William Proctor Gould Harding (May 5, 1864 – April 7, 1930) was an American banker who served as the second

chairman of the Federal Reserve The chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is the head of the Federal Reserve, and is the active executive officer of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The chair shall preside at the meetings of the Boa ...

from 1916 to 1922. Prior to his term as chairman, Harding appointed a member of 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 m ...

since 1914. He concurrently served as the managing director of the War Finance Corporation from 1918 to 1919. After leaving the Fed, Harding traveled to Cuba and advised Cuban government on the reorganization of its financial and accounting system. He returned to United States a year later and was elected governor of the

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, commonly known as the Boston Fed, is responsible for the First District of the Federal Reserve, which covers New England: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and all of Connecticut excep ...

from 1923 until his death in 1930.

Early life

Harding was born on May 5, 1864, to Horace Harding and Eliza Proctor Gould Harding in

Boligee, Alabama Boligee is a town in Greene County, Alabama, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 301. Although Boligee appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census, according to the 1930 U.S. Census it did not incorporate until 1926, though another sourc ...

. The portrait painter Chester Harding was a grandfather. He received his early education in

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population o ...

, and before entering the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publ ...

he received his preparatory support from many established and respected educators such as Dr. Warfield C. Richardson and Prof. Joseph M. Dill. He entered the

in 1878 and received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in 1880 and continued his studies for an extra year to obtain a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

at the time becoming the youngest student to acquire his degree. He graduated from the

in 1881 and further continued his studies again in business college at

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeeps ...

Career

He returned to Tuscaloosa and began working at J. H. Fitts and Company for three years as a bookkeeper and clerk. He then moved to

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% f ...

, to work again as a bookkeeper for Berney National Bank where he was promoted to cashier three years later. In 1896, he was elected as vice-president of the First National Bank of Birmingham and then elected president on June 28, 1902. Under his administration he was recognized as the most notable banker in the south and was recognized nationally. In 1913 he was elected as president of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce.

Later life

Harding relinquished his title when asked by President

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 ...

to become a member of the Federal Reserve Board on August 10, 1914, before the onset of World War I. On August 10, 1916, he was appointed by Woodrow as a member of the Federal Reserve Board and was appointed director of the War Finance Corporation until 1922. In addition, the University of Alabama distinguished Harding with a degree of

Legum Doctor Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the ear ...

in 1916. In 1922 he was requested by the

President of Cuba The president of Cuba ( es, Presidente de Cuba), officially the president of the Republic of Cuba ( es, Presidente de la República de Cuba), is the head of state of Cuba. The office in its current form was established under the Constitution of ...

Alfredo Zayas y Alfonso Alfredo de Zayas y Alfonso (February 21, 1861 – April 11, 1934), usually known as Alfredo de Zayas under Spanish naming customs and also known as Alfredo Zayas, was a Cuban lawyer, poet and political figure. He served as prosecutor, judge, ma ...

to reorganize the country's financial and accounting systems. He returned to America in 1923 and was appointed as president of the

where he served until his death on April 7, 1930 from

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

after a long illness at his home in Boston, Massachusetts.

Personal life

In October 1895 he was married to Amanda Moore, a granddaughter of Alabama congressman

Sydenham Moore Sydenham Moore (May 25, 1817 – August 20, 1862) was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Alabama. Early life Born in Rutherford County, Tennessee, Moore pursued classical studies. He attended the University of ...

, and with her had three children before her death in 1910. He was a member of the

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

fraternal organization and an

Episcopalian Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

References

External links