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History of the Treasury
Secretaries of the Treasury
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George M. Bibb
(1844 - 1845)
George M. Bibb (1776-1859) was appointed President Tyler's
fourth Secretary of the Treasury in 1844, upon the resignation of John C.
Spencer. He was a very aged man when he assumed the Treasury portfolio,
dressing "in antique style, with kneebreeches."
His Annual Report on the State of the Finances for
1844 consisted of an elaborate compilation of statistics detailing the
financial history of the nation since 1789. In addition, he presented
a solid argument for the establishment of a "sinking fund," accumulated
through regular deposits and used to pay the interest and principal on
the national debt. Bibb advocated using Treasury as surplus revenue from
customs and internal revenue collection to supply the sinking fund. Such
a fund had been used effectively to reduce the deficit from 1789 to 1835
but Bibb was unable to revive it. After serving less than a year, Bibb
resigned at the end of Tyler's administration in 1845.
About the Artist
Henry Ulke began his artistic career in Berlin, as
a court painter under Professor Wach. While in Berlin he became associated
with the revolutionary party and enlisted in the revolutionary army. He
immigrated to New York in 1852 and moved six years later to Washington,
D.C. where he established a successful portrait business. In his studio
on Pennsylvania Avenue he made both photographic and painted portraits
of eminent members of Washington's social and political worlds. Many of
his oil portraits were, in fact, based on his own photographs, which he
used as preliminary sketches. However, Ulke's 1880 portrait of George
M. Bibb, painted thirty-five years after Bibb's tenure as Secretary, was
probably copied from some earlier painting.
Office of the Curator
All rights reserved. 2001
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