Andrew Mellon
Banker, Treasury secretary, and art patron who shaped 1920s fiscal policy.
Harris & Ewing, photographer · via Wikipedia: Andrew Mellon · Public domain
Andrew Mellon was born on March 24, 1855, to Judge Thomas and Sarah Jane Mellon.[1] From 1921 until 1932, Mellon held the position of secretary of the treasury, serving under Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover, all Republican presidents.[2]
Quick Facts
- Office
- 42nd United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
- President
- Herbert Hoover; Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Took office
- April 9, 1932
- Left office
- March 17, 1933
- Predecessor
- Charles G. Dawes
- Successor
- Robert Worth Bingham
- Birth name
- Andrew William Mellon
- Born
- 24 March 1855
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Mellon joined his father's bank, T. Mellon & Sons, at an early age and helped transform it into a major financial institution.[1] He expanded the bank's activities during the 1880s, adding a national bank, a savings bank, an insurance company, and a trust company.[1] Mellon invested in the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, which later became Alcoa, and became a director in 1891.[3] He and his brother Richard also invested in the Carborundum Company and gained majority ownership in 1898.[4]
In 1902, Mellon reorganized T. Mellon & Sons as the Mellon National Bank.[5] He co-founded Gulf Oil in 1907 after reorganizing the Guffey Company.[5] He helped negotiate debt settlements with Britain in 1923 and with France through the Mellon-Berenger Agreement.[6][7] During the Great Depression, Mellon supported asset liquidation and opposed government intervention in the economy.[8][9]
What the cited sources add
The Johnstown Flood account states that Mellon was the sixth child but only the fourth to survive infancy.[1] It notes that Mellon sold fruit and vegetables from the family garden as a child, using a donkey and cart provided by his father.[1] The same source reports that Mellon first appears in Western University's records in fall 1869, studying arithmetic, algebra, elementary physics, and German.[1] The account explains that Mellon created the Union Transfer and Trust Company in October 1889 with Frick and other partners.[1]
It states that Mellon entered the oil business partly due to the 1889 discovery of new oil sources in the McDonald Oil Field.[1] The Johnstown Flood source also notes that Mellon gave $1,000 for flood relief but made no public comment about the disaster.[1]
References
- "Andrew William Mellon (1855–1937)", Johnstown Flood. facts only, no text reused. nps.gov
- Wikipedia, "Andrew Mellon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Mellon pointed out that, under the high income tax rates at the end of the Woodrow Wilson administration in 1921, vast sums of money had been put into tax shel (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Andrew Mellon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cannadine (2006), pp. 97–98 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Andrew Mellon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cannadine (2006), pp. 117–120; Cannadine (2006), pp. 121–122 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Andrew Mellon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cannadine (2006), pp. 162–164; Cannadine (2006), pp. 165–167; Cannadine (2006), pp. 176–177; Cannadine (2006), pp. 178–179; Cannadine (2006), pp. 179, 183–184; Cannadine (2006), pp. 180–181 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Andrew Mellon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cannadine (2006), pp. 289–290 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Andrew Mellon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cannadine (2006), pp. 319–321 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Andrew Mellon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cannadine (2006), pp. 391–395 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Andrew Mellon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cannadine (2006), pp. 442–444 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Andrew Mellon (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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