Who is mellon

But among these figures, Mellon was unique in that he excelled in four fields of endeavor: as a businessman and banker; as a politician and statesman; as an art collector; and as a philanthropist. The Mellons were Protestant immigrants from Northern Ireland who had settled in western Pennsylvania in At an early age, Andrew joined his father Thomas, and his brother Richard, in the management of the family bank, T.

Mellon and Sons, which soon became the prime financial agent in the transformation of western Pennsylvania into one of the richest industrial regions in the United States during the forty years before the First World War.

He rarely interested himself in the details of such businesses, but he acquired extensive holdings, which meant that by he was one of the richest men in the United States. But Mellon was still almost unknown outside Pittsburgh, and it was only his appointment as Secretary of the Treasury in by Warren Harding which turned him into a national figure.

He had long been active in Republican politics in Pennsylvania, he was strongly opposed to the League of Nations, and he delighted in bringing business practices into government. During his long period of office, Mellon cut taxes, enforced Prohibition, and presided over a period of such unprecedented financial prosperity that he was hailed as the greatest Treasury Secretary since Alexander Hamilton.

The Depression resulted in a reversal of public sentiment, so that those of his policies which had once been applauded by the majority were later cited as illustrations of favoritism and special interest and perhaps even as causal factors in the magnitude of the Depression. Mellon died in Southampton, N. Mellon spoke for himself in Taxation: The People's Business There is no entirely acceptable biography of Mellon. Philip H.

Love, Andrew W. See also William L. Denton, The Mellons of Pittsburgh All rights reserved. Industrial Titans, Revolutionary Philanthropists Because Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon shared their wealth, higher education would never be the same. Founders, forward. We're celebrating our past by looking into the future — together.

Kennedy Lyndon B. Bush Bill Clinton George W. Help inform the discussion Support the Miller Center. University of Virginia Miller Center. Andrew W. Mellon —