Carter Glass

Carter Glass ( born January 4, 1858 in Lynchburg, Virginia; † May 28, 1946 in Washington, DC) was an American Democratic politician, president pro tempore of the Senate of the United States and Finance.

Family and career as a newspaper editor

Carter Glass was the youngest of twelve children of the owner of the daily newspaper " Lynchburg Daily Republican " and Postmaster of Lynchburg. His mother died in 1860 and his father then served as a major in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War of 1861 until 1865.

He got only a rudimentary education and has worked as the age of thirteen as a printer in the newspaper his father. Nevertheless, he trained by reading the works of Plato, Edmund Burke and William Shakespeare on. After he had not gotten in Petersburg the expected employment as a reporter, he returned to Lynchburg where he worked in a railroad office.

In 1870, he finally got the hoped-for work as a reporter at the " Lynchburg News" and rose in 1887 to the editor on. In 1888 he managed to buy the newspaper with the financial support of friends. In the following years he bought on the newspaper his father, the "Daily Republican ", and "The Advance ", so that he eventually became the only newspaper publisher in Lynchburg.

Political career

State Senator from Virginia and Congressman

In 1896, he began his political career as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, where he heard a speech by Democratic presidential candidates, William Jennings Bryan. In 1899 he was State Senator from Virginia and was as such from 1901 to 1902 and the Constituent Assembly of Virginia.

In a by-election, he was elected deputy in 1902 the House of Representatives, where he represented the interests of the Democrats of the State of Virginia until 1918. 1913 the House of Representatives elected him chairman of the influential banking and currency committee. In this role, he worked largely with the Federal Reserve Act, the Federal Reserve System was established by the 1913.

Treasury under Wilson

On December 16, 1918, he was appointed as the successor to William Gibbs McAdoo of the Treasury by President Woodrow Wilson. This office he held until February 1, 1920. Successor is David F. Houston.

Senator and climb to the Senate President pro Tempore

After his resignation as finance minister, he was elected as the successor of the late Thomas S. Martin as a representative of Virginia senator. Together with the other senator from Virginia, Harry F. Byrd, he was from 1933 critic of the New Deal policies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. As a committed member of a conservative fiscal policy and the rights of individual states he refused Roosevelt's offer to take over the Ministry of Finance. However, it was in 1933 chairman of the powerful Senate Committee on the provision of financial resources. As such, he was named the Glass-Steagall Act that were important bases in the banking legislation of the USA and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation justified.

In addition, he was on 11 July 1941 Chairman pro tempore of the Senate of the United States. He was so representative of the U.S. Vice President, the ex officio President of the Senate is, as well as the highest-ranking senator. This office he held until January 2, 1945.