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History of the Treasury
Secretaries of the Treasury
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William J. Duane
(1833)
President Jackson, searching for a Secretary who would
do his bidding, appointed William J. Duane (1780-1865) Secretary of the
Treasury in May 1833 after the shift of Secretary Louis McLane to the State
Department.  Jackson hoped that he could persuade Duane
to withdraw the government's deposits from the Second Bank of the United
States, which McLane had refused to do. Duane was opposed to the Bank in
principle and felt that it was unconstitutional and monopolistic, but he
recognized that the sudden removal of the government's funds from the Bank
would cause a panic affecting the farmer and the common man which would
"plunge the fiscal concerns of the country into chaos."
Duane also maintained that he had no right to withdraw
the funds without the consent of Congress, which had, in its previous
session, declared the Bank safe for government deposits. Jackson enlisted
the help of his Attorney General, Roger B. Taney, to present his argument
for the withdrawal of funds to the entire cabinet. Duane still refused
to take any action without the consent of Congress, and Jackson dismissed
him after only four months of service, declaring, "He is either the weakest
mortal, or the most strange composition I have ever met with."
About the Artist
Born in Warrenton, Virginia in 1847, Richard Norris
Brooke began his art studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
under Edmund Bonsell and James Reid Lambdin. In 1869 he competed for and
won the Chair of Fine Arts at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington,
Virginia, leaving that post in 1872 to accept an appointment as U.S. Consul
at La Rochelle, France. Before leaving France, Brooke spent three years
studying in Paris with Leon Bonnat, who was best known for his portraiture.
Brooke returned to the United States in 1879 and settled permanently in
Washington, D.C. An active member of the Washington art world, he was
commissioned to paint many portraits, both from life and from previous
paintings. His portrait of William J. Duane is a copy based on an as yet
unidentified earlier painting or engraving.
Office of the Curator
All rights reserved. 2001
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