Paul H. O'Neill | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2001 | |
| 72ndUnited States Secretary of the Treasury | |
| In office January 20, 2001 – December 31, 2002 | |
| President | George W. Bush |
| Deputy | Kenneth W. Dam |
| Preceded by | Lawrence Summers |
| Succeeded by | John W. Snow |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Paul Henry O'Neill (1935-12-04)December 4, 1935 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | April 18, 2020(2020-04-18) (aged 84) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Nancy O'Neill (née Jo Wolfe) |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | California State University, Fresno (BA) Indiana University Bloomington (MPA) |
| Signature |  |
O'Neill testifies on U.S. contributions to international programs at aSenate Appropriations subcommittee hearing Recorded March 19, 2002 | |
Paul Henry O'Neill (December 4, 1935 – April 18, 2020) was an American businessman and government official who served as the 72ndUnited States secretary of the treasury for part of PresidentGeorge W. Bush's first term, from January 2001 until his resignation in December 2002.[1] Prior to his term as Secretary, O'Neill was chairman and CEO of industrial giantAlcoa and chairman of theRAND Corporation.
O'Neill was born inSt. Louis, Missouri, the son of Gaynald Elsie (née Irvin) and John Paul O'Neill, an army sergeant.[2] His father claimed that he was from Scotland and that he did not know where his family was anymore. A long time after his death, however, Paul discovered that he was actually from the Netherlands and was originally named Piet Kalfsterman, though it is not known why he lied to his family about his background.[3]
Due to his father's transfers, the family had to change residences often. They lived in Illinois, Hawaii, New Mexico and Alaska. As a teenager, Paul worked part-time jobs including as a paperboy and as a clerk at a convenience store.[3] He graduated fromAnchorage High School inAnchorage, Alaska in 1954. While in Alaska, he lived with his parents onFort Richardson, a military base in Anchorage. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics fromCalifornia State University, Fresno, studied economics atClaremont Graduate University in 1961, and received aMaster of Public Administration fromIndiana University Bloomington, from a school renamed in his honor, thePaul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.[4][5]
O'Neill began his public service as a computer systems analyst with theUnited States Department of Veterans Affairs, where he served from 1961 to 1966. He joined theUnited States Office of Management and Budget in 1967 and served as its deputy director from 1974 to 1977.[6]
O'Neill along withKenneth W. Dam andWilliam A. Morrill resisted PresidentRichard Nixon in 1973 when he tried cutting off federal funding to theMassachusetts Institute of Technology in retaliation for it allowing anti-war protests over theVietnam War. The three threatened to resign and reminded Nixon that the executive office could not rescind the federal grants, forcing him to back down.[7] According toFrank Zarb, he, O'Neill,Roy Ash andFred Malek mostly ran the government in 1974 as Nixon's authority was eroded with theWatergate scandal.[8]
After President Gerald Ford lost the1976 election, O'Neill took an executive job atInternational Paper in New York City. He was vice president of the company from 1977 to 1985 and president from 1985 to 1987.[6][9]
O'Neill was chairman and CEO of thePittsburgh industrial giant Alcoa from 1987 to 1999 and retired as chairman at the end of 2000. At the beginning of his tenure O'Neill encountered significant resistance from the Board of Directors due to his stance on prioritizingworker safety. One argued reason that he could remain in office was his level of CEO power.[10] The company's market value increased from $3 billion in 1986 to $27.53 billion in 2000, while net income increased from $200 million to $1.484 billion.[11]
In 1988, O'Neill joined theRAND Corporation as a member of itsboard of trustees and in 1997 was elected as its chairperson. He resigned after being appointed as the treasury secretary, but was appointed to RAND's board of trustees again in 2003 after losing his job. He also served on RAND Health's advisory board.[12]
After being dismissed as Treasury Secretary, he became a special advisor forThe Blackstone Group. In addition he also acted as anangel investor with his son Paul Jr. for Qcept Technologies Inc. in 2004,[13] and joined it as aboard director.[14] In 2005, he established aconsulting firm named Value Capture that advises health care institutions on reducing expenses as well as increasing safety of patients.[6]
In 1989, he was approached byGeorge H. W. Bush to serve asSecretary of Defense. O'Neill declined but recommendedDick Cheney for the position instead. Bush then pursued and convinced O'Neill to chair an advisory group on education that includedLamar Alexander,Bill Brock, andRichard Riley.[15]
In December 1997, O'Neill together withKaren Wolk Feinstein, President of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, founded thePittsburgh Regional Health Initiative (PRHI).[16] They assembled a wide-ranging coalition of healthcare interests to begin addressing the problems of healthcare as a region. PRHI adapted the principles of theToyota Production System into the "Perfecting Patient Care" system.[17] O'Neill became a leader locally and nationally in addressing issues of patient safety and quality in healthcare.[18]
O'Neill was a co-founder of Pittsburgh'sRiverlife Task Force, established in 1999. He served on its very first task force withJim Rohr,Teresa Heinz, the CEO of Richard King Mellon Foundation Mike Watson, the President of theHeinz Endowments Mark King and the editor of thePittsburgh Post-Gazette John G. Craig Jr. among others.[19]
O'Neill was also a member of the Dean's Advisory Council ofCarnegie Mellon University'sHeinz College.[20] In addition, he served on the board of directors of theCommittee for a Responsible Federal Budget.[21]
In 2006, he published the results of a study conducted from 2003 to 2005 atAllegheny General Hospital along with a team of doctors led by Richard Shannon, in theJoint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. It showed reduction in infections through a team coordinating to prevent infections in the bloodstream. He also rejoined PRHI as its CEO in October 2003. O'Neill became atrustee of theUniversity of Pittsburgh Medical Center in February 2003, but left in September 2004 due to it not joining a programme to make hospitals eliminate medical errors. During his tenure he often disagreed with UPMC's CEOJeffrey Romoff and also opposed its plans to shutHighmark-insured patients out of receiving treatment at affiliated hospitals in 2019.[4][13][22]
In June 2019, he was awarded the Gerald R. Ford Medal for Distinguished Public Service by theGerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.[23]
O'Neill was appointed as the Secretary of the Treasury by the newly elected presidentGeorge W. Bush in January 2001. He believed in fiscal prudence, increasing productivity and also encouraging workers with safeguards for their jobs. As the secretary he strongly disagreed with thestrong dollar policy, ceremonial speeches and large bailouts, while favoring personally touring American factories and reducing the length of written statements by thefinance ministers belonging to theGroup of Seven. O'Neill saw the United States through the2001 recession and9/11 attacks. He initially helped pass the firsttax cuts under the Bush administration but stringently opposed the second. He also clashed with Bush on hissteel tariffs as well as actions against Cuba.[24]
O'Neill also helped Turkey, Argentina and Brazil in receiving loans from theInternational Monetary Fund but opposed more financial assistance. His cavalcade was once attacked with eggs during a visit to Argentina because of his stating the country had “no industry to speak of.” He however also encouraged governments to increase grants by theWorld Bank and cracking down on monetary support of terrorism. In this regard, he encouraged governments to further regulate non-traditional lending systems such ashawala, and was a strong proponent of integrating largely non-participatory governments, organizations, and individuals into more formal financial institutions.[25] In May 2002, he visited Africa withBono to draw attention to the continent's poor. During his tenure, he was known for his outspokenness which would eventually cost him his job in December 2002.[24]
Ron Suskind interviewed O'Neill extensively about his tenure in the Bush administration. He was also given access to a large amount of documentation. In 2004 he authored the bookThe Price of Loyalty, detailing O'Neill's tenure in the Bush administration.[26] The book describes many of the conflicts that O'Neill had with the Bush administration. It also details his criticisms of some of Bush's economic policies. O'Neill claims that Bush appeared somewhat unquestioning and incurious, and that theIraq War was planned from the firstNational Security Council meeting, soon after the administration took office. At the first cabinet meeting of the new Bush administration, O'Neill observed that the debate was not "should we attack Iraq?" but rather "how do we go about attacking Iraq?"[27][28]
O'Neill's siblings included two brothers and a sister.[8] He married Nancy Jo Wolfe, whom he had met while studying atAnchorage High School. He fathered four children including three daughters named Patricia, Margaret, Julie and a son named Paul Jr.[4][3]
O'Neill died at his home in Pittsburgh on April 18, 2020, aged 84, from lung cancer.[29][4] He is survived by a sister, a brother, his four children, twelve grandchildren and fifteen great-grandchildren.[30]
In an October 16, 2007, opinion piece published inThe New York Times, he wrote of the reluctance among politicians to address comprehensive reform in theU.S. health care system. In the opinion, he suggested that doctors and hospitals should be required to report medical errors within 24 hours, as well as moving malpractice suits out of the civil courts and into a new, independent body. He also felt that health care reform had to acknowledge all aspects of the problem, such as insurance coverage, medical costs, quality of care, and information technology.[31]
In April 2016, he was one of eight former Treasury secretaries who called on the United Kingdom to remain a member of theEuropean Union ahead of theJune 2016 Referendum.[32]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | United States Secretary of the Treasury 2001–2002 | Succeeded by |
