John Wesley Snyder (US Cabinet Secretary)

John W. Snyder
painted by Greta Kempton
54th United States Secretary of the Treasury
In office June 25, 1946 – January 20, 1953
President	Harry S. Truman
Preceded by	Fred M. Vinson
Succeeded by	George M. Humphrey
Personal details
Born	John Wesley Snyder June 21, 1895 Jonesboro, Arkansas, U.S.
Died	October 8, 1985 (aged 90) Seabrook Island, South Carolina, U.S.
Resting place	Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Evlyn Cook Snyder (m. January 5, 1920 - d.)
Children	Edith Drucie Snyder
Alma mater	Vanderbilt University
Signature

John Wesley Snyder (June 21, 1895 – October 8, 1985) was an American businessman. He was Secretary of the Treasury in the Truman administration.

Biography

Snyder was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on June 21, 1895, to Jesse Hartwell Snyder and his wife Ellen (Hatcher). He studied at Vanderbilt University's engineering school for one year before joining the Army during World War I.

Snyder moved to Washington in the early 1930s with a broad background in banking and business. He held several public and private offices including National Bank Receiver in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Loan Administrator, and Director of War Mobilization and Reconversion. In the last office he played a leading part in the transition of the USA's economy from a wartime to a peacetime basis.

Snyder was appointed the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury in 1946 by his close personal friend President Harry S. Truman, with whom he had served in World War I. His task as Secretary was to establish a stable postwar economy. The main points of his program were maintaining confidence in the credit of the government, reducing the federal debt, and encouraging public thrift through investment in U.S. Savings Bonds. He retired from government in 1953 at the end of Truman's second term.

Snyder died in Seabrook Island, South Carolina, on October 8, 1985, at the age of 90, and was buried in Washington National Cathedral.

Snyder (right) as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, with the Truman cabinet, 1949.

References

• Oral History Interview with John W. Snyder, at the Truman Library

External Links

• A selection of Snyder's papers related to the 1951 Accord, are available on the Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research
• Finding aid for Snyder's papers held at the Truman Presidential Library