of Mellon Bank and patriarch of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh.
Early life
Mellon was born to farmers Andrew Mell ...
, rose to prominence in Pittsburgh as a banker and attorney. Andrew began working at his father's bank,
T. Mellon & Sons, in the early 1870s, eventually becoming the leading figure in the institution. He later renamed T. Mellon & Sons as Mellon National Bank and established another financial institution, the Union Trust Company. By the end of 1913, Mellon National Bank held more money in deposits than any other bank in Pittsburgh, and the second-largest bank in the region was controlled by Union Trust. In the course of his business career, Mellon owned or helped finance large companies including
Alcoa, the
New York Shipbuilding Corporation
The New York Shipbuilding Corporation (or New York Ship for short) was an American shipbuilding company that operated from 1899 to 1968, ultimately completing more than 500 vessels for the U.S. Navy, the United States Merchant Marine, the United ...
,
Old Overholt
Old Overholt is America's oldest continually maintained brand of whiskey, was founded in West Overton, Pennsylvania, in 1810. Old Overholt is a rye whiskey distilled by A. Overholt & Co., currently a subsidiary of Beam Suntory, which is a sub ...
whiskey,
Standard Steel Car Company
The Standard Steel Car Company (SSC) was a manufacturer of railroad rolling stock in the United States that existed between 1902 and 1934.
Established in 1902 in Butler, Pennsylvania by John M. Hansen and "Diamond Jim" Brady, the company quic ...
,
Westinghouse Electric Corporation
The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was renamed "Westinghouse Electric Corporation" in ...
,
Koppers
Koppers is a global chemical and materials company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States in an art-deco 1920s skyscraper, the Koppers Tower.
Structure
Koppers is an integrated global producer of carbon compounds, chemicals, and trea ...
, the
Pittsburgh Coal Company
The Pittsburgh Terminal Coal Company was a bituminous coal mining company based in Pittsburgh and controlled by the Mellon family. It operated mines in the Pittsburgh Coalfield, including mines in Becks Run and Horning, Pennsylvania. Unusuall ...
, the Carborundum Company, Union Steel Company, the McClintic-Marshall Construction Company,
Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger ...
, and numerous others. He was also an influential donor to the Republican Party during the
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Wes ...
and the
Progressive Era
The Progressive Era (late 1890s – late 1910s) was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States focused on defeating corruption, monopoly, waste and inefficiency. The main themes ended during Am ...
.
In 1921, newly elected president
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...
chose Mellon as his
Secretary of the Treasury
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
. Mellon would remain in office until 1932, serving under Harding,
Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...
, and
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...
, all three of whom were members of the Republican Party. Mellon sought to reform federal taxation in the aftermath of World War I. He argued cutting tax rates on top earners would generate more tax revenue for the government, but otherwise left in place a
progressive income tax
An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
. Some of Mellon's proposals were enacted by the
Revenue Act of 1921 The United States Revenue Act of 1921 (ch. 136, , November 23, 1921) was the first Republican Party of the United States, Republican tax reduction following their landslide victory in the U.S. House election, 1920, 1920 federal elections. New Secret ...
and the
Revenue Act of 1924
The United States Revenue Act of 1924 () (June 2, 1924), also known as the Mellon tax bill (after U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon) cut federal tax rates for 1924 income. The bottom rate, on income under $4,000, fell from 1.5% to 1 ...
, but it was not until the passage of the
Revenue Act of 1926
The United States Revenue Act of 1926, , reduced inheritance and personal income taxes, cancelled many excise imposts, eliminated the gift tax and ended public access to federal income tax returns.
Passed by the 69th Congress, it was signed into ...
that the "Mellon plan" was fully realized. He also presided over a reduction in the national debt, which dropped substantially in the 1920s. Mellon's influence in state and national politics reached its zenith during Coolidge's presidency. Journalist
William Allen White
William Allen White (February 10, 1868 – January 29, 1944) was an American newspaper editor, politician, author, and leader of the Progressive movement. Between 1896 and his death, White became a spokesman for middle America.
At a 193 ...
noted that "so completely did Andrew Mellon dominate the White House in the days when the Coolidge administration was at its zenith that it would be fair to call the administration the reign of Coolidge and Mellon."
Mellon's national reputation collapsed following the
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...
and the onset of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. Mellon participated in various efforts by the Hoover administration to revive the economy and maintain the international economic order, but he opposed direct government intervention in the economy. After Congress began impeachment proceedings against Mellon, President Hoover shifted Mellon to the position of
United States ambassador to the United Kingdom
The United States ambassador to the United Kingdom (known formally as the ambassador of the United States to the Court of St James's) is the official representative of the president of the United States and the American government to the monarc ...
. Mellon returned to private life after Hoover's defeat in the
1932 presidential election by
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
. Beginning in 1933, the federal government launched a tax fraud investigation on Mellon, leading to a high-profile case that ended with Mellon's estate paying significant sums to settle the matter. Shortly before his death, in 1937, Mellon helped establish the
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...
. His philanthropic efforts also played a major role in the later establishment of
Carnegie Mellon University and the
National Portrait Gallery.
Early life and ancestry
Mellon's paternal grandparents, both of whom were
Ulster Scots, migrated to the United States from
County Tyrone
County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...
, Ireland, in 1818. With their son,
Thomas Mellon
Thomas Mellon (February 3, 1813 – February 3, 1908) was an American entrepreneur, lawyer, and judge, best known as the founder of Mellon Bank and patriarch of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh.
Early life
Mellon was born to farmers Andrew Mell ...
, they settled in
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
Westmoreland County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 364,663. The county seat is Greensburg. Formed from, successively, Lancaster, Northumberland, and later Bedford co ...
. Thomas Mellon established a successful legal practice in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, and in 1843 he married Sarah Jane Negley, an heiress descended from some of the first settlers of Pittsburgh. Thomas became a wealthy landowner and real estate speculator, and he and his wife had eight children, five of whom survived to adulthood. Andrew Mellon, the fourth son and sixth child of Thomas and Sarah, was born in 1855. Though he lacked strong convictions about
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, Thomas Mellon became a prominent member of the local
Republican Party, and in 1859 he won election to a position on the
Pennsylvania court of common pleas
In Pennsylvania, the courts of common pleas are the trial courts of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania (the state court system).
The courts of common pleas are the trial courts of general jurisdiction in the state. The name derives fro ...
. Because Thomas was suspicious of both private and public schools, he built a schoolhouse for his children and hired a teacher; Andrew attended this school beginning at age five.
In 1869, after leaving his judicial position, Thomas Mellon established T. Mellon & Sons, a bank located in Pittsburgh. Andrew joined his father at the bank, quickly becoming a valued employee despite being in his early teens. Andrew also attended Western University (which was later renamed the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...
), but he never graduated. After leaving Western University, Andrew briefly worked at a lumber and coal business before joining T. Mellon & Sons as a full-time employee in 1873. That same year, the
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the ...
devastated the local and national economy, wiping out a portion of the Mellon fortune. With Andrew taking a leading role at T. Mellon & Sons, the bank quickly recovered, and by late 1874 the bank's deposits had reached the level they had been at before the onset of the Panic.
Business career, 1873–1920
Business career, 1873–1898
Mellon's role at T. Mellon & Sons continued to grow after 1873, and in 1876 he was given power of attorney to direct the operations of the bank. That same year, Thomas introduced his son to
Henry Clay Frick
Henry Clay Frick (December 19, 1849 – December 2, 1919) was an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company, and played a maj ...
, a customer of the bank who would become one of Mellons's closest friends. In 1882, Thomas turned over full ownership of the bank to his son, but Thomas continued to be involved in the bank's activities. Five years later, Mellon's younger brother,
Richard B. Mellon, joined T. Mellon & Sons as a co-owner and vice president.
During the 1880s, Mellon began to expand the bank's activities. Along with Frick, Mellon gained control of the Pittsburgh National Bank of Commerce, a
national bank
In banking, the term national bank carries several meanings:
* a bank owned by the state
* an ordinary private bank which operates nationally (as opposed to regionally or locally or even internationally)
* in the United States, an ordinary p ...
that was authorized to print
banknote
A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand.
Banknotes were originally issued ...
s. Mellon also acquired or helped found the Union Insurance Company, City Deposit Bank, the Fidelity Title and Trust Company, and the Union Trust Company. He branched out into industrial concerns, becoming a director of the
Pittsburgh Petroleum Exchange and a co-founder of two natural gas companies that collectively controlled 35,000 acres of gas lands in the late 1880s. In 1890, Thomas Mellon transferred his properties to Andrew, who would manage the properties on behalf of himself, his parents, and his brothers. In late 1894, Thomas transferred all of his remaining assets to Andrew. Despite the large sums entrusted to Andrew, the businesses he ran were still fairly small in the 1890s; T. Mellon & Sons employed seven individuals in 1895.
In 1889, Mellon agreed to loan $25,000 to the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, a fledgling operation seeking to become the first successful industrial producer of aluminum. Mellon became a director of the company in 1891, and he and Richard played a major role in the establishment of aluminum factories in
New Kensington, Pennsylvania
New Kensington, known locally as New Ken, is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. It is situated along the Allegheny River, northeast of Pittsburgh. The population was 12,170 at the 2010 census.
History
Like much of Westmoreland Cou ...
, and
Niagara Falls, New York
Niagara Falls is a City (New York), city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a total population of 48,671. It is adjacent to the Niagara River, across from the city of Niagara ...
. The company would emerge as one of the most profitable ventures invested in by the Mellons, and in 1907 it was renamed
Alcoa.
[Cannadine (2006), p. 184] Moving into the petroleum industry, the Mellon family also established the Crescent Oil Company, the Crescent Pipeline Company, and the Bear Creek refinery. By 1894, the Mellon family's
vertically integrated
In microeconomics, management and international political economy, vertical integration is a term that describes the arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each member of the supply ...
companies produced ten percent of the oil exported by the United States. Partly due to the difficult economic conditions caused by the onset of the
Panic of 1893, in 1895 the Mellons sold their oil interests to
Standard Oil
Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...
. At roughly the same time they were selling their oil concerns, Andrew and Richard invested in the Carborundum Company, a producer of
silicon carbide
Silicon carbide (SiC), also known as carborundum (), is a hard chemical compound containing silicon and carbon. A semiconductor, it occurs in nature as the extremely rare mineral moissanite, but has been mass-produced as a powder and crystal s ...
. The brothers gained majority ownership of the Carborundum Company in 1898 and replaced the company's founder and president,
Edward Goodrich Acheson
Edward Goodrich Acheson (March 9, 1856 – July 6, 1931) was an American chemist. Born in Washington, Pennsylvania, he was the inventor of the Acheson process, which is still used to make Silicon carbide (carborundum) and later a manufacturer of ...
, with a Carnegie protege, Frank W. Haskell. Mellon also invested in mining concerns, becoming vice president of the Trade Dollar Consolidated Mining Company.
Mellon and Henry Clay Frick enjoyed a long-lasting business and social relationship, and Frick frequently hosted Mellon, attorney
Philander C. Knox
Philander Chase Knox (May 6, 1853October 12, 1921) was an American lawyer, bank director and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Knox served in the Cabinet of three different presidents and represented Pennsylvania in the United States ...
, inventor
George Westinghouse
George Westinghouse Jr. (October 6, 1846 – March 12, 1914) was an American entrepreneur and engineer based in Pennsylvania who created the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry, receiving his first patent at the age ...
, and others for
poker
Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...
games. Frick and Mellon both joined the
Duquesne Club
The Duquesne Club is a private social club in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, founded in 1873.
History
The Duquesne Club was founded in 1873. Its first president was John H. Ricketson. The club's present home, a Romanesque structure designed by Lon ...
and, after Frick established the
South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club
The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club was a Pennsylvania corporation which operated an exclusive and secretive retreat at a mountain lake near South Fork, Pennsylvania, for more than fifty extremely wealthy men and their families. The club was ...
, Mellon became one of that club's first members. The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club built the
South Fork Dam
The South Fork Dam was an earthenwork dam forming Lake Conemaugh (formerly Western Reservoir, also known as the Old Reservoir and Three Mile Dam, a misnomer), an artificial body of water near South Fork, Pennsylvania, United States. On May 31, 1 ...
, which supported an artificial lake that the club used for boating and fishing. In 1889, the dam broke, causing the
Johnstown Flood
The Johnstown Flood (locally, the Great Flood of 1889) occurred on Friday, May 31, 1889, after the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam, located on the south fork of the Little Conemaugh River, upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylv ...
, which killed 2,000 people and destroyed 1,600 homes. In the aftermath of the flood, Knox led a legal defense that successfully argued that the club bore no legal responsibility for the flood. Mellon did not publicly comment on the flood, though he did donate $1,000 to a relief fund.
Business career, 1898–1920
By the late 1890s, Mellon had amassed a substantial fortune, but his wealth paled in comparison to that of better-known business leaders such as
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...
. In the late 1890s, the Union Trust Company emerged for the first time as one of Mellon's most important and profitable holdings after Mellon broadened the company's activities to include commercial banking. With an infusion of capital from Union Trust, Mellon underwrote the capitalization of National Glass and several other companies. He also became a co-owner of the McClintic-Marshall Construction Company and established Crucible Steel Company, the
Pittsburgh Coal Company
The Pittsburgh Terminal Coal Company was a bituminous coal mining company based in Pittsburgh and controlled by the Mellon family. It operated mines in the Pittsburgh Coalfield, including mines in Becks Run and Horning, Pennsylvania. Unusuall ...
, and the
Monongahela River Coal Company; the two coal companies collectively contributed 11 percent of the coal production of the United States. With Frick, Richard Mellon, and
William Donner, Mellon co-founded Union Steel Company, which specialized in the production of nails and
barbed wire
A close-up view of a barbed wire
Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire
Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is t ...
. Though Frick had fallen out with steel magnate and long-time business partner
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...
, Mellon received Carnegie's consent to venture into the steel industry. Responding to the growing emphasis on naval power in the aftermath of the
Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (clock ...
, Mellon and Frick also became major shareholders in the
New York Shipbuilding Corporation
The New York Shipbuilding Corporation (or New York Ship for short) was an American shipbuilding company that operated from 1899 to 1968, ultimately completing more than 500 vessels for the U.S. Navy, the United States Merchant Marine, the United ...
.
![Mellon National Bank Building Pittsburgh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Mellon_National_Bank_Building_Pittsburgh.jpg)
In 1902, Mellon reorganized T. Mellon & Sons as the Mellon National Bank, a federally chartered National Bank. Andrew Mellon, Richard Mellon, and Frick drew up a new business arrangement in which the three of them jointly controlled the Union Trust Company, which in turn controlled Mellon National Bank. They also established Union Savings Bank, which accepted deposits by mail, and the Mellon banks flourished in the first years of the 20th century. While Mellon's financial empire prospered, his investments in other areas, including Pittsburgh's streetcar network, the Union Steel Company (which was bought out by
U.S. Steel
United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in severa ...
), and the Carborundum Company, also paid off handsomely. Another successful Mellon investment, the
Standard Steel Car Company
The Standard Steel Car Company (SSC) was a manufacturer of railroad rolling stock in the United States that existed between 1902 and 1934.
Established in 1902 in Butler, Pennsylvania by John M. Hansen and "Diamond Jim" Brady, the company quic ...
, was created in partnership with three former U.S. Steel executives. As part of the
Texas oil boom
The Texas oil boom, sometimes called the gusher age, was a period of dramatic change and economic growth in the U.S. state of Texas during the early 20th century that began with the discovery of a large oil reserve, petroleum reserve near Beaum ...
, the Mellons also helped J. M. Guffey establish the Guffey Company. The Mellons later removed Guffey as the head of his company, and in 1907 they reorganized the Guffey Company as
Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger ...
and installed
William Larimer Mellon Sr.
William Larimer Mellon Sr. (June 1, 1868 – October 9, 1949), sometimes referred to as W. L., was an American businessman who was active in Republican Party politics. A co-founder of Gulf Oil, he was a member of the prominent Mellon family of ...
(a son of Andrew Mellon's older brother, James Ross Mellon) as the head of Gulf Oil. The success of Mellon's financial empire and his varied investments made him, according to biographer David Cannadine, the "single most significant individual in the economic life and progress of western Pennsylvania" in the first decade of the 20th century.
The
Panic of 1907
The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic or Knickerbocker Crisis, was a financial crisis that took place in the United States over a three-week period starting in mid-October, when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from ...
devastated several companies based in Pittsburgh, ending a period of strong growth. Some of Mellon's investments experienced a sustained down period after 1907, but most experienced a quick recovery. Mellon also became an investor in
George Westinghouse
George Westinghouse Jr. (October 6, 1846 – March 12, 1914) was an American entrepreneur and engineer based in Pennsylvania who created the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry, receiving his first patent at the age ...
's
Westinghouse Electric Corporation
The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was renamed "Westinghouse Electric Corporation" in ...
after he helped prevent the company from going into bankruptcy. By the end of 1913, Mellon National Bank held more money in deposits than any other bank in Pittsburgh, and the Farmer's Deposit National Bank, which held the second-largest amount of deposits, was controlled by Mellon's Union Trust Company. In 1914, Mellon became a co-owner of
Koppers
Koppers is a global chemical and materials company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States in an art-deco 1920s skyscraper, the Koppers Tower.
Structure
Koppers is an integrated global producer of carbon compounds, chemicals, and trea ...
, which produced a more sophisticated
coking
Coking is the heating of coal in the absence of oxygen to a temperature above 600 °C to drive off the volatile components of the raw coal, leaving a hard, strong, porous material of high carbon content called coke. Coke consists almost ent ...
oven than the one that had earlier been pioneered by Frick. He also served as a director of various other companies, including the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
and the
American Locomotive Company. Mellon was deeply involved in the financing of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, as the Union Trust Company and other Mellon institutions provided millions of dollars in loans to the United Kingdom and France, and Mellon himself invested in
Liberty bond
A liberty bond (or liberty loan) was a war bond that was sold in the United States to support the Allied cause in World War I. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty in the United States and introduced the idea of financi ...
s.
Old Overholt whiskey
In 1887, Frick, Andrew, and Richard Mellon jointly purchased
Old Overholt
Old Overholt is America's oldest continually maintained brand of whiskey, was founded in West Overton, Pennsylvania, in 1810. Old Overholt is a rye whiskey distilled by A. Overholt & Co., currently a subsidiary of Beam Suntory, which is a sub ...
, a whiskey distillery located in
West Overton, Pennsylvania
West Overton is located approximately southeast of Pittsburgh, in East Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is on PA 819 between the towns of Mount Pleasant and Scottdale. Its latitude is 40.117N and its lo ...
.
At the time, Old Overholt was one of the largest and most respected whiskey producers in the country.
In 1907, as prohibition became more popular across the country, Frick and Mellon removed their names from the distilling license but retained ownership in the company.
It is believed that Mellon's connections in the Treasury Department are what allowed the company to secure a medicinal permit during Prohibition.
This permit allowed Overholt to sell existing whiskey stocks to druggists for medicinal use.
When Frick died in December 1919, he left his share to Mellon.
In 1925, under pressure from prohibitionists, Mellon sold his share of the company to a New York grocer.
Early involvement in politics
Like his father, Mellon consistently supported the Republican Party, and he frequently donated to state and local party leaders. Through state party boss
Matthew Quay
Matthew Stanley "Matt" Quay (September 30, 1833May 28, 1904) was an American politician of the Republican Party who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1887 until 1899 and from 1901 until his death in 1904. Quay's control ...
, Mellon influenced legislators to place high tariffs on aluminum products in the
McKinley Tariff
The Tariff Act of 1890, commonly called the McKinley Tariff, was an act of the United States Congress, framed by then Representative William McKinley, that became law on October 1, 1890. The tariff raised the average duty on imports to almost fift ...
of 1890. During the early 20th century, Mellon was dismayed by the rise of
progressivism
Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, tec ...
and the
antitrust
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
actions pursued by the presidential administrations of
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
,
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
, and
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
. He especially opposed the Taft administration's investigations into Alcoa, which in 1912 signed a
consent decree rather than going to trial. In the aftermath of World War I, he provided financial support to
Henry Cabot Lodge
Henry Cabot Lodge (May 12, 1850 November 9, 1924) was an American Republican politician, historian, and statesman from Massachusetts. He served in the United States Senate from 1893 to 1924 and is best known for his positions on foreign policy. ...
and other Republicans in their successful campaign to prevent ratification of the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
. Mellon attended the
1920 Republican National Convention as a nominal supporter of Pennsylvania Governor
William Cameron Sproul
William Cameron Sproul (September 16, 1870 – March 21, 1928) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1897 to 1919 and as the 27th Governor of Pennsylvania from 1919 ...
(Mellon hoped Senator
Philander Knox
Philander Chase Knox (May 6, 1853October 12, 1921) was an American lawyer, bank director and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Knox served in the Cabinet of three different presidents and represented Pennsylvania in the United States ...
would win the nomination), but the convention chose Senator
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...
of Ohio as the party's presidential nominee. Mellon strongly approved of the party's conservative platform, and he served as a key fundraiser for Harding during the presidential campaign.
Political career, 1921–1933
Harding administration
![TIMEMagazine2Jul1923](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/TIMEMagazine2Jul1923.jpg)
Following Harding's victory in the 1920 presidential election, Harding considered various candidates for Secretary of the Treasury, including
Frank Lowden
Frank Orren Lowden (January 26, 1861 – March 20, 1943) was an American Republican Party politician who served as the 25th Governor of Illinois and as a United States Representative from Illinois. He was also a candidate for the Republican pres ...
,
John W. Weeks
John Wingate Weeks (April 11, 1860July 12, 1926) was an American banker and politician from Massachusetts. A Republican, he served as Mayor of Newton from 1902 to 1903, a United States representative from 1905 to 1913, United States Senator fr ...
,
Charles Dawes
Charles Gates Dawes (August 27, 1865 – April 23, 1951) was an American banker, general, diplomat, composer, and Republican politician who was the 30th vice president of the United States from 1925 to 1929 under Calvin Coolidge. He was a co-rec ...
, and, at the urging of Senator Knox, Andrew Mellon. By 1920, Mellon was little-known outside of banking circles, but his potential appointment to the cabinet received strong support from bankers and Pennsylvania Republican leaders like Knox, Senator
Boies Penrose
Boies Penrose (November 1, 1860 – December 31, 1921) was an American lawyer and Republican politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
After serving in both houses of the Pennsylvania legislature, he represented Pennsylvania in the United ...
, and Governor Sproul. Mellon was reluctant to enter public life due to concerns about privacy and a belief that his ownership of various businesses, including Old Overholt distillery, would be a political liability. But Mellon also wanted to retire from active participation in business, and he saw a cabinet position as a prestigious capstone to his career.
Mellon agreed to accept appointment as Secretary of the Treasury in February 1921, and his nomination was quickly confirmed by the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
. Though Mellon's supporters believed that he was highly qualified to address the economic issues facing the country, critics of the Harding administration saw the Mellon appointment as a sign that Harding would "reseat the power of special privileged interests, the powers of avarice and greed, the powers that seek self-aggrandizement at the expense of the general public". Harding paired the nomination of Mellon with that of Secretary of Commerce
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...
, who was distrusted by many of the same Senate Republicans who favored Mellon's candidacy. Before joining the cabinet, Mellon sold his banking stock to his brother, Richard, but he continued to hold his non-banking stock. Through Richard and other business associates, Mellon continued to be involved with the major decisions of the Mellon business empire during his time in public service, and he occasionally lobbied congressmen on behalf of his businesses. His fortune continued to grow, and at one point in the 1920s he paid more in federal income tax than any other individual save John Rockefeller and
Henry Ford
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...
.
![President Warren G](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/President_Warren_G._Harding%27s_First_Cabinet_1921.jpg)
As Treasury Secretary, Mellon focused on balancing the budget and paying off World War I debts in the midst of the
Depression of 1920–21
Depression may refer to:
Mental health
* Depression (mood), a state of low mood and aversion to activity
* Mood disorders characterized by depression are commonly referred to as simply ''depression'', including:
** Dysthymia, also known as pers ...
; he was largely unconcerned with international affairs and economic matters such as the unemployment rate. To Mellon's chagrin, his department was charged with enforcing Prohibition; he did not believe in teetotaling himself and viewed the law as unenforceable. Aside from balancing the budget, Mellon's top priority was an overhaul of the federal tax code. The income tax had become a major part of the federal government's revenue system with the passage of the
Revenue Act of 1913, and federal taxation on income had increased during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
to provide funding for the war effort. According to M. Susan Murnane, major reforms to the federal income tax in the aftermath of World War I were "inevitable", but the exact nature of the tax system in the 1920s was debated by conservatives and progressives within the Republican Party. Unlike the progressives in his party, Mellon rejected the redistributive nature of the taxation system that had been left in place by the Wilson administration. Owing in part to the high debts left over from the war, Mellon did not join with some conservatives in the party, who favored the virtual abolition of the income tax in favor of high tariff rates, excise taxes, a national sales tax, or some combination thereof.
![Portrait photograph of A](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Portrait_photograph_of_A.W._Mellon.jpg)
Mellon instead advocated for the retention of a progressive income tax that would serve as an important, but not primary, source of revenue for the federal government. His so-called "scientific taxation" was designed to maximize federal revenue while minimizing the impact on business and industry.
The central tenet of Mellon's tax plan was a reduction of the surtax, a progressive tax that affected only high-income earners. Mellon argued that such a reduction would minimize tax avoidance and would not affect federal revenue because it would lead to greater economic growth. He hoped that tax reform would encourage high earners to move their savings from tax-exempt state and municipal bonds to taxable, higher yield industrial stocks. Though much of the tax plan that he proposed had been developed by former Wilson administration officials
Russell Cornell Leffingwell
Russell Cornell Leffingwell (September 10, 1878 – October 2, 1960) was an American banker who led the Council on Foreign Relations from 1944 until 1953. From 1944 to 1946, he served as president of the Council, and from 1946 to 1953, he served as ...
and
Seymour Parker Gilbert, the press generally referred to it as the "Mellon Plan".
[Murnane (2004), pp. 820–822]
The
Revenue Act of 1918
The Revenue Act of 1918, 40 Stat. 1057, raised income tax rates War Revenue Act of 1917, over those established the previous year. The bottom tax bracket was expanded but raised from 2% to 6%.
The act simplified the tax structure created by the W ...
had set a top marginal income tax rate of 73% and a corporate tax of approximately 10%. Due in part to the size of the U.S. public debt, which had grown from $1 billion before the war to $24 billion in 1921, the provisions of the Revenue Act of 1918 remained in place when Harding took office. In 1921, the Treasury Department and the
House Ways and Means Committee
The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other progra ...
jointly prepared a bill setting the top marginal rate at the level advocated by Mellon, but opposition in the Senate from progressives like Senator
Robert M. La Follette
Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855June 18, 1925), was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the 20th Governor of Wisconsin. A Republican for most of his ...
limited the size of the tax cuts. In November 1921, Congress passed and Harding signed the
Revenue Act of 1921 The United States Revenue Act of 1921 (ch. 136, , November 23, 1921) was the first Republican Party of the United States, Republican tax reduction following their landslide victory in the U.S. House election, 1920, 1920 federal elections. New Secret ...
, which raised personal
tax exemption
Tax exemption is the reduction or removal of a liability to make a compulsory payment that would otherwise be imposed by a ruling power upon persons, property, income, or transactions. Tax-exempt status may provide complete relief from taxes, redu ...
s and lowered the top marginal tax rate to 58%. Because it differed from his original proposals, Mellon was displeased by the bill. He also strongly disapproved of a "Bonus Bill" passed by Congress that would provide for additional compensation to veterans of World War I, partly because he feared it would interfere with his plans to reduce debt and taxes. With Mellon's support, Harding vetoed the bill, and Congress failed to override the veto.
Coolidge administration
![Calvin Coolidge cph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Calvin_Coolidge_cph.3g10777_%28cropped%29.jpg)
As the economy recovered from recession and began to experience the prosperity of the
Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties, sometimes stylized as Roaring '20s, refers to the 1920s decade in music and fashion, as it happened in Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultural edge in the ...
, Mellon emerged as one of the most renowned figures in the Harding administration. One admiring congressman referred to Mellon as the "greatest Secretary of the Treasury since
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795.
Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...
". Harding died after suffering a stroke in August 1923, and he was succeeded by Vice President
Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...
. Mellon enjoyed closer relations with President Coolidge than he had with President Harding, and Coolidge and Mellon shared similar views on most major issues, including the necessity for further tax cuts.
William Allen White
William Allen White (February 10, 1868 – January 29, 1944) was an American newspaper editor, politician, author, and leader of the Progressive movement. Between 1896 and his death, White became a spokesman for middle America.
At a 193 ...
, a contemporary journalist, stated that "so completely did Andrew Mellon dominate the White House in the days when the Coolidge administration was at its zenith that it would be fair to call the administration the reign of Coolidge and Mellon."
[Keller (1982), p. 777]
Coolidge, Mellon, business organizations, and administration allies conducted a publicity campaign designed to convince wavering congressmen to support Mellon's tax plan.
Their efforts were opposed by the coalition of Democrats and progressive Republicans that exercised effective control over the
68th Congress. In February 1924, the House Ways and Means Committee approved of a bill based on Mellon's plan, but an alliance of progressive Republicans and Democrats engineered passage of an alternative tax bill written by Democrat
John Nance Garner
John Nance Garner III (November 22, 1868 – November 7, 1967), known among his contemporaries as "Cactus Jack", was an American History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician and lawyer from History of Texas, Texas who ...
; Garner's plan also reduced income taxes but set the top marginal tax rate at 46% rather than Mellon's preferred 33%. In June 1924, Coolidge signed the
Revenue Act of 1924
The United States Revenue Act of 1924 () (June 2, 1924), also known as the Mellon tax bill (after U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon) cut federal tax rates for 1924 income. The bottom rate, on income under $4,000, fell from 1.5% to 1 ...
, which contained the income tax rates of Garner's bill and also increased the
estate tax
An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died.
International tax law distinguishes between an es ...
. Coolidge signed the bill but simultaneously called for further tax cuts.
[Murnane (2004), pp. 833–836, 840–841] Congress also rejected Mellon's proposed constitutional amendment that would have barred the issuance of tax-exempt securities and, over Coolidge's veto, authorized a bonus to World War I veterans. Mellon did, however, win one legislative victory, as he convinced Congress to create the
Board of Tax Appeals to adjudicate disputes between taxpayers and the government.
Mellon had originally planned to retire after one presidential term but decided to remain in the cabinet in the hope of presiding over the full enactment of his taxation proposals. In the
1924 presidential election, the Republicans campaigned on further tax cuts, while both the Democrats and third-party candidate
Robert La Follette
Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855June 18, 1925), was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the 20th Governor of Wisconsin. A Republican for most of his ...
denounced Mellon's tax proposals as "a device to relieve multi-millionaires at the expense of other taxpayers". Buoyed by the strong economy, and overcoming the
scandals of the Harding years, Coolidge won re-election by a decisive margin. Coolidge saw his victory as a mandate to pursue his favored economic policies, including further tax cuts.
When Congress reconvened after the 1924 elections, it immediately began working on another bill designed to lower tax rates on the highest earners. In February 1926, Coolidge signed the
Revenue Act of 1926
The United States Revenue Act of 1926, , reduced inheritance and personal income taxes, cancelled many excise imposts, eliminated the gift tax and ended public access to federal income tax returns.
Passed by the 69th Congress, it was signed into ...
, which reduced the top marginal rate to 25%. Mellon was extremely pleased by the passage of the act, because, unlike the Revenue Act of 1921 and the Revenue Act of 1924, the Revenue Act of 1926 closely reflected Mellon's proposals. In addition to cutting tax rates on top earners, the act also raised the personal exemption for federal income taxes, abolished the
gift tax
In economics, a gift tax is the tax on money or property that one living person or corporate entity gives to another. A gift tax is a type of transfer tax that is imposed when someone gives something of value to someone else. The transfer must ...
, reduced the estate tax rate, and repealed a provision that had required the public disclosure of federal income tax returns. Meanwhile, the booming economy fostered a $400 million budget surplus in 1926, and the country's national debt dropped from $24 billion in early 1921 to $19.6 billion at the end of fiscal year 1926. Government revenues increased considerably under Mellon's plan, largely collected from higher-income earners.
With his top priority of tax reform accomplished, Mellon increasingly turned over management of the Treasury Department to his deputy,
Ogden L. Mills. After the 1926 elections, Mellon and Mills sought to cut the corporate tax and fully repeal the estate tax. The
Revenue Act of 1928 The Revenue Act of 1928 (May 29, 1928, ch. 852, 45 Stat. 791), formerly codified in part at 26 U.S.C. sec. 22(a), is a statute enacted by the 70th United States Congress in 1928 regarding tax policy.
Section 605 of the Act provides that "In case ...
did indeed cut the corporate tax, but the estate tax was left unchanged. Mellon also focused on the construction of new federal buildings, and his efforts led to the construction of several buildings in the
Federal Triangle. In 1928, Mellon stated that "in no other nation, and at no other time in the history of the world, have so many people enjoyed such a high degree of prosperity or maintained a standard of living comparable to that which prevails throughout this country today."
Responsibility for foreign relations lay with the State Department rather than the Treasury Department, and
Benjamin Strong Jr.
Benjamin Strong Jr. (December 22, 1872 – October 16, 1928) was an American banker. He served as Governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for 14 years until his death. He exerted great influence over the policy and actions of the entire ...
and other central bankers took the lead with regard to international monetary policy, but Mellon nonetheless exercised some influence in foreign affairs. He strongly opposed the cancellation of European debts from World War I but recognized that Britain and other countries would be unable to pay those debts without a renegotiation of terms. In 1923, Mellon and British
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
Stanley Baldwin negotiated an agreement in which Britain promised to pay off the debts over a 62-year period. After the adoption of the
Dawes Plan
The Dawes Plan (as proposed by the Dawes Committee, chaired by Charles G. Dawes) was a plan in 1924 that successfully resolved the issue of World War I reparations that Germany had to pay. It ended a crisis in European diplomacy following Wor ...
, Mellon reached debt settlements with several other European countries. After protracted negotiations, the United States and France agreed to the
Mellon-Berenger Agreement, which reduced France's debt and set terms for repayment.
Hoover administration
1928 election
![andrew mellon stamp](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Andrew_mellon_stamp.JPG)
Coolidge surprised many observers by announcing that he would not seek another term in August 1927. The decision left Hoover as the presumed front-runner for the
1928 presidential election, but many conservatives within the party opposed Hoover's candidacy. The conservative resistance to Hoover centered around Mellon, who controlled Pennsylvania's delegation at the
1928 Republican National Convention and was influential with Republicans throughout the country. Though they had maintained an amicable relationship in public, Mellon privately distrusted Hoover, resented Hoover's engagement in the affairs of other cabinet departments, and feared that a President Hoover would move away from Mellon's tax policies. Several Republicans urged Mellon to run for president, but Mellon believed that he was too old to seek the presidency. Mellon attempted to convince Coolidge or Charles Evans Hughes to run, but neither heeded his appeals. In the months before the 1928 Republican Convention, Mellon maintained his neutrality in the presidential race, but with no compelling alternative Republican candidate willing to run, Mellon finally threw his support behind Hoover. With Mellon's backing, Hoover won the Republican nomination on the first ballot of the convention, and he went on to defeat
Al Smith in the
1928 presidential election. Defying widespread expectations that he would retire, Mellon chose to stay on as Secretary of the Treasury. Along with Secretary of Agriculture
James Wilson James Wilson may refer to:
Politicians and government officials
Canada
*James Wilson (Upper Canada politician) (1770–1847), English-born farmer and political figure in Upper Canada
* James Crocket Wilson (1841–1899), Canadian MP from Quebe ...
and Secretary of Labor
James J. Davis, Mellon is one of only three cabinet members to serve in the same post under three consecutive presidents.
Great Depression
![Andrew W](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Andrew_W._Mellon_Ogden_Mills.jpg)
Secretary Mellon had helped persuade the Federal Reserve Board to lower interest rates in 1921 and 1924; lower interest rates contributed to a booming economy, but they also encouraged stock market speculation. In 1928, responding to increasing fears of the dangers of speculation and a booming stock market, the Federal Reserve Board began raising interest rates. Mellon favored another interest rate increase in 1929, and in August 1929 the Federal Reserve Board raised the discount rate to six percent. The higher rate failed to curb speculation, and the activity on the stock market continued to grow. In October 1929, the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...
suffered the worst crash in its history in what was called "
Black Tuesday
The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange coll ...
". As the vast majority of Americans did not own shares in the stock market, the crash did not immediately have disastrous effects on the U.S. economy as a whole. Mellon had little sympathy for the speculators who lost their money, and he was philosophically opposed to an interventionist economic policy designed to address the stock market crash. Nonetheless, Mellon immediately began calling for cuts to the discount rate, which would reach two percent in mid-1930, and successfully urged Congress to pass a bill providing for temporary, across-the-board tax cuts. Mellon supported the idea of asset liquidation to balance budgets, even if it meant shutting down entire industries.
By mid-1930, many, including Mellon, believed that the economy had already experienced the worst effects of the stock market crash. He did not object to the
Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act
The Tariff Act of 1930 (codified at ), commonly known as the Smoot–Hawley Tariff or Hawley–Smoot Tariff, was a law that implemented protectionist trade policies in the United States. Sponsored by Senator Reed Smoot and Representative Willi ...
, which raised tariff rates to one of the highest levels in U.S. history. Despite the optimism of Hoover and Mellon, in late 1930 the economy went into a deep slump, as gross national product declined dramatically and numerous workers lost their jobs. While numerous banks failed, Democrats won control of Congress in the
1930 mid-term elections. As the economy declined, so did Mellon's popularity, which was further damaged by his opposition to another bonus bill for veterans. In mid-1931, the country entered a deep depression and, at Hoover's request, Mellon negotiated a moratorium on German debt repayments. After Mellon returned to the United States in August 1931, he was confronted by another series of bank failures. Among the banks that failed was the Bank of Pittsburgh, the lone remaining major Pittsburgh bank not controlled by the Mellon family. Again following Hoover's lead, Mellon presided over the creation of the National Credit Association, a voluntary initiative among the larger banks that was designed to assist failing institutions. As the National Credit Association proved to be ineffective at stemming the tide of bank failures, Congress and the Hoover administration established the
Reconstruction Finance Corporation to provide federal loans to banks.
With the unemployment rate approaching twenty percent, Mellon became one of the most "loathed leaders" in the United States, second only to Hoover himself. Facing this unprecedented economic catastrophe, Mellon urged Hoover to refrain from using the government to intervene in the depression. Mellon believed that economic recessions, such as those that had occurred in 1873 and 1907, were a necessary part of the business cycle because they purged the economy. In his memoirs, Hoover wrote that Mellon advised him to "liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers, liquidate real estate. Purge the rottenness out of the system. High costs of living and high living will come down. ... enterprising people will pick up the wrecks from less competent people."
Facing a large deficit, Mellon and Mills called for a return to the tax rates set by the Revenue Act of 1924 and also sought new taxes on automobiles, gasoline, and other items. Congress responded by passing the
Revenue Act of 1932
The Revenue Act of 1932 (June 6, 1932, ch. 209, ) raised United States tax rates across the board, with the rate on top incomes rising from 25 percent to 63 percent. The estate tax was doubled and corporate taxes were raised by almost 15 percent.
...
, which included many of the Treasury Department's proposals. In early 1932, Congressman
Wright Patman
John William Wright Patman (August 6, 1893 – March 7, 1976) was an American politician. First elected in 1928, Patman served 24 consecutive terms in the United States House of Representatives for Texas's 1st congressional district from 1929 to ...
of Texas initiated
impeachment proceedings against Mellon, contending that Mellon had violated numerous federal laws designed to prevent conflicts of interest. Though Mellon had defeated similar investigations in the past, his falling popularity left him unable to effectively counter Patman's charges. Hoover removed Mellon from Washington by offering him the position of
ambassador to the United Kingdom. Mellon accepted the post, and Mills replaced his former boss as Secretary of the Treasury.
Mellon arrived in Britain in April 1932, receiving a friendly reception from a country he had often visited over the previous thirty years. From his post, he watched the collapse of the international economic order, including the debt accords that he had helped negotiate. He also convinced the British to allow Gulf Oil to operate in
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
, a British protectorate in the oil-rich region of the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
. Defying Mellon's expectations, Hoover was defeated by
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
in the
1932 presidential election. Mellon left office when Hoover's term ended in March 1933, returning to private life after twelve years of government service.
Pennsylvania politics, 1921–1933
Knox and Penrose both died in 1921, leaving a power vacuum in Pennsylvania Republican politics. Along with his nephew, William Larimer Mellon, Mellon became an influential player in Pennsylvania politics, and their support helped ensure the elections of Senator
David A. Reed
David Aiken Reed (December 21, 1880February 10, 1953) was an American lawyer and Republican party politician from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1922 to 1935. He was a co-author of the restr ...
and Senator
George W. Pepper in 1922. Mellon was unable to assert the same level of control that Boies Penrose had had over state politics, and his leadership of the state party was challenged by
William Scott Vare
William Scott Vare (December 24, 1867August 7, 1934) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district from 1912 to 1927. ...
of Philadelphia and progressive leader
Gifford Pinchot
Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsy ...
, who won the 1922 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election. Nonetheless, Mellon would continue to exert an important influence on Pennsylvania politics throughout the 1920s, especially in senatorial elections and in Allegheny County. Mellon's influence over state politics waned in the early 1930s, as the progressive allies of Governor Pinchot took control of the state Republican Party.
Later life
Numerous financial institutions failed in the months prior to Roosevelt's inauguration, but Mellon National Bank, the Union Trust Company, and another Mellon banking operation, Mellbank Corporation, were all able to avoid closure. Mellon strongly opposed Roosevelt's
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
policies, especially the
1933 Banking Act, which required separation between commercial and investment banking. Mellon believed that the various New Deal policies, including
Social Security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
and
unemployment insurance
Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a comp ...
, undermined the free market system that had produced one of the largest economies in the world. Aside from banking reform, other New Deal policies, including regulations on utilities and coal mines and laws designed to promote labor unions, also affected Mellon's business empire. Additionally, the
Revenue Act of 1934 The Revenue Act of 1934 (May 10, 1934, ch. 277, ) raised United States individual income tax rates marginally on higher incomes. The top individual income tax rate remained at 63 percent.
It was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt ...
and the
Revenue Act of 1935 The Revenue Act of 1935, (Aug. 30, 1935), raised federal income tax on higher income levels, by introducing the "Wealth Tax". It was a progressive tax that took up to 75 percent of the highest incomes (over $1 million per year). The Congress separa ...
rescinded many of Mellon's tax policies and contained other provisions that were designed to increase taxation on top earners and corporations.
Even after leaving office, Mellon continued to be vilified by many in the public, and in 1933
Harvey O'Connor published a popular and unfavorable biography, ''Mellon's Millions''. Democrats won effective control of Allegheny County in the 1933 elections, and the following year Democrat
Joseph F. Guffey won Pennsylvania's Senate election and
George Howard Earle III
George Howard Earle III (December 5, 1890December 30, 1974) was an American politician and diplomat from Pennsylvania. He was a member of the prominent Earle and Van Leer families and the 30th Governor of Pennsylvania from 1935 to 1939. Earle ...
won the state's gubernatorial election. Mellon endured numerous attacks during these campaigns, and his unpopularity in Pittsburgh led him to spend most of his final years in Washington rather than his home town.
In the 1930s, the Roosevelt administration conducted several high-profile tax evasion prosecutions against individuals such as
Thomas W. Lamont and
Jimmy Walker
James John Walker (June 19, 1881November 18, 1946), known colloquially as Beau James, was mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932. A flamboyant politician, he was a liberal Democrat and part of the powerful Tammany Hall machine. He was forced t ...
. In response to accusations levied by Republican Congressman
Louis Thomas McFadden
Louis Thomas McFadden (July 25, 1876 – October 1, 1936) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, serving from 1915 to 1935. A banker by trade, he was the chief sponsor of the 1927 McFadden Act ...
of Pennsylvania in early 1933, Attorney General
Homer Cummings
Homer Stille Cummings (April 30, 1870 – September 10, 1956) was an American lawyer and politician who was the United States Attorney General from 1933 to 1939. He also was elected mayor of Stamford, Connecticut, three times before founding the ...
began an inquiry into Mellon's tax history. Between February 1935 and May 1936, the Board of Tax Appeals heard a widely covered case in which the federal government accused Mellon of tax fraud. During the proceedings, Mellon divulged numerous details of his business career that had previously been unknown to the public.
Mellon was diagnosed with cancer in November 1936. His health declined in 1937, and he died on August 26, 1937. Newspapers across the country took note of his death. Secretary of the Treasury
Henry Morgenthau Jr.
Henry Morgenthau Jr. (; May 11, 1891February 6, 1967) was the United States Secretary of the Treasury during most of the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He played a major role in designing and financing the New Deal. After 1937, while ...
stated that Mellon had lived through "an epoch in the economic history of the nation, and his passing takes one of the most important industrial and financial figures of our time". Mellon was buried at Trinity Episcopal Church Cemetery,
Upperville, Virginia
Upperville is a small unincorporated town in Fauquier County, Virginia, United States, along U.S. Route 50 fifty miles from downtown Washington, D.C., near the Loudoun County line. Founded in the 1790s along Pantherskin Creek, it was originally ...
. Months after Mellon's death, the Board of Tax Appeals handed down a ruling exonerating Mellon of all tax fraud charges.
Family
In the early 1880s, Mellon had a serious relationship with Fannie Larimer Jones, but he broke off the relationship after learning that she was suffering from
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
. After this experience, Mellon refrained from courting women for several years. In 1898, while traveling with Frick and Frick's wife to Europe, Mellon met Nora McMullen, a nineteen-year-old Englishwoman of Ulster Scots ancestry. Mellon visited McMullen's home of
Hertford Castle
Hertford Castle was built in Norman times by the River Lea in Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire, England. Most of the internal buildings of the castle have been demolished. The main surviving section is the Tudor gatehouse, which is a Gr ...
in 1898 and 1899, and, after a period of courtship, Nora married Mellon in 1900. Nora gave birth to a daughter,
Ailsa, in 1901. Nora disliked living in Pittsburgh, and she was unhappy in her marriage. By the end of 1903, she had begun an affair with Alfred George Curphey, who would also later be involved with the wife of
George Vivian, 4th Baron Vivian
George Crespigny Brabazon Vivian, 4th Baron Vivian (21 January 1878 – 28 December 1940) was a British soldier from the Vivian family who served with distinction in both the Second Anglo-Boer War and World War I.
Early life
He was born at Con ...
. Mellon and Nora eventually reconciled, and in 1907 she gave birth to a son,
Paul
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
* Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
.
The reconciliation proved short-lived, as Nora took up with Curphey again in 1908 and requested a divorce the following year. To avoid a public scandal, Andrew reluctantly agreed to a separation in 1909. Seeking to hold divorce proceedings privately before a judge rather than publicly before a jury, in 1911 Mellon convinced the Pennsylvania legislature to amend a law that had required a
jury trial
A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a Trial, legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or Question of law, findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or Judicial panel, panel of judges makes all decisions.
...
in divorce proceedings. In response, Nora attacked Mellon in the press, and the divorce proceedings were widely covered by the media. In 1912, Mellon and Nora finally agreed on a divorce settlement, largely on Mellon's terms.
Mellon did not remarry. Nora lived in Pittsburgh for several years before eventually settling in the
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...
, and the two children alternated living with either parent. In 1923, Nora married Harvey Arthur Lee, a British-born antiques dealer 14 years her junior. Two years after the Lees' divorce in 1928, Nora Lee resumed the surname Mellon, at the request of her son, Paul. In the 1920s, while Mellon served as Secretary of the Treasury, Ailsa was courted by several influential men, including
Otto Christian Archibald von Bismarck
Otto Christian Archibald, Prince of Bismarck (25 September 1897 in Schönhausen, Brandenburg – 24 December 1975), was a German politician and diplomat, and the Prince of Bismarck from 1904 to his death (since 1919 only as a part of his n ...
,
Robert Horne, and
Gelasio Caetani. In 1926, in the "greatest society event that the nation's capital had witnessed" since before World War I, Ailsa married
David K. E. Bruce
David Kirkpatrick Este Bruce (February 12, 1898 – December 5, 1977) was an American diplomat, intelligence officer and politician. He served as ambassador to France, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the United Kingdom, the only American ...
, son of Democratic Senator
William Cabell Bruce
William Cabell Bruce (March 12, 1860May 9, 1946) was an American politician and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who represented the State of Maryland in the United States Senate from 1923 to 1929.
Background
Bruce was born in Charlotte County, ...
of Maryland. After attending
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
and the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, Paul briefly worked at Mellon National Bank. He later settled in Virginia, becoming a well-known philanthropist. Mellon's nephew,
Richard King Mellon
Richard King Mellon (June 19, 1899 – June 3, 1970), commonly known as R.K., was an American financier, general, and philanthropist from Ligonier, Pennsylvania, and part of the Mellon family.
Biography
The son of Richard B. Mellon, nephew of ...
, succeeded Andrew as the head of the Mellon financial empire.
Philanthropy and art collection
![Raphael - The Alba Madonna - Google Art Project](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Raphael_-_The_Alba_Madonna_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
Emulating his father, Mellon eschewed philanthropy for much of his life, but in the early 1900s, he began donating to local organizations such as the
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
. Mellon committed to his first large-scale act of philanthropy in 1913, when he and his brother, Richard, established the
Mellon Institute of Industrial Research
The Mellon Institute of Industrial Research is a former research institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, which is now part of Carnegie Mellon University. It was founded in 1913 by Andrew Mellon and Richard B. Mellon as part of the ...
as a department of the University of Pittsburgh. In 1965, the institute merged with the Carnegie Institute of Technology to form
Carnegie Mellon University. Mellon also served as an alumni president and trustee of the University of Pittsburgh, and made several major donations to the school, including the land on which the
Cathedral of Learning
The Cathedral of Learning is a 42-story skyscraper that serves as the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh's (Pitt) main campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Standing at , the 42-story Late Gothic Revival Cat ...
and
Heinz Chapel
Heinz Memorial Chapel is a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark and a contributing property to the Schenley Farms National Historic District on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Uni ...
were constructed. In total it is estimated that Mellon donated over $43 million to the University of Pittsburgh.
Encouraged by Frick, and guided by
Charles Carstairs
Charles Carstairs (August 1865 – July 1928) was an American art dealer. Throughout his career, Carstairs encouraged American clients to invest in European Old Master paintings. He worked closely with industrial magnate Henry Clay Frick, and was r ...
. Mellon began collecting art in the mid-to-late 1890s. Over the ensuing decades, his art collection continued to grow as he purchased pieces from
Knoedler
M. Knoedler & Co. was an art dealership in New York City founded in 1846. When it closed in 2011, amid lawsuits for fraud, it was one of the oldest commercial art galleries in the US, having been in operation for 165 years.
History
Knoedler dat ...
and
Joseph Duveen
Joseph Duveen, 1st Baron Duveen (14 October 1869 – 25 May 1939), known as Sir Joseph Duveen, Baronet, between 1927 and 1933, was a British art dealer who was considered one of the most influential art dealers of all time.
Life and career
Jos ...
, and during the 1920s his collection was generally considered to be one of the finest art collections in Washington. In the early 1930s, he purchased, according to Cannadine, just under half of the "greatest paintings" from the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
's
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the largest ...
in the
Soviet sale of Hermitage paintings
The Soviet sale of Hermitage paintings in 1930 and 1931 resulted in the departure of some of the most valuable paintings from the collection of the State Hermitage Museum in Leningrad to Western museums. Several of the paintings had been in the H ...
.
Twenty-one paintings, of the highest quality, were later given to the National Gallery of Art.
Mellon decided to use his fortune and art collection to establish a national art museum in Washington modeled after the
National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
in London. In 1936, Mellon presented President Roosevelt with an offer to establish a national art museum to which Mellon would donate his art collection as well as an endowment, while the federal government would pay for the institution's upkeep. He conditioned the offer on the establishment of a board of trustees, a majority of whom would be chosen by Mellon. Despite the ongoing tax case against Mellon, the Roosevelt administration accepted the offer, and Congress passed legislation authorizing the construction of the
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...
on Mellon's terms. The National Gallery of Art opened in 1941 and continues to operate. Mellon's friend and former employee,
David E. Finley Jr., would later preside over the establishment of the
National Portrait Gallery, which also hosts several paintings donated by Mellon.
Mellon was initiated to the
Scottish Rite
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction in the United States often omits the ''and'', while the English Constitution in the United Kingdom omits the ''Scottish''), commonly known as simply the S ...
Freemasonry, till he raised the 33rd and highest degree.
Legacy
Memorials
![Mellon memorial fountain](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Mellon_memorial_fountain.jpg)
The
Andrew W. Mellon Memorial Fountain
The Andrew W. Mellon Memorial Fountain is a bronze fountain sculpture by Sidney Waugh as a memorial to Andrew W. Mellon. It is located at the eastern tip of the Federal Triangle within the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue (Washington, D.C.), Pe ...
in Washington was created by
Sidney Waugh
Sidney Waugh (January 17, 1904 – June 30, 1963) was an American sculptor known for his monuments, medals, etched and moulded glass, and architectural sculpture. Waugh was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts. His father, ...
and was dedicated in May 1952 by
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
. Washington, D.C., also hosts the
Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium
The Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium (originally named the Departmental Auditorium) is a 750-seat historic Neoclassical auditorium located at 1301 Constitution Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. The auditorium, which connects two wings of the William Jeffer ...
and the
Andrew Mellon Building
McCormick Apartments, also known as Andrew Mellon Building, Mellon Apartment, or 1785 Massachusetts Avenue Northwest, is a landmark apartment building on Embassy Row in Washington, D.C., whose inhabitants once included Andrew W. Mellon. It is the ...
. The
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York City in the United States, simply known as Mellon Foundation, is a private foundation with five core areas of interest, and endowed with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of Pitts ...
, the product of the merger of the Avalon Foundation and the Old Dominion Foundation (set up separately by his children), is named in his honor, as is the 378-foot
US Coast Guard Cutter ''Mellon (WHEC-717)''.
In popular culture
Andrew W. Mellon appears in the
HBO drama series ''
Boardwalk Empire'', in the fifth, eighth and twelfth episodes of the third season, in his capacity as Secretary of the Treasury. His character is played by
Carnegie Mellon
Carnegie may refer to:
People
* Carnegie (surname), including a list of people with the name
* Clan Carnegie, a lowland Scottish clan
Institutions Named for Andrew Carnegie
*Carnegie Building (Troy, New York), on the campus of Rensselaer Polyt ...
alumnus
James Cromwell.
In the
alternate history/
time travel
Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a ...
story "A Slip in Time" by
S. M. Stirling
Stephen Michael Stirling (born September 30, 1953) is a Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author who was born in France. Stirling is well known for his Draka series of alternate history novels and his later time travel/alternate hi ...
, featuring a history in which the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
was avoided and the
Austro-Hungarian Empire survived, Andrew Mellon was the President of the United States in 1926.
Mellon is the subject of three unflattering chapters in Matt Stoller's 2019 book, ''Goliath: The 100 Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy'', which recounts efforts by populists in Washington (namely, Congressman
Wright Patman
John William Wright Patman (August 6, 1893 – March 7, 1976) was an American politician. First elected in 1928, Patman served 24 consecutive terms in the United States House of Representatives for Texas's 1st congressional district from 1929 to ...
; Roosevelt administration lawyer
Robert H. Jackson; and
Ferdinand Pecora
Ferdinand Pecora (January 6, 1882 – December 7, 1971) was an American lawyer and New York State Supreme Court judge who became famous in the 1930s as Chief Counsel to the United States Senate Committee on Banking and Currency during its investi ...
, attorney for the Senate Banking Committee) to expose Mellon's crimes and abuse of power for personal gain.
[Stoller, Matt. Goliath: The 100 Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy, Simon & Schuster, 2019]
See also
*
List of wealthiest historical figures
Many historical individuals have been described as one of "the wealthiest" ever. This list presents individuals prior to the beginning of contemporary history (which began after World War II) and gathers published estimates of their ( inflation-a ...
*
List of richest Americans in history
Most sources agree that John D. Rockefeller was the richest American in history having amassed a wealth of more than $445 billion in 2022 dollars.
There are various methods of comparing individuals' wealth across time, including using simple ...
References
Works cited
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External links
The Andrew W. Mellon FoundationPittsburgh Post-Gazette article on history of the Mellons and Mellon Financial*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mellon, Andrew W.
1855 births
1937 deaths
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American Episcopalians
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Great Depression in the United States
Harding administration cabinet members
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Mellon family
National Gallery of Art
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United States Secretaries of the Treasury
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Gilded Age
Burials in Virginia
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