Siddhesh Joshi (Editor)

George L Harrison

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Preceded by
  
Benjamin Strong Jr.

Succeeded by
  
Allan Sproul

Name
  
George Harrison

Signature
  

Nationality
  
United States



Born
  
January 26, 1887 San Francisco, California (
1887-01-26
)

Alma mater
  
Yale University (1909) Harvard Law School

Died
  
March 5, 1958, Washington, D.C., United States

Education
  
Harvard Law School, Yale University

George Leslie Harrison (January 26, 1887 – March 5, 1958) was an American banker, insurance executive and advisor to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson during World War II.

Biography

He was born in San Francisco, California on January 26, 1887. In 1909, at Yale, he was elected to the Skull and Bones secret society. He was graduated from Yale University in 1910 and Harvard Law School in 1913. After earning his law degree, Harrison became law clerk for one year to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.

After serving as general counsel to the Federal Reserve Board, Harrison served as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for 13 years starting in 1928. He left in 1941 to become president of New York Life Insurance Company. During World War II, he was Secretary Henry L. Stimson's special assistant for matters relating to the development of the atomic bomb. He served with Stimson on the eight-member Interim Committee which examined problems expected to result from the bomb's creation and which recommended direct military use of the bomb against Japan without specific warning. Harrison chaired the committee when Stimson was absent.

He married the widow of Rear Admiral Cary T. Grayson, who was the former Alice Gertrude Gordon.

Harrison returned to his position at New York Life after the war, becoming chairman of the company's board in 1948.

He died of a cerebral hemorrhage in New York City in 1958 and is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, DC.

References

George L. Harrison Wikipedia