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History of the Treasury
Secretaries of the Treasury
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C. Douglas Dillon
(1961 - 1965)
A Republican and a former Wall Street banker, C. Douglas
Dillon (b.1910) was the "unrepentant Republican in the midst of Kennedy's
Democratic cabinet" and the most influential member of President Kennedy's
economic policy making team. He had previously served as Undersecretary
of State for Economic Affairs under President Eisenhower, where he established
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Respected for his keen mind, which quickly discerned
trouble spots in the economy, Dillon stressed that the United States had
not been growing fast enough and that the nation's most pressing problem
was the trade deficit. Secretary Dillon devoted himself to alleviating
the intractable trade deficit by controlling inflation and encouraging
exports. He also concentrated on promoting the Kennedy tax program, which
consisted of sweeping tax cuts intended to encourage economic growth.
He was instrumental in convincing President Johnson, after Kennedy's death,
to push the taxcut through the Senate, and it was passed by Congress,
with some alterations, in 1964. Dillon resigned the next year to return
to private finance.
About the Artist
Charles J. Fox is a pseudonym for Leo Fox of New
York City who made a business of soliciting commissions from leading figures
of society, business, and government and furnishing portraits under his
pseudonym signature. The portraits were actually painted by Irving Resnikoff
(b. 1897), a Russian immigrant artist, who executed the paintings from
photographs. Phyllis Dillon, wife of the former Secretary, was so pleased
with her husband's portrait that she recommended Fox to paint a portrait
of John F. Kennedy. A 1965 letter to Fox from Ethel Kennedy expresses
her satisfaction with a "Fox" portrait of her brother-in-law, John, and
also praises the Dillon portrait: "Your portrait of Secretary Dillon is
so wonderful --- it just looks as though he is going to get right up from
his chair and step over to impart some of the hearty warmth of his glowing
personality."
Office of the Curator
All rights reserved. 2001
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