George M. Humphrey

Portrait of GM Humphrey in the Treasury

George Magoffin Humphrey (born March 8, 1890 in Cheboygan County ( Michigan ), † January 20, 1970 in Cleveland ( Ohio )) was an American businessman, politician and finance minister .

Studies and professional career

The son of a lawyer graduated in law at the University of Michigan , which he finished 1,912th He then worked as a lawyer in his father's office in Saginaw , before becoming legal advisor at MA Hanna & Company Stahlwerke in 1919 . There he rose to president in 1929 and chairman of the board in 1952. In these functions he also led the company in other economic sectors such as banking, copper, plastic and natural gas industries.

Political career

Economic Advisor to the Truman Government

At the end of the 1940s, he entered the service of President Harry S. Truman's government, in particular as an advisor on economic issues. From 1948 to 1949 he was chairman of the Committee for Examination of Reparations of the Administration for Economic Cooperation. In 1949 he was a member of the Economic Advisory Council of the Ministry of Commerce . Finally, in 1950, he helped negotiate a contract between the mining companies and the United Miners' Union.

Treasury Secretary under President Eisenhower

Signature of Humphrey on US dollar notes

After Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected President of the United States , he was appointed Treasury Secretary on January 21, 1953 .

In that capacity, he was a strong proponent of tax reform . This was passed by the United States Congress in 1954 and provided for the reduction of personal income tax and the abolition of taxation on excess profit. Humphrey was particularly keen to reduce government spending in order to fight inflation . Through his administration he even managed to generate a budget surplus in the 1956 budget year , so that the federal budget closed positively for the first time since 1951.

Humphrey was not only one of a number of businessmen who could be persuaded by President Eisenhower to take on government duties, but probably also one of the most influential advisers to the President because of his close friendship with Eisenhower. On July 29, 1957, he resigned from his position as Minister of Finance for reasons of age. He was succeeded on the same day by Robert B. Anderson .

In the same year he initially returned to Hanna Stahlwerke as chairman of the supervisory board and shortly afterwards became chairman of the board of the National Steel Corporation.

Web links and background literature

Commons : George M. Humphrey  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Biography and portrait on the US Treasury Department homepage
• George M. Humphrey in the Miller Center of Public Affairs of the University of Virginia (English)
• Biography in Ohio History
• The Great What-Is-It? Article in TIME magazine on September 13, 1948
• What is competition? Article in TIME magazine on November 18, 1957