Marriner S. Eccles
Marriner Stoddard Eccles | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date Logan, Utah, U.S. |
| Died | December 18, 1977 (aged 87) Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Economist, banker |
| Years active | 1910s–1951 |
| Known for | 7th chairman of the Federal Reserve (1934–1948) |
Marriner Stoddard Eccles (September 9, 1890 – December 18, 1977) was a prominent American economist and banker who held the position of the 7th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1934 until 1948. Following his tenure as chairman, he continued to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors until 1951.
Eccles is primarily recognized for his leadership of the Federal Reserve during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration and for his early endorsement and application of John Maynard Keynes’ ideas regarding "insufficient aggregate demand" throughout his service.[1] In his autobiography Beckoning Frontiers (1951), Eccles articulated:
Mass production necessitates mass consumption, which in turn requires a broad distribution of wealth to enable purchasing power. However, by 1929–1930, an enormous siphoning mechanism had concentrated a growing portion of wealth into the hands of a few individuals. The remainder could only participate by incurring debt. Once their credit was exhausted, the economic activity ceased.[2]
Early life
Marriner Eccles was born on September 9, 1890, in Logan, Utah, as the eldest child of nine born to Ellen (Stoddard) Eccles, the second wife of businessman David Eccles. Additionally, David had twelve children from his first marriage. Marriner received his education through public schools in Baker, Oregon, and later attended Brigham Young College. He also completed a mission for the Latter-day Saint church in Scotland. While employed at a family business located in Blacksmith Fork Canyon, he learned about his father’s passing.
Career
Following his father’s death, Eccles undertook the restructuring and unification of the family’s industrial conglomerate and banking interests, growing it into a western banking network known as Eccles-Browning Affiliated Banks. By age 22, he had already become a millionaire. His enterprises endured several bank run crises during the Great Depression, with Eccles playing an instrumental role in shaping the Emergency Banking Act of 1933 as well as helping establish the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
After a short tenure at the Treasury Department, where he had backing from Secretary Henry Morgenthau Jr., President Roosevelt appointed him as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. He was reappointed in 1936, 1940, and again in 1944, serving until 1948. In that same year, Roosevelt designated him for an additional fourteen-year term on the Federal Reserve Board; Eccles remained until he stepped down in 1951 following the 1951 Accord. He also played a significant part in post-World War II negotiations at Bretton Woods that led to the creation of both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Upon returning to Utah in 1951, Eccles resumed management of his business interests and penned his memoirs titled Beckoning Frontiers: Public and Personal Recollections. He consolidated family industrial holdings into philanthropic foundations that promote education, arts, humanitarian causes, and scientific research throughout Utah and the broader Intermountain West. Marriner Eccles passed away in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1977 and was laid to rest at Larkin Sunset Lawn Mausoleum.
Personal life
In 1913, Marriner Eccles entered into marriage with May Campbell Young. Their union proved to be troubled, largely because Eccles devoted little attention to the relationship. Although their marriage legally lasted 35 years until their divorce in 1948, the couple separated shortly after wedding and spent most of their lives living apart. Notably, his grand-niece, Hope Eccles, is married to Randal Quarles, who formerly served as Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve.
Legacy
Eccles is acknowledged as a pioneering proponent of demand-side stimulus measures aimed at alleviating the hardships of the Great Depression. During congressional hearings, he faced criticism from Congresswoman Jessie Sumner, who accused him of endorsing President Roosevelt’s progressive policies and labeled him as sympathetic to socialism. He gained recognition as a champion of Keynesian economic principles, even though his perspectives anticipated John Maynard Keynes’ 1936 publication The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. Eccles prioritized fiscal intervention over monetary policy, effectively placing Federal Reserve actions under Treasury Department influence.
Following 1935, despite the introduction of new monetary instruments, the Federal Reserve's conduct remained largely consistent under Eccles’ guidance. His endorsement of the 1951 Federal Reserve-Treasury Accord is sometimes interpreted as a departure from his earlier economic stances.
In 1972, both Eccles and his brother George S. Eccles were honored with the American Academy of Achievement’s Golden Plate Award. The Federal Reserve’s main office in Washington, D.C., was named the Eccles Building in 1982 to commemorate his contributions; this designation was included in the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act sponsored by Senator Jake Garn and Congressman Fernand St. Germain.
Further reading
- Eccles, Marriner S., and Sidney Hyman. Beckoning Frontiers: Public and Personal Recollections (1951), Alfred A. Knopf.
- Nelson, Mark Wayne. Jumping the Abyss: Marriner S. Eccles and the New Deal, 1933–1940 (University of Utah Press, 2017), 424 pp.
- McCormick, John S. "The Great Depression," in Utah History Encyclopedia (University of Utah Press, 1994).
- Meltzer, Allan H. A History of the Federal Reserve – Volume 1: 1913–1951 (University of Chicago Press, 2003), pp. 415–738.
- Friedman, Milton, and Anna J. Schwartz. A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960 (University of Chicago Press, 1993), pp. 523–534.
External links
- University of Utah Biography
- Biography, bookrags.com
- Hyman, Sydney, Marriner S. Eccles: Private Entrepreneur and Public Servant (Stanford Graduate School of Business, 1976)
- Biography on Richmond Fed website
- "People Who Made a Difference: Marriner S. Eccles", history.utah.gov
- 1933 Senate Testimony
- Papers of Marriner S. Eccles digitized from University of Utah holdings
- Marriner S Eccles Papers Digital Collection
- Statements and Speeches of Marriner S. Eccles
- Marriner S. Eccles papers, 1910–1985
- Marriner S. Eccles photograph collection, 1940–1968
- Marriner S. Eccles Digital photograph collection
- Treasury-Federal Reserve Accord – Marriner Stoddard Eccles – Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
- ↑ Timberlake, Richard, "The Tale of Another Chairman: ... [T]he legacy of W.M. Martin and Marriner Eccles, former Fed chairmen", The Region (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis magazine), June 1999. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).