Morgenthau, << MAWR guhn `thaw,` >> Henry, Jr. (1891-1967), served as United States secretary of the treasury from 1934 to 1945 under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. Morgenthau was one of Roosevelt’s most trusted economic advisers, and he helped formulate important financial legislation in the 1930’s. During World War II (1939-1945), he organized the Victory Bond campaign that raised more than $200 billion.
Morgenthau lived near Roosevelt’s Hyde Park (N.Y.) estate, and they were close friends. When Roosevelt became governor of New York in 1929, he named Morgenthau head of his Agricultural Advisory Commission. Morgenthau served briefly in 1933 as chairman of the Federal Farm Board and then as governor of the Farm Credit Administration. He also served as undersecretary of the treasury before he was named secretary in 1934.
During World War II, he proposed the Morgenthau Plan for Germany. It would have eliminated most of Germany’s heavy industries, and ended German military power. It was never adopted. Morgenthau took a leading part in the 1944 Bretton Woods (N.H.) international monetary conference. He was born on May 11, 1891, in New York City. He died on Feb. 6, 1967.
