AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION
The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) was established in 1923 as an
independent agency to "design, construct and maintain permanent U.S. military
cemeteries and memorials in foreign countries and to control the design of U.S.
war memorials in foreign countries by other sponsors ..." (1)
Chairman of the Board of Commissioners
1923 - 1948 John Joseph Pershing 1860 - 1948
(1) The ABMC had been preceded by the Battle Monuments Board,
established in 1921 within the Department of War.
FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
The Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, was established
in 1913 to "provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable
monetary and financial system".
Governors
1914 - 1916 Charles Sumner Hamlin 1861 - 1938
1916 - 1922 William Proctor Gould Harding 1864 - 1930
1923 - 1927 Daniel Richard Crissinger 1860 - 1942
1927 - 1930 Roy Archibald Young 1882 - 1960
1930 - 1933 Eugene Isaac Meyer 1875 - 1959
1933 - 1934 Eugene Robert Black 1898 - 1992
1934 - 1935 Marriner Stoddard Eccles 1890 - 1977
Chairman of the Board of Governors
1935 - 1948 Marriner Stoddard Eccles s.a.
FEDERAL SECURITY AGENCY
The establishment of the independent Federal Security Agency in 1939 brought
together in one administrative organisation the major offices responsible
for promoting and maintaining health, education and general welfare of the
American people.
Administrators
1939 - 1945 Paul Vories McNutt 1891 - 1955
1945 - 1947 Watson B. Miller 1878 - 1961
See also : Offices and Bureaus of the Federal Security AgencyFEDERAL WORKS AGENCY
The Federal Works Agency was established in 1939. It supervised several minor
administrations concerned with public works, which had before been part of
other agencies or departments.
Federal Works Administrators
1939 - 1941 John Michael Carmody 1881 - 1963
1941 - 1942 ...
1942 - 1949 Gen. Philip Bracken Fleming
See also : Offices and Bureaus of the Federal Works AgencyLIBRARY OF CONGRESS
The Library of Congress, the national library of the U.S., was created in
1800.
Librarians of Congress
1864 - 1897 Ainsworth Rand Spofford 1825 - 1908
1897 - 1899 John Russell Young 1840 - 1899
1899 - 1939 Herbert Putnam 1861 - 1955
1939 - 1944 Archibald MacLeish 1892 - 1982
1945 - 1953 Luther Harris Evans 1902 - 1981
MARITIME COMMISSION
A U.S. merchant marine was established at the end of the 18th century. There was
little government interference in its affairs until WWI when certain regulations
became necessary. Consequently the U.S. Shipping Board was established in 1916 as
an independent agency to regulate the U.S. ocean commerce, to supervising freight
and terminal facilities, etc. In 1934 the Board became a bureau - the U.S. Shipping
Board Bureau - in the Department of Commerce, but in 1936 it once again became an
independent agency, the U.S. Maritime Commission.
During WWII most of its tasks were transferred to the War Shipping AdministrationChairmen of the U.S. Shipping Board
1917 William Denman 1872 - 1959
1917 - 1919 Edward Nash Hurley 1864 - 1933
1920 - 1921 Adm. William Shepherd Benson 1855 - 1932
1921 - 1923 Albert Davis Lasker 1880 - 1952
1923 - 1923 Edward Philip Farley 1886 - 1956
1924 - 1933 Thomas Ventry O'Connor 1870 - 1935
1933 RearAdm. Hutch Ingham Cone 1871 - 1941
Directors of the Shipping Board Bureau
1934 Henry H. Heimann
1934 - 1936 James C. Peacock
Chairmen of the Maritime Commission
1936 - 1937 Henry Aristo Wiley 1867 - 1943
1937 - 1938 Joseph Patrick Kennedy 1888 - 1969
1938 - 1946 VAdm. Emory Scott Land, also Administrator
of the War Shipping Aministration 1879 - 1971
NATIONAL ARCHIVES ESTABLISHMENT
The National Archives Establishment was set up in 1934 in order to perform
archival services (selecting, preserving,...) for departments and agencies
of the U.S. Government. (2)
Archivists of the United States
1934 - 1941 Robert Digges Wimberley Connor 1878 - 1950
1941 - 1948 Solon Justus Buck 1884 - 1962
(2) Until then there had been no central archives office.
Since 1884 some prepatory work had however been done by
the American Historical Association
Presidents of the American Historical Association 1884 - 1934
1884 - 1885 Andrew Dickson White 1832 - 1918
1885 - 1886 George Bancroft 1800 - 1891
1886 - 1887 Justin Winsor 1831 - 1897
1887 - 1888 William Frederick Poole 1821 - 1894
1889 Charles Kendall Adams 1835 - 1902
1890 John Jay
1891 William Wirt Henry 1831 - 1900
1892 James Burrill Angell 1829 - 1916
1893 - 1894 Henry Adams 1838 - 1918
1895 George Frisbie Hoar 1826 - 1904
1896 Richard Salter Storrs 1821 - 1900
1897 James Schouler 1839 - 1920
1898 George Park Fisher 1827 - 1909
1899 James Ford Rhodes 1848 - 1927
1900 Edward Eggleston 1837 - 1902
1901 Charles Francis Adams 1835 - 1915
1902 Alfred Thayer Mahan 1840 - 1914
1903 Henry Charles Lea 1825 - 1909
1904 Goldwin Smith 1823 - 1910
1905 John Bach McMaster 1852 - 1932
1906 Simeon E. Baldwin 1840 - 1927
1907 John Franklin Jameson 1859 - 1937
1908 George Burton Adams 1851 - 1925
1909 Albert Bushnell Hart 1854 - 1943
1910 Frederick Jackson Turner 1861 - 1932
1911 William Mimmigan Sloane 1850 - 1928
1912 Theodore Roosevelt 1858 - 1919
1913 William Archibald Dunning 1857 - 1922
1914 Andrew Cunningham McLaughlin 1861 - 1947
1915 Henry Morse Stephens 1857 - 1919
1916 George Lincoln Burr 1857 - 1938
1917 Worthington Chauncey Ford 1858 - 1941
1918 - 1919 William Roscoe Thayer 1859 - 1923
1920 Edward Channing 1856 - 1931
1921 Jean Jules Jusserand 1855 - 1932
1922 Charles Homer Haskins 1870 - 1937
1923 Edward Potts Cheyney 1861 - 1947
1924 Thomas Woodrow Wilson 1856 - 1924
1924 - 1925 Charles Maclean Andrews 1863 - 1943
1926 Dana Carleton Munro 1866 - 1933
1927 Henry Osborn Taylor 1856 - 1941
1928 James H. Breasted 1865 - 1935
1929 James Harvey Robinson 1863 - 1936
1930 Evarts Boutell Greene 1870 - 1947
1931 Carl Lotus Becker 1873 - 1945
1932 Herbert Eugene Bolton 1870 - 1953
1933 Charles Austin Beard 1874 - 1948
1934 William Edward Dodd 1869 - 1940
SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM
The Selective Service System was established as a War Agency in 1940 to register
the U.S. citizens liable for military service.
It was an independent agency except for the period 1942 - 1943 when it was briefly
a bureau of the War Manpower Commission.
Directors
1940 - 1941 Clarence Addison Dykstra 1883 - 1950
1941 - 1970 MajGen. Lewis Blaine Hershey 1893 - 1977
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
The Smithsonian Institution, which was to become the world's largest museum
complex, was established in 1846 as an quasi independent agency, after the
U.S. had accepted, in 1835, the gift of the Englishman James Smithson (1765 -
1829), who had bequeathed the whole of his property to the U.S., on condition
that it was used to found an establishment "for tbe increase and diffusion of
knowledge".
Chancellors (3)
(3) The Chief Justices of the U.S. were ex officio Chancellors
of the Smithsonian Institution.
1865 - 1873 Salmon Portland Chase 1808 - 1873
1873 - 1874 Nathan Clifford* 1803 - 1881
1874 - 1888 Morrison Remick Waite 1816 - 1888
1888 - 1889 Samuel Freeman Miller* 1816 - 1890
1889 - 1910 Melville Weston Fuller 1833 - 1910
1910 - 1921 Edward Douglass White 1845 - 1921
1921 - 1930 William Howard Taft 1857 - 1930
1930 - 1941 Charles Evans Hughes 1862 - 1948
1941 - 1946 Harlan Fiske Stone 1872 - 1946
Secretaries
1846 - 1878 Joseph Henry 1797 - 1878
1878 - 1887 Spencer Fullerton Baird 1823 - 1887
1887 - 1906 Samuel Pierpoint Langley 1834 - 1906
1907 - 1927 Charles Doolittle Walcott 1850 - 1927
1928 - 1944 Charles Greeley Abbot 1872 - 1973
1944 - 1952 Alexander Wetmore 1886 - 1978
TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was created in 1933 to develop the
Tennessee River system in the interest of navigation, flood control and
national defense and to generate and sell surplus electricity to avert waste
of water power. It also included the conservation and preservation of the
land resources of the region it covered.
Authority of the TVA extended over the whole Tennessee Valley, including
parts of seven U.S. States (Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North
Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia)
Chairmen of the Board of Directors
1933 - 1938 Arthur Ernest Morgan 1878 - 1975
1938 - 1941 Harcourt Alexander Morgan 1867 - 1950
1941 - 1946 David Eli Lilienthal 1899 - 1981
__________________________________________________________________________________
See also : Selective Service SystemFOREIGN ECONOMIC ADMINISTRATION
The Foreign Economic Administration (FEA) - entrusted with the coordination
of all economic relations with foreign countries during the war period - was
established in 1943. At the moment of its creation it incorporated :
- the Office of Economic Warfare, a "war agency" with similar tasks, set up
in 1943. This office incorporated several pre-existing offices such as :
- the Board of Economic Warfare, successor to the Economic Defence Board,
the first "war agency" which had been in charge of foreign economic war
affairs. (Both established in 1941)
- the U.S. Commercial Co.
- the Rubber Development Corp.
- the Petroleum Reserve Corp.
- the Export-Import Bank
- some foreign economy related offices of the Department of Commerce.
- the Office of Lend-Lease Administration, a "war agency" established in 1941
and entrusted with lending, leasing or selling defence equipement to allied
nations.
- some foreign economy related offices of the State Department. (1)Chairman of the Economic Defence Board and of the Board of Economic Warfare
1941 - 1943 Vice President Henry Agard Wallace 1888 - 1965
Administrator of the Office of Lend-Lease Administration
1941 - 1943 Edward Riley Stettinius Jr. 1900 - 1949
Administrator of the Office of Economic Warfare and of the Foreign Economic
Administration
1943 - 1945 Leo Thomas Crowley 189. -
(1) Also concerned by this tranfert was the semi-independent Office ofForeign Relief and Rehabilitation Operations, a "war office" set up
in 1942 and in charge of all measures (food, housing, ...) for the
relief of war victims abroad.
Administrator
1942 - 1945 Herbert Henry Lehman 1878 - 1963
OFFICE OF THE ALIEN PROPERTY CUSTODIAN
An indepedent Office of the Alien Property Custodian (ABC) was created in 1942 out
of the Alien Property Bureau of the Department of Justice.
It was entrusted with the management of business enterprises, patents, copyrights,
trademarks and ships of all enemy governments or nationals in the U.S.
Alien Property Custodians
1942 - 1944 Leo Thomas Crowley 189. -
1944 - 1946 James Edward Markham 1894 -
OFFICE OF CENSORSHIP
The Office of Censorship was established in 1941 to censor communications
passing between the U.S. and foreign countries or between foreign countries
by means of transportation that touched U.S. territory.
In 1942 the office also incorporated the military censorship branches, which
had been set up within the War- and Navy departments.
Director and Chief Censor
1941 - 1945 Byron Price
OFFICE OF ECONOMIC STABILIZATION
The Office of Economic Stabilization was established in 1942 to fix wages
and prices, to control wartime inflation and reduce economic dislocation.
Directors
1942 - 1943 James Francis Byrnes 1879 - 1972
1943 - 1945 Frederick "Fred" Moore Vinson 1890 - 1953
1945 - 1946 William H. Davis
OFFICE OF INTER - AMERICAN AFFAIRS
The Office for Coordination of Commercial and Cultural Relations between the
American Republics (OCCCRBAR) was established in 1940 to promote increased
inter- American cooperation, especially in commercial and economic areas.
It was renamed Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (OCIAA)
in 1941 and Office for Inter - American Affairs in 1945.
Coordinator of OCCCCRBAR and OCIAA
1940 - 1944 Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller 1908 - 1979
Director of the Office for Inter - American Affairs
1945 - 1946 Wallace K. Harrison
PETROLEUM ADMINISTRATION FOR WAR
The Office of the Petroleum Coordinator for National Defense was set up
in 1941 to coordinate all defense activities concerned with the production,
refining, transporting and marketing of petroleum. It was renamed Office of
the Petroleum Coordinator for War in 1942 and soon afterwards, after its
tasks had been expanded, it became the Petroleum Administration for War.
Coordinator (1941 - 1942) and Administrator (1942 - 1946)
1941 - 1946 Harold LeClaire Ickes, Secretary of the
Interior 1874 - 1952
OFFICE OF PRICE ADMINISTRATION
The Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply (OPACS) - renamed Office of
Price Administration (OPA) in 1942 - was established in 1941 to prevent wartime
inflation by stabilizing prices. The OPA was also empowered to ration scarce goods
(oil, coffee, meat, ...)
Administrators
1941 - 1942 Leon Henderson 1895 - 1986
1943 Prentiss Marsh Brown 1889 - 1973
1943 - 1946 Chester Bliss Bowles 1901 - 1986
OFFICE OF WAR MOBILIZATION AND RECONVERSION
The Office of War Mobilization was established in 1942 to coordinate all U.S.
economic activities related to the war effort.
In 1944 its powers were extended to problems of the reconversion to peace and
it was consequentely renamed Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion. (1)Director of War Mobilization
1943 - 1944 James Francis Byrnes s.a.
Directors of War Mobilization and Reconversion
1944 - 1945 James Franncis Byrnes s.a.
1945 Frederick "Fred" Moore Vinson s.a.
1945 - 1946 John Wesley Snyder 1895 - 1985
(1) At the same time it also absorbed the Office of Contract Settlement
which had existed for some months.
During this period Byrnes, who now controlled all economic activities
of the country and who was only responsible to the U.S. President,
became known as the "Assistant President"
WAR SHIPPING ADMINISTRATION
In 1942 most functions of the U.S. Maritime Commission (the training of crews, the
merchant fleet operations, etc ...) were transferred to a new Emergency War Agency,
the War Shipping Administration.
Administrator of the War Shipping Administration
1942 - 1946 VAdm. Emory Scott Land, Chairman of the
U.S. Maritime Commission 1879 - 1971
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