
Hugh McCulloch
Former United States Secretary of the Treasury
Education
- law - Boston at Fort Wayne
Overview
Hugh McCulloch was an American financier who played a central role in financing the American Civil War. He served two non-consecutive terms as U.S. Treasury Secretary under three presidents. He was originally opposed to the creation of a system of national banks, but his reputation as head of the Bank of Indiana 1857 to 1863 persuaded the Treasury to bring him in to supervise the new system as Comptroller of the Currency 1863–65. As Secretary of the Treasury 1865–69 he reduced and funded the gigantic Civil War debt of the union, and reestablished the federal taxation system across the former Confederate States of America. He tried but failed to make a rapid return to the gold standard.
He was the last surviving member of the Lincoln Cabinet.
Early Life
Hugh McCulloch Born December 7, 1808 in Kennebunk, Maine, he was the son of Hugh McCulloch Sr., one of the largest shipbuilders in New England, and Abial Perkins. He was educated at Thornton Academy in Saco, Maine, and attended Bowdoin College for two years, leaving due to ill health. He taught school, then studied law in Boston, and in 1833 began practicing law at Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was cashier and manager of the Fort Wayne branch of the state chartered Bank of Indiana and president of the larger organization from 1835 to 1857, and president of its successor, the privately owned Bank of Indiana, from 1857 to 1863. Despite his early opposition to the National Banking Act of 1862, he was selected by Salmon P. Chase to be the first Comptroller of the Currency in 1863. During McCulloch's 22 months in office, 868 national banks were chartered and no failures occurred. As the first Comptroller, McCulloch recommended major changes in the banking law and the resulting National Banking Act of 1864 remains the foundation of the national banking system.
Career
- United States - Former Secretary of the Treasury