Joseph W. Barr

Joseph W. Barr

Joseph Walker Barr (born January 17, 1918 in Vincennes , Indiana , † February 23, 1996 in Playa del Carmen , Mexico ) was an American businessman and politician who served as Treasury Secretary in the cabinet of US President Lyndon B. Johnson .

Studies, World War II and professional career

Barr first graduated from DePauw University in Greencastle , which he finished in 1939. He then studied economics at Harvard University , where he graduated in 1941 with a Master of Arts in Economics (MA Econ.) . During World War II , he served in the US Navy from 1942 to 1945 . As commander of a submarine destroyer in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean , he was awarded a Bronze Star for the destruction of a German submarine during Operation Shingle in Anzio Bay on January 22, 1944 .

After the end of the war, he worked as a businessman in various branches of industry. After the end of his political career, he was president and chairman of the board of the American Security and Trust Company from 1969 to 1974 and most recently from 1977 to 1981 chairman of the board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta .

Political career

Congressman

Barr began his political career with the election to the US House of Representatives . From 1959 to 1961 he represented the interests of the eleventh congressional electoral district of Indiana as a Democrat . As a member of the Bank and Currency Committee, he dealt with fundamental questions of payment problems. He was also a contributor to the laws establishing the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and the International Development Association (IDA) in 1959 and 1960 .

Promotion to finance minister

After he had failed in re-election in 1960, he was in 1961 in the administration of President John F. Kennedy as Deputy ( Assistant Secretary ) of the then Undersecretary of State for Congress relations in the Ministry of Finance, Henry Fowler Hammill appointed. He held this office until the end of Kennedy's administration.

He was then appointed chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) by President Johnson in 1963 . After the appointment of Henry H. Fowler as Secretary of the Treasury on April 1, 1965, he was then appointed by Johnson at Fowler's request to Undersecretary for Congressional Relations in the Treasury, taking over Fowler's former office.

Barr's signature on US dollar banknotes

After Fowler's resignation, on December 21, 1968, he was appointed to the cabinet as Secretary of the Treasury . He held this office until the end of Johnson's reign on January 20, 1969. Barr's tenure was the shortest of any US Treasury Secretary.

Since the US dollar banknotes always carry the signature of the respective finance minister, it was at times assumed that Barr’s signature was rare and that banknotes with his signature would achieve a high collector's value. In fact, even during his brief tenure, $ 458,880,000 were printed with his signature and no other denominations.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Are banknotes with Barr's signature good investments?

Web links

• Joseph W. Barr in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Biography and portrait on the US Treasury Department homepage
• Joseph W. Barr in the Miller Center of Public Affairs of the University of Virginia (English)
• Flesh & Blood. Article in TIME magazine on May 1, 1964
• Joseph Barr Dies; Served In Congress and Treasury. Obituary in The Washington Post, February 25, 1996