Henry Luke Giordano (June 10, 1914 – September 19, 2003) was an American pharmacist and federal agent who served as the second and last Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, from 1962 to 1968.

Early life and education

Henry Luke Giordano was born on June 10, 1914, in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. In 1934, he graduated from the

UCSF School of Pharmacy UCSF School of Pharmacy, is the pharmacy school of the University of California, San Francisco, and is located in San Francisco. Founded in 1872, it is the oldest pharmacy school in California and the western United States. For 41 consecutive ye ...

with a graduate degree, and then worked as a pharmacist from 1935 to 1941.

Bureau of Narcotics

In 1941, Giordano joined the

Bureau of Narcotics The Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) was an agency of the United States Department of the Treasury, established in the Department of the Treasury by an act of June 14, 1930, consolidating the functions of the Federal Narcotics Control Board a ...

, where he worked until 1943, at which point he joined the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

. Released from the Coast Guard in 1946 with a rank of SPX1 (Specialist Petty Officer 1st Class), Giordano returned to the Bureau, where he often worked undercover. He became the deputy commissioner in 1958.

Commissioner

Giordano was sworn in as Commissioner by

C. Douglas Dillon Clarence Douglas Dillon (born Clarence Douglass Dillon; August 21, 1909January 10, 2003) was an American diplomat and politician, who served as U.S. Ambassador to France (1953–1957) and as the 57th Secretary of the Treasury (1961–1965). He w ...

, the

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 ...

, on August 17, 1962, thus officially entering into his duties. He was named as head of the Bureau on July 5, 1962. Like his predecessor,

Harry J. Anslinger Harry Jacob Anslinger (May 20, 1892 – November 14, 1975) was a United States government official who served as the first commissioner of the U.S. Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics during the presidencies of Herbert Hoover, F ...

, Giordano supported tough penalties for addicts; unlike Anslinger, who led the Bureau for decades, Giordano's term was significantly shorter. In February 1968, President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

requested that the Congress merge the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and the

Bureau of Drug Abuse Control The Bureau of Drug Abuse Control was formed as a part of the United States Food and Drug Administration in February 1966 and existed until 1968 when it was merged with the Federal Bureau of Narcotics to form the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Dr ...

. Both the

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

and the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

agreed. The plan took effect in early April, and the

Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) was a bureau within the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and a predecessor agency of the modern Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). History It was created by § 3 of the Reorganizatio ...

was thus formed. Giordano was replaced by John Ingersoll, as director of the new bureau, later that year.

Personal life

Giordano was married to Elaine Watson, and had two daughters.

Later life

Giordano returned to the pharmaceutical industry; this time working as a

consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

in security. He moved to

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 censu ...

; and died in nearby

Olney, Maryland Olney is a U.S. census-designated place and an unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located in the north central part of the county, north of Washington, D.C. Olney was largely agricultural until the 1960s, when growth of ...

in September 2003.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Giordano, Henry 1914 births 2003 deaths Heads of United States federal agencies People from San Francisco Drug policy of the United States Kennedy administration personnel Lyndon B. Johnson administration personnel 20th-century United States government officials American politicians of Italian descent University of California, San Francisco alumni American pharmacists United States Coast Guard non-commissioned officers