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John J. Raskob
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John J. Raskob
John Jakob Raskob, KCSG (March 19, 1879 – October 15, 1950) was a financial executive and businessman for DuPont and General Motors, and the builder of the Empire State Building. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1928 to 1932 and a key supporter of Alfred E. Smith's candidacy for President of the United States.
After Franklin D. Roosevelt became president, Raskob became a prominent opponent of the New Deal through his support of a number of anti-Roosevelt organizations such as the American Liberty League. Raskob was also a leader in the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment and a Treasurer for the Knights of Malta.
Raskob was born to John and Anna Frances (née Moran) Raskob, in Lockport, New York, where his father ran a successful cigar-production business. His parents were of German and Irish descent, respectively. The Raskob family originated in the Eifel region in Germany. Raskob's grandfather was an emigrant from the village of Großlittgen in the Eifel. During his studies at both parochial and public schools, Raskob delivered newspapers, worked in seasonal agriculture, participated in local theater and was involved in the Catholic community. [clarification needed]
He entered a local business school after his high school graduation but dropped out to support his family through secretarial work following his father's death in 1898. [citation needed]
Raskob was hired in 1901 by Pierre S. du Pont as a personal secretary. In 1911, he became assistant treasurer of DuPont, in 1914 treasurer, and in 1918 president for finance of both DuPont and General Motors. Raskob had been an early investor in General Motors and had engineered DuPont's ownership of 43% of GM, purchased from the financially troubled William C. Durant.
While with GM, he led the creation of GMAC (now Ally Financial), the company that allowed GM dealers to offer installment credit directly to customers. He also promoted the use of standard financial statistics to measure the performance of different operations within a diversified company, primarily through his associate Donaldson Brown.
Raskob held the head financial job at both GM and DuPont until 1928, when he resigned from GM in a dispute with chairman Alfred P. Sloan.
In the 1920s, Raskob was a big proponent of investing in stocks. He gave an interview to Samuel Crowther for Ladies Home Journal in which he suggested every American could become wealthy by investing $15 per month in common stocks, at a time when the average American's weekly salary was between $17 and $22. The article, titled "Everybody Ought to be Rich", was published just two months before the Wall Street crash of 1929.
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John J. Raskob
John Jakob Raskob, KCSG (March 19, 1879 – October 15, 1950) was a financial executive and businessman for DuPont and General Motors, and the builder of the Empire State Building. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1928 to 1932 and a key supporter of Alfred E. Smith's candidacy for President of the United States.
After Franklin D. Roosevelt became president, Raskob became a prominent opponent of the New Deal through his support of a number of anti-Roosevelt organizations such as the American Liberty League. Raskob was also a leader in the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment and a Treasurer for the Knights of Malta.
Raskob was born to John and Anna Frances (née Moran) Raskob, in Lockport, New York, where his father ran a successful cigar-production business. His parents were of German and Irish descent, respectively. The Raskob family originated in the Eifel region in Germany. Raskob's grandfather was an emigrant from the village of Großlittgen in the Eifel. During his studies at both parochial and public schools, Raskob delivered newspapers, worked in seasonal agriculture, participated in local theater and was involved in the Catholic community. [clarification needed]
He entered a local business school after his high school graduation but dropped out to support his family through secretarial work following his father's death in 1898. [citation needed]
Raskob was hired in 1901 by Pierre S. du Pont as a personal secretary. In 1911, he became assistant treasurer of DuPont, in 1914 treasurer, and in 1918 president for finance of both DuPont and General Motors. Raskob had been an early investor in General Motors and had engineered DuPont's ownership of 43% of GM, purchased from the financially troubled William C. Durant.
While with GM, he led the creation of GMAC (now Ally Financial), the company that allowed GM dealers to offer installment credit directly to customers. He also promoted the use of standard financial statistics to measure the performance of different operations within a diversified company, primarily through his associate Donaldson Brown.
Raskob held the head financial job at both GM and DuPont until 1928, when he resigned from GM in a dispute with chairman Alfred P. Sloan.
In the 1920s, Raskob was a big proponent of investing in stocks. He gave an interview to Samuel Crowther for Ladies Home Journal in which he suggested every American could become wealthy by investing $15 per month in common stocks, at a time when the average American's weekly salary was between $17 and $22. The article, titled "Everybody Ought to be Rich", was published just two months before the Wall Street crash of 1929.
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