Eccles, Marriner Stoddard

(1890-1977)

   Born in Utah and a graduate of Brigham Young College in 1909, Marriner Eccles took over his family’s businesses following his father’s death in 1912. Together with his brother and other associates, he created the Eccles-Browning Bank in 1924 and the First Security Corporation in 1928. Established as a successful and influential banker, Eccles helped to draft the Emergency Banking Act of 1933 and joined the Treasury as an assistant to Henry Morgenthau in 1934. In 1935, he became chair of the Federal Reserve. In this capacity, Eccles encouraged the application of the theories of John Maynard Keynes. He continued to have a significant influence throughout World War II and afterward took part in the discussions at the Bretton Woods Conference that led to the creation of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in 1946. Eccles also urged support of the Marshall Plan in 1947. Although he was not reappointed as chair of the Federal Reserve, he stayed on as vice chairman until 1951. Afterward, he returned to his private business and established the Marriner S. Eccles Library and Fellowship in Political Economy at the University of Utah. The Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D.C., is named in his honor.