William McChesney Martin

William McChesney Martin Jr. ( born December 17, 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri, † July 28, 1998 in Washington, DC) was an American economist and head of the Federal Reserve System of 2 April 1951 to 31 January in 1970.

William McChesney Martin Jr. was born in 1906 as son of William McChesney Martin Sr. and Rebecca Woods. His father was an important banker and in 1913 was involved in the development of the reserve system of the United States. William studied at the prestigious Yale University, where he mainly studied Latin, English and tennis. After graduation, he was oriented more to the world of finance and got his first job at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, whose chaired his father. Subsequently, he worked at the German Securities Trading Company AG Edwards & Sons, where he was partner after only two years. In 1931, he began to act for the company on the New York Stock Exchange. In addition to his real work, he began to advocate for the improvement of Securities. In 1935 he was elected to the Board of the NYSE. In 1938, he then became the first paid chairman of the Stock Exchange Board. In April 1941, he was Corporal of the United States Army and already 10 months later officer. As such, he was also responsible for the coordination of aid from the United States to the Soviet Union. After his discharge with the rank of colonel, he became president of the Export -Import Bank. His work there ended after three years with his move to the U.S. Treasury, where he ( Assistant Secretary ) served as Secretary of State in charge of financial affairs. At the same time, he represented the United States at the World Bank. From there he was appointed in 1951 by U.S. President Harry S. Truman to head the Federal Reserve System, which was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 21, 1951. During his tenure, he was particularly interested in the stability of the U.S. dollar and thus low inflation, which earned him conflicts with the government. Nevertheless, his term ended only on 30 January 1970. With almost 19 years, he is the reigning longest chairman of the Federal Reserve System of the United States. His successor was Arthur F. Burns. Martin died in 1998 in Washington at the age of 91 years.