Mellon, Andrew William (1855-1937), was an American financier. President Warren G. Harding appointed him United States secretary of the treasury in 1921. Mellon served until 1932 under Presidents Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover. While Mellon was in office, the U.S. government reduced by $9 billion its debt from World War I (1914-1918), and Congress cut income tax rates substantially.
Mellon was born on March 24, 1855, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, of wealthy parents. In 1886, he joined his father’s bank, Thomas Mellon and Sons, and became a shrewd judge of which new businesses and young business people deserved loans. Mellon served as an officer or director of many financial and industrial corporations. He became especially active in the development of the coal, coke, oil, and aluminum industries. By 1921, he had become one of the wealthiest people in the United States. Mellon served as U.S. ambassador to Britain in 1932 and 1933. In 1937, he gave his $25-million art collection to the U.S. government. He also donated $15 million for a museum to house the collection. This museum, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., opened in 1941 (see National Gallery of Art ). He died on Aug. 26, 1937.
