Andrew Mellon
A Gilded Age financier who shaped the American economy and filled the National Gallery with his art, then saw his legacy tarnished by the Great Depression.
1855–1937 (age 82)·American businessman and politician·Birthday: March 24
Biography
Andrew Mellon was the quiet architect of American capitalism in the early 20th century. The Pittsburgh-born son of a banker, he built a sprawling empire that stretched from aluminum and oil to banking, becoming one of the world's wealthiest men. His true ambition, however, was fiscal policy. As Treasury Secretary under three presidents from 1921, he championed drastic tax cuts for the wealthy and debt reduction, believing capital in the hands of industrialists would fuel national prosperity. The Roaring Twenties seemed to prove him right, but the 1929 crash and ensuing Depression recast his policies as catastrophic failures, leading to his resignation and a humiliating tax evasion investigation. In his later years, Mellon pivoted to philanthropy, funding the National Gallery of Art and donating his immense art collection to form its core, creating a cultural monument that outlasted his economic reputation.
#1 When Andrew Was Born
The biggest hits of 1855
Andrew's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1855Born
1860Started school
1868Became a teenager
President: Andrew Johnson
1871Could drive
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1873Could vote
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1876Turned 21
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1885Turned 30
Karl Benz builds the first gasoline-powered automobile
President: Grover Cleveland
1895Turned 40
First public film screening by the Lumiere brothers
President: Grover Cleveland
1905Turned 50
Einstein publishes the theory of special relativity
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1915Turned 60
The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat
President: Woodrow Wilson
1925Turned 70
The Scopes Trial debates evolution in schools
Home: $4,366President: Calvin Coolidge"Sweet Georgia Brown" — Ben Bernie
1935Turned 80
Social Security Act signed into law
Gas: $0.19/galHome: $3,450President: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Cheek to Cheek" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: Mutiny on the Bounty
1937Died at 82
Hindenburg disaster; Golden Gate Bridge opens
Gas: $0.20/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" — Ella FitzgeraldBest Picture: The Life of Emile Zola
Key Achievements
- Served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury for nearly 11 years, from 1921 to 1932, overseeing the economic policies of the 'Roaring Twenties'.
- Spearheaded the 'Mellon Plan' of tax cuts in the 1920s, which significantly reduced rates on high incomes and corporate profits.
- Founded the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and donated his world-class art collection along with funds for its construction.
- Built a vast business empire that included major holdings in Gulf Oil, Alcoa, and the Mellon Bank.
- Authored the book 'Taxation: The People's Business' (1924), which laid out his philosophy of supply-side economics.
Did You Know?
The Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, which he founded with his brother, later merged with the Carnegie Institute of Technology to form Carnegie Mellon University.
He was the subject of a famous, and ultimately unsuccessful, four-year tax evasion prosecution by the Roosevelt administration.
His art collection included masterpieces by Raphael, Rembrandt, and Vermeer, which formed the initial donation to the National Gallery.
Mellon Avenue in Pittsburgh is named for the family, and he once owned the land that now comprises much of the city's Golden Triangle business district.
“The Government is just a business, and can and should be run on business principles.”
