William G McAdoo had a long political career that including serving as Secretary of the Treasury, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Director General of the U.S. Railroads, and a U.S. Senator. He was also famously the son-in-law of President Woodrow Wilson.
Early Life and Business Career
William Gibbs McAdoo was born on October 31, 1863, near Marietta, Georgia. He married his first wife, Sarah Hazelhurst Fleming, on November 18, 1885. After graduating from the University of Tennessee, he started practicing law in Chattanooga Tennessee. McAdoo moved to New York City in 1892, where he founded two companies. The merged company, Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Company, was responsible for building two tunnels under the Hudson River.
Secretary of the Treasury
McAdoo campaigned for Democrat Woodrow Wilson in the 1910 gubernatorial election in New Jersey. In 1912, McAdoo served as the vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee and helped Wilson win the presidential election.
Once he was President, Wilson appointed McAdoo as Secretary of the U.S. Treasury. He is most remembered for preventing a widespread financial panic at the start of World War I, which involved shuttering the New York Stock Exchange for an unprecedented four months in 1914. McAdoo also championed the sale of Liberty Bonds, which ultimately raised $18,000,000,000 to help finance the Allied Powers in their war effort.
As Treasury Secretary, McAdoo served on the Federal Farm Loan Board, the War Finance Corporation, and the United States section of the International High Commission. He also oversaw the establishment of the Federal Reserve System, of which he was the first chair.
As a member of the cabinet, McAdoo became one of Wilson’s most-trusted advisors. They later became family. McAdoo married the President Wilson’s daughter, Eleanor Randolph Wilson, at the White House in 1914. He told Wilson that he would resign following the marriage, but the President urged him to remain in the administration.
In January 1918, with the railroads nearly collapsing under the strain of the war, McAdoo became director general of the U.S. Railroad Administration. Once it was under the control of the federal government, McAdoo successfully turned the industry around.
Seeking to follow in his father-in-law’s footsteps, McAdoo unsuccessfully sought the presidential nomination twice. He lost to James M. Cox in 1920 and to John W. Davis in 1924. He went on to serve as a U.S. senator from California from 1933 to 1938. He died in 1941.
