William H. Woodin -- Forgotten (Until Recently) FDR Cabinet Member (facts, economy)

[2nd trick op]

I grew up in the modest-sized industrial community of Berwick, Penna, and still live nearby. Along the western edge of the community's largest cemetery sits the mausoleum of William H. Woodin, prominent local industrialist and Secretary of the U S Treasury for a relatively short time during the depths of the Great Depression of the Thirties.

William H. Woodin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Woodin represented the second, possibly the third generation of two families who founded the Jackson and Woodin Car Company, a builder of railroad "rolling stock" which became a component of American Car and Foundry -- one of the large corporations (modeled upon the principle of a trust, but not prominent enough to draw much attention) at the turn of the Twentieth Century. He gravitated toward politics as he advanced in years and gained exposure to more of the economy, identified himself as a Republican during most of his career but was essentially non-partisan and not ideologically-oriented.

Unlike many of his colleagues, Woodin did not oppose the proposed public-private co-operation proposed in entities such as the National Recovery Administration as the Depression deepened, and with political loyalties and alliances shifting rapidly in those times. found himself in support of the New Deal and, in particular, the abandonment of the dollar's linkage to gold. That led Franklin Roosevelt to offer him a post as Treasury Secretary, although it's believed that Woodin's advancing age and declining health caused him to be viewed as little more than a "caretaker" until Henry Morgenthau assumed the post in early 1934. Woodin died later that year.

Woodin was also a noted collector of coins, and his push to exempt fellow private collectors from the ban on gold ownership central to Roosevelt and Morgenthau's plans led a portion of the public to characterize him as a hypocrite and central figure in a relatively minor scandal of the day, but in the light of hindsight an the eventual unworkability of any plan to "dethrone gold", this criticism no longer carries the weight it once did.

However, as has been further brought to light in works such as David Stockman's The Great Deformation, and as the subject of a forthcoming biography by Dr. John Tepper Marlin, Woodin now appears as just one more player in a continuing "tragedy of errors" in which no one could offer a "solution" to a problem which could not be resolved until the imbalances and excesses of previous mistakes were addressed by the continuing actions of the markets over the following year.

[John Tepper Marlin]

Thanks for this post. As you say, Will Woodin does not deserve to have been forgotten, because he threw himself into the recovery and made a huge difference in the March-May 1933 period, the so-called "First Hundred Days". Possibly his illness is part of the reason that the momentum eased off after May.
A few comments on what you wrote:
1. Will Woodin was the third generation of Woodins in the forge/railway car business. The first William H. Woodin was the grandfather of Will Woodin the Treasury Secretary, and he started a forge in Berwick. He teamed up with Mr. Jackson and they started Jackson & Woodin. Col./Gen. Jackson and Clemuel Woodin were the second generation. Jackson died in 1880, leaving the field open for Will Woodin to inherit leadership of the Berwick plant and then ACF after the roll-up in 1899.
2. Your picture of Will Woodin's views is basically correct - he supported the New Deal. But he campaigned for Congress (unsuccessfully) as a hard money man and was never fully reconciled to going off the gold standard, and FDR was determined to do it. Woodin went along out of loyalty, and FDR probably had no choice. The gold standard was in the way of the recovery. Nixon and Ford finished off what was left of the gold standard, i.e., the fixed price of gold.
Thanks again for your post - it helps to get all the facts out where they can be checked.