Jesse H. Jones

Jesse H. Jones

Jesse Holman Jones (born April 5, 1874 in Robertson County , Tennessee , † June 1, 1956 in Houston , Texas ) was an American entrepreneur , manager and politician ( Democratic Party ).

biography

Jones came from a humble background and received no secondary education , but began working in the lumber business after attending elementary school and founded the South Texas Lumber Company in 1902 . In 1908 he became a co-owner of the Houston Chronicle . During the First World War he was director of General Military Aid of the American Red Cross from 1917 to 1918 . In 1926 he became the sole owner of the "Houston Chronicle".

During the New Deal administration under US President Franklin D. Roosevelt , he became a member of the National Emergency Board and was also a director of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) between 1933 and 1939 , one of President Herbert C. Hoover Established in 1932, the independent federal agency to bail out banks and support economic recovery after the Great Depression . In 1936 he also became chairman of the board of directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States in Washington . In 1939 he was also appointed head of the Federal Loan Agency .

On September 19, 1940 Jones was by President Roosevelt as the successor to Harry Hopkins to Trade Minister ( Secretary of Commerce appointed) and belonged to the Cabinet Roosevelt until March 1, 1945th With a special permit passed by Congress , he also remained director of the RFC until March 1945.

After leaving the government, he returned to Texas, where he worked again as the publisher of the Houston Chronicle. In 1951 his autobiography was published under the title "Fifty Billion Dollars".

Web links

• Jesse H. Jones in the Miller Center of Public Affairs of the University of Virginia (English)
• Jesse H. Jones in nndb (English)
• Newspaper article about Jesse H. Jones in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .