Eugene Meyer

Eugene Meyer
President of the World Bank
In office June 1946 – December 1946
Preceded by	Roy A. Young
Succeeded by	Eugene R. Black
Personal details
Born	31 October 1875(1875-10-31) Los Angeles, California
Died	17 July 1959(1959-07-17) (aged 83) Washington, D.C.
Nationality	American
Spouse(s)	Agnes Elizabeth Ernst

Eugene Isaac Meyer (October 31, 1875 – July 17, 1959) was an American financier, public official, publisher of the Washington Post newspaper. He served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1930 to 1933. He was the father of publisher Katharine Graham.

Biography

Born in Los Angeles, California, he was one of eight children^[1] of Marc Eugene Meyer and Harriet Newmark. His parents were Jewish but he avoided identification as a Jew until later in life.^[2] He grew up in San Francisco and attended college across the bay at the University of California, but he dropped out after one year and later enrolled at Yale University. He received his A.B. in 1895.

After college, Meyer went to work for Lazard Freres, where his father was a partner, but quit in 1901 after four years and went out on his own. He was a successful investor and speculator and owned a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. He married Agnes Elizabeth Ernst, a Lutheran, in 1910; they had five children, including the future Katharine Graham and another daughter Florence Meyer (1911-1962) (Mrs. Oscar Homolka). By 1915, when he was forty, he was worth $40 million.

In 1920, Meyer teamed with William H. Nichols of General Chemical to help fulfill his vision of a bigger, better chemical company. Meyer and Nichols combined five smaller chemical companies to create the Allied Chemical & Dye Corporation, which later became Allied Chemical Corp., and eventually became part of AlliedSignal, the forerunner of Honeywell’s specialty materials business. Both men have buildings named after them at Honeywell’s headquarters in Morristown, New Jersey.

Meyer went to Washington, D.C. during the World War I as a "dollar a year man" for Woodrow Wilson, becoming the head of the War Finance Corporation and served there long after the end of hostilities. President Calvin Coolidge named him as chairman of the Federal Farm Loan Board in 1927 and Herbert Hoover promoted him to chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in 1930. He served in that capacity from September 16, 1930 to May 10, 1933.

Meyer strongly supported government relief to combat the Great Depression, taking on an additional post as chief of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Hoover's unsuccessful attempt to aid companies by providing loans to businesses. Upon Franklin D. Roosevelt's inauguration in 1933, he resigned his government posts.

Later in 1933, he bought the Washington Post at a bankruptcy auction, the paper having been ruined by its spendthrift socialite owner, Ned McLean. Over the next twenty years, Meyer spent millions of dollars of his own money to keep the money-losing paper in business, while focusing on improving its quality; by the 1950s, it was finally consistently profitable and was increasingly recognized for good reporting and important editorials. As publisher, Meyer occasionally contributed to stories: his friendship with the British Ambassador, Lord Lothian, led to a Washington Post scoop on reporting of Edward VIII's relationship with Wallis Simpson.

After World War II, Harry Truman named Meyer, then 70 years old, to be the first head of the World Bank in June 1946. Meyer appointed his son-in-law, Philip Graham, as publisher. After six months with the World Bank, Meyer returned to the Post, serving as Chairman of the Washington Post Company until his death in Washington in 1959.

Meyer's older sister, Florence Meyer Blumenthal, was noted for the philanthropic organization she formed, the Franco-American Florence Blumenthal Foundation, which awarded the Prix Blumenthal to painters, sculptors, decorators, engravers, writers, and musicians.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Florence Meyer Blumenthal". Jewish Women's Archive, Michele Siegel. http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/blumenthal-florence-meyer. 
2. ^ Katharine Graham, Personal History, (1998) pp 6, 51

Bibliography

• Agnes E. Meyer. Out of These Roots. 1959.
• Merlo J. Pusey. Eugene Meyer. 1974.
• Katharine Graham. Personal History. 1997.

External links

• Biography of Eugene Meyer (website)

Government offices
Preceded by Roy A. Young	Chairman of the Federal Reserve 1930–1933	Succeeded by Eugene R. Black
Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by (none)	President of the World Bank 1946	Succeeded by John J. McCloy

Persondata
Name	Meyer, Eugene
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 31, 1875
Place of birth
Date of death	July 17, 1959
Place of death