Jesse H. Jones

Jesse Holman Jones

Jesse Holman Jones (also known as Jesse H. Jones) (April 5, 1874 – June 1, 1956) was a Houston, Texas politician and entrepreneur. He served as United States Secretary of Commerce from 1940 to 1945. His most important role was to head the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), (1932–45), a federal agency originally created by Herbert Hoover that played a major role in combating the Great Depression and financing industrial expansion in World War II.^[1][2] Jones was in charge of spending US$50 billion (US$610 billion in today's terms), especially in financing railways and building munitions factories.^[3]

Early life

Born in Robertson County, Tennessee, Jones was the son of tobacco farmer and merchant William Hasque Jones and Laura Anna Holman. His mother died when he was six years old.^[4] His father sent him to manage a tobacco factory at age 14, and at 19 he was put in charge of his uncle's lumberyards. Five years later, after his uncle, M. T. Jones, died, Jones moved to Houston to manage his uncle's estate and opened a lumberyard company, which grew quickly. During this period, Jesse opened his own business, the South Texas Lumber Company. He also began to expand into real estate, commercial building and banking.

Business activities

In 1908, Jones constructed a new office and plant for the rapidly growing Houston Chronicle in exchange for a half-interest in the company, which had been solely owned by Marcellus Foster."^[5] The relationship between Jones and the "Chronicle would last the rest of his life." In 1926, Jones became the sole owner of the paper and named himself as publisher. In 1937, he transferred ownership of the paper to the newly-established Houston Endowment Inc. Jones retained the title of publisher until his death in 1956.^[6]

Sometime after 1908, Jones organized the Texas Trust Company. By 1912, he had become president of Houston's National Bank of Commerce. This bank later merged with Texas National Bank to become the Texas National Bank of Commerce, and grew into a major regional financial institution. It became part of JP Morgan Chase & Co. in 2008.^[7]

In 1911, Jones purchased the original five-story Rice Hotel from Rice University. He then razed the original buildings and constructed the present 17-story building, now formally named as the Post Rice Lofts. The new Rice Hotel building opened on May 17, 1913. Jones soon made his mark as a builder across Houston, and helped to secure federal funding for the Houston Ship Channel, which opened in 1914 and made the city a viable port.

Political activities

Jesse Holman Jones

President Woodrow Wilson offered him the position of Secretary of Commerce, but Jones turned him down to focus on his businesses — though he could not refuse when Wilson asked him to become Director General of Military Relief for the American Red Cross during World War I.

Reconstruction Finance Corporation chairman

After returning to his businesses, Republican president Herbert Hoover appointed him to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation board, thereby bringing a Democrat on the team. In 1933 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt made him the Chairman of the RFC while also expanding the corporation's powers to make loans and bail out banks, leading some to refer to Jones as "the fourth branch of government."^[8] Roosevelt reportedly called Jones "Jesus H. Jones." ^[9] According to Joseph P. Lash's book "Eleanor and Franklin," the president considered Jones too conservative and shot down a strong movement to make Jones the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 1940.

Secretary of Commerce

Jones later served under Roosevelt as Secretary of Commerce in 1940 — the same position he had turned down a quarter-century before — and served until 1945, when he was forced out in favor of Roosevelt's outgoing Vice President, Henry A. Wallace.

Suite 8F Group

Jones was also an active participant in the so-called "Suite 8F Group." This was composed of very wealthy, politically active businessmen who met in Suite 8F of the Lamar Hotel in downtown Houston. The group raised money to elect influential politicians who supported their conservative business and political views. Beneficiaries included, but were not limited to, Congressman, Senator and President Lyndon B. Johnson, Congressman Albert Thomas, and Governor and Secretary of the Navy John Connally.

Houston Endowment Inc.

In 1937, Jones and his wife, Mary Gibbs Jones, established Houston Endowment Inc., which eventually became the largest private foundation in Texas. It was the principal beneficiary of the Jones' estates, ultimately owning a large number of businesses and buildings, mostly in Houston. Jones was named president of the foundation, and remained so until his death. He was succeeded as president by his nephew, John T. Jones.

Commemoration

Jesse H. Jones High School

Thanks in large part to the largesse of The Houston Endowment, the name of Jesse H. Jones is memorialized throughout Houston. The home of the Houston Symphony is Jesse H. Jones Hall in the Theater District.^[10] Jones High School^[11] and Texas Southern University Jesse H. Jones School of Business are historically black institutions. The Jones family had a strong influence on Rice University as well, with the eponymous Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management founded in large part by a gift from Houston Endowment Inc., and Jones College named for Mary Gibbs Jones. The Jesse H. Jones Student Life Center, a recreation facility at the University of Houston–Downtown was also named for Jones.

In the Texas Medical Center (Houston), there are the Jesse H. Jones Rotary House Hotel [a hotel for MD Anderson Cancer patients and family members],^[12] the Jones library building for the Houston Academy of Medicine/Texas Medical Center;^[13] and the Jesse H. and Mary Gibbs Jones Pavilion (1977) connecting Memorial Hermann Hospital to the University of Texas Medical School.^[14] The original site of Texas Woman's University Houston campus, across the street from the HAM/TMC library, included Mary Gibbs Jones hall; TWU moved to a new location in 2006 and the original site became part of The Methodist Hospital.

Other Jones buildings include the main building for the Houston Public Library downtown (central) branch and the headquarters for the Houston chapter of the American Red Cross.^[15]

The University of Texas at Austin's College of Communication is named after Jones, where there is also the Jesse H. Jones Chair in the Liberal Arts, held by the renowned philosopher T. K. Seung. Baylor University's central libraries comprise the Jesse H. Jones Library (1992) and the Moody Memorial Library (1968).^[16]

In 1956 a hospital was built in Springfield, Tennessee, named the Jesse Holman Jones Hospital, replacing the original hospital there. This hospital operated until 1995 when a new facility, NorthCrest Medical Center, was built.

Beyond buildings, one can also visit the Jesse H. Jones Park and Nature Center in Humble ^[17] or drive across the Houston Ship Channel (for which Jones was the driving force) on what was once (1982–1994) the Jesse H. Jones Memorial Bridge.^[18]

Additional reading

• Buenger, Walter L., "Jesse H. Jones" in Profiles in Power: Twentieth-Century Texans in Washington by the editors Kenneth E. Hendrickson, Jr., and Michael L. Collins (2003)
• Fenberg, Steven. Unprecedented Power: Jesse Jones, Capitalism, and the Common Good (Texas A&M University Press; 2011) 611 pages; biography
• Jones, Jesse H. Fifty billion dollars: My thirteen years with the RFC, 1932-1945 (1951) detailed memoir by longtime chairman
• Koistinen, Paul A. C. Arsenal of World War II: The Political Economy of American Warfare, 1940-1945 (2004)
• Mason, Joseph R. "The Political Economy of Reconstruction Finance Corporation Assistance During the Great Depression." Explorations in Economic History 2003 40(2): 101-121. Issn: 0014-4983 Fulltext in Ingenta
• Olson, James S. Saving Capitalism: The Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the New Deal, 1933-1940. Princeton U. Press, 1988. 246 pp.
• Sprinkel, Beryl Wayne. "Economic Consequences of the Operations of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation." The Journal of Business of the University of Chicago Vol. 25, No. 4 (Oct., 1952), pp. 211–224 online at JSTOR
• White, Gerald Taylor. Billions for Defense: Government Financing by the Defense Plant Corporation During World War II (1980)
• video: Strange, Eric, prod. "Brother, Can You Spare a Billion? The Story of Jesse H. Jones." (1999) Color and black and white. 57 min. Distributed by Houston Public Television, Houston, Tex.

References

1. ^ Jones, Jesse H. Fifty billion dollars;: My thirteen years with the RFC, 1932-1945 (1951)
2. ^ Mason, Joseph R. "The Political Economy of Reconstruction Finance Corporation Assistance During the Great Depression." Explorations in Economic History 2003 40(2): 101-121. Issn: 0014-4983 Fulltext in Ingenta
3. ^ Koistinen, Paul A. C. Arsenal of World War II: The Political Economy of American Warfare, 1940-1945 (2004)
4. ^ Jones, Jesse Holman from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
5. ^ Foster, Marcellus Elliot (1870-1942) from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
6. ^ Houston Chronicle from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved Accessed September 20, 2009.
7. ^ Jones, Jesse Holman from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
8. ^ http://www.pbs.org/jessejones/jesse_bio3.htm
9. ^ Merle Miller. Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman (1974)
10. ^ http://www.houstontx.gov/joneshall/general.htm
11. ^ http://hs.houstonisd.org/JonesHS/
12. ^ http://www.mdanderson.org/patient-and-cancer-information/guide-to-md-anderson/services-and-amenities/rotary-house-international/index.html
13. ^ http://www.library.tmc.edu/
14. ^ http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/HH/sbh6.html
15. ^ http://www.houstonredcross.org/en/cms/?31
16. ^ http://www.baylor.edu/lib/centrallib/
17. ^ http://www.hcp4.net/jones/
18. ^ http://www.texasfreeway.com/houston/photos/bw8/bw8_mainlanes_east.shtml

Political offices
Preceded by Harry Hopkins	United States Secretary of Commerce Served under: Franklin D. Roosevelt September 19, 1940–March 1, 1945	Succeeded by Henry A. Wallace

Persondata
Name	Jones, Jesse H.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 5, 1874
Place of birth
Date of death	June 1, 1956
Place of death