George S. Boutwell (1818-1905) had spent a long career in public service, including tours of duty as the first Commissioner of Internal Revenue (1862-1863) and as a Congressman (1863-1869), before being appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant as Secretary of the Treasury in 1869. His chief objectives as Secretary were to improve the organization of the Department and to continue reducing the national debt. Boutwell set up a system for the manufacture of money which made it easier to detect counterfeit currency and he reorganized the Mint, which became part of the Treasury Department in 1873 after seventy-four years as an independent agency. He also instituted an efficient system of bookkeeping and accounting for the customs houses.
Shortly after his appointment, Boutwell had to rise to the challenge of the infamous "Black Friday", September 23, 1869, when speculators on Wall Street tried to corner the gold market. He successfully blocked their scheme by releasing great quantities of Treasury gold and thereby flooding the market. Boutwell left Treasury in 1873 to return to the Senate.
- Text Courtesy of the Office
of the Curator
Forgotten Founders Historic Documents and Coins of Freedom - By Stanley
L. Klos - Last Exhbit at the 2008 GOP Convention:
http://www.pinellasrepublican.org/
Forgotten Founders Historic Documents and Coins of Freedom - By Stanley
L. Klos
Uncommon Sense: President Obama and
US China Trade 1784-2009
The United Colonies 1st
government began in a Philadelphia Tavern
and the United States 1st federal government ended in a
NYC Tavern!
The Founders convened the government in 11 different capitol buildings and
experienced 15 years of challenges that
included war,
hyper-inflation, a failed
constitution, judicial corruption, armed citizen and U.S. Army rebellions.
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