William Alexander Julian (August 6, 1870 – May 29, 1949) served as the 28th

Treasurer of the United States The treasurer of the United States is an officer in the United States Department of the Treasury who serves as custodian and trustee of the federal government's collateral assets and the supervisor of the department's currency and coinage produc ...

from June 1, 1933 to May 29, 1949 under

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 ...

and

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 ...

. He remains the last man to have served as Treasurer of the United States.

Early life

Julian was born on August 6, 1870, the son of Alexander and Elizabeth C. (nee Laughlin) Julian. His brother was Henry S. Julian. In 1888, Julian graduated from Dodds College in Frankfort, Kentucky.

Career

Julian settled in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, where he first worked as a bank clerk, then as a shoe manufacturer. Building on the success of his shoe business, he went on to a career in bank management. He declined repeated offers of public office, including

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 ...

's offers of seats on the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...

and the

Federal Reserve Board The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the main governing body of the Federal Reserve System. It is charged with overseeing the Federal Reserve Banks and with helping implement the mon ...

. He ran unsuccessfully for

U.S. Senator 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 powe ...

from Ohio in 1920 and retired from business soon afterward.Julian, U.S. Treasurer, Is Killed In Crash

Schenectady Gazette ''The Daily Gazette'' is an independent, family-owned daily newspaper published in Schenectady, New York. ''The Daily Gazette'' also owns and operates ''The Amsterdam Recorder'', ''The Gloversville Leader-Herald'' and ''Your Niskayuna''. Histo ...

, May 30, 1949 He appeared as a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

from Ohio in 1924, 1932, 1940 and 1948. As the only Treasurer appointed by Roosevelt, Julian was one of the longest-serving Treasurers, although a distant second to Thomas T. Tucker. During his term the government completed its transition away from the

gold standard A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the la ...

as a basis for currency by passing the Gold Reserve Act of 1934. Under the act, Julian took custody of the gold that had been confiscated under

Executive Order 6102 Executive Order 6102 is an executive order signed on April 5, 1933, by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt "forbidding the hoarding of gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates within the continental United States." The executive order was ...

and held at the

Federal Reserve Bank A Federal Reserve Bank is a regional bank of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. There are twelve in total, one for each of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts that were created by the Federal Reserve A ...

Death

On May 29, 1949, Julian died in a car crash in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Julian, William Alexander 1870 births 1949 deaths Road incident deaths in Maryland Treasurers of the United States Ohio Democrats