George D. Gould
George D. Gould | |
---|---|
Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance | |
Assumed office May 1985 | |
President | Ronald Reagan |
Personal details | |
Born | George Sumner Bradford Dana Gould May 22, 1927 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Died | April 26, 2022 Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. | (aged 94)
Occupation | Financier and banker |
George Sumner Bradford Dana Gould (May 22, 1927 – April 26, 2022) was an American
Early life
Gould was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 22, 1927,[1] to Lillian Dana Sumner and Ernest Wellington Gould. His mother was related to Charles Sumner, a member of the United States Senate during the civil war era, while his father was an investor who focused on real estate and other commercial ventures. After Gould's mother died when he was five, he grew up with his two aunts.[2] He studied at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and then served in the army in the post-war years between 1945 and 1947. He was discharged as a second lieutenant.[3]
Gould studied at
Career
Gould started his career as a wealth manager for philanthropist
New York fiscal crisis
In 1975, when New York City was in the midst of a fiscal crisis and was on the brink of bankruptcy, Gould was invited by the then mayor Abraham Beame and was appointed a board member of the Municipal Assistance Corporation (MAC). Beame famously reached out to Gould by telephone at 1 a.m. and had him join him for breakfast a few hours later before getting him to join the MAC.[2][3] The group was tasked with managing the city's fiscal position and solvency, monitoring its spending and bond issuance. The New York Times described him as a "figure of calm" during the crisis.[3] He was made the chairman of the board of the MAC in 1979, but, resigned in 1980 due to differences with the governor Hugh Carey.[3][4][5] During this period, he was also appointed by New York state's governor as the chairman of the state's Housing Finance Agency.[2][3]
Undersecretary of the Treasury
In 1985, Gould was appointed by the then U.S. president,
High interest rates of the 1970s and early 1980s had resulted in
In the aftermath of the 1987 stock market crash, he helped shape the administration's response, including injecting capital and liquidity into the banking system.[6] He resigned from the position in 1988.[7]
Later career
After stepping down from the treasury, Gould worked with Klingenstein Fields, a fund management firm. He was also a director at the home mortgage funding provider Freddie Mac and was part of the company's corporate governance committee in 2003, when he and other directors were dismissed due to an accounting scam at the company.[2]
Personal life
Gould was married to Darcy Mead Damgard. He had three earlier marriages, two of which had ended in divorces, while the third, July Echols Gould, predeceased him in 1983.[2]
Gould died on April 26, 2022, at his home in Palm Beach, Florida.[1] He was 94 years old.[3][6]
References
- ^ Washington Post. May 5, 2022.
- ^ ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
- ^ a b c d Henry, David (May 4, 2022). "George Gould, DLJ Banker Who Served Reagan Treasury, Dies at 94". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 10, 2022.