William J Duane

Early life

Duane was born on May 9, 1780 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland, Duane emigrated to the United States with his parents, William Duane, and Catherine Corcoran in 1796, settling in Philadelphia. He assisted his father in publishing the Aurora, a pro-Jeffersonian Philadelphia newspaper, until 1806. He became an influential lawyer and served several terms in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, becoming one of the most powerful state politicians in Pennsylvania at the time. His father-in-law was Richard Bache, Sr., a marine insurance underwriter and importer in Philadelphia. Bache served as United States Postmaster General from 1776 to 1782. His mother-in-law was Sarah Franklin Bache, the daughter of Benjamin Franklin. He was married on December 31, 1805 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Deborah Franklin Bache, who was born on October 1, 1781 in Philadelphia, and died on February 12, 1863 in Philadelphia.

Secretary of the Treasury

In 1833, President Andrew Jackson appointed Duane Secretary of the Treasury. In 1833, in the midst of the Bank War, Jackson attempted to remove federal deposits from the Second Bank of the United States, whose money-lending functions were taken over by the legions of local and state banks that materialized across America, thus drastically increasing credit and speculation. Jackson's moves were greatly controversial. He removed his moderately pro-Bank Treasury Secretary Louis McLane, having him serve instead as Secretary of State, replacing Edward Livingston. On May 29, he replaced McLane with Duane. However, Duane also refused to remove the deposits. As a result, Jackson fired him in September. He replaced him with Attorney General Roger B. Taney, a strong opponent of the Bank. Under Taney, the deposits began to be removed.

Duane defended his own position in his book Narrative and Correspondence Concerning the Removal of the Deposites, and Occurrences Connected Therewith, published in 1838.