Franklin MacVeagh

Franklin MacVeagh (1909)

Franklin MacVeagh (born November 22, 1837 in Chester County , Pennsylvania , † July 6, 1934 in Chicago , Illinois ) was an American politician ( Republican Party ) who belonged to the cabinet of US President William Howard Taft as Treasury Secretary .

Studies and professional career

After attending school, he first completed a course of study at Yale University , which he finished in 1862. During his studies, he belonged to the fraternity Skull and Bones at. He then completed a law degree at Columbia University , which he finished in 1864. In the same year he was admitted to the bar in New York . He later worked as the legal counsel for a grocery wholesaler in Chicago . From 1880 to 1909 he was a director of the Commercial National Bank of Chicago.

His older brother Wayne MacVeagh was a diplomat and in 1881 Attorney General under President James A. Garfield .

Finance Minister under Taft

Portrait of Franklin MacVeagh in the Treasury

After William Howard Taft was elected US President, he was appointed Secretary of the Treasury in his cabinet on March 8, 1909 . As such, he did not solve the pressing problem of currency reform , but left this to the National Monetary Commission, which was created by law in 1907 under his predecessor George B. Cortelyou . On the other hand, in his annual reports he drew attention to the urgency of the reform. During his tenure, he implemented several internal reforms by abolishing 450 regulations, reformed the United States Customs Service by introducing automatic scales, and allowing certified checks to be accepted in lieu of cash payments when paying duties and tax debts. In 1911 he was involved, among other things, in the design of a new 5-cent coin , which was called "Indian Head" or "Buffalo Nickel". The Indian head imprinted on the coin was a kind of tribute to the Native Americans. Finally, in 1913, he initiated the establishment of the Internal Revenue Service .

After the end of President Taft's tenure on March 4, 1913, he retired from politics and was president of the grocery wholesalers he founded, but which collapsed in 1931 during the Great Depression.

Web links

• Biography and portrait on the US Treasury Department homepage
• Franklin MacVeagh the Miller Center of Public Affairs of the University of Virginia (English)
• History of the Indian Head / Buffalo Nickel
• Wicker, Elmus: "The Great Debate on Banking Reform" , Ohio 2005 (PDF file; 113 kB)
• "Famed of Name" , article in TIME magazine on October 5, 1925
• "Old Grocery" , article in TIME magazine, December 31, 1931