David Kennedy | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Kennedy in 1970 | |
| 8thUnited States Ambassador to NATO | |
| In office March 17, 1972 – February 1, 1973 | |
| President | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | Robert Ellsworth |
| Succeeded by | Donald Rumsfeld |
| 60thUnited States Secretary of the Treasury | |
| In office January 22, 1969 – February 11, 1971 | |
| President | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | Joseph W. Barr |
| Succeeded by | John Connally |
| Personal details | |
| Born | David Matthew Kennedy (1905-07-21)July 21, 1905 |
| Died | May 1, 1996(1996-05-01) (aged 90) Salt Lake City,Utah, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Alma mater | |
| Signature |  |
David Matthew Kennedy (July 21, 1905 – May 1, 1996) was an American politician and businessman. He served as the 60thU.S. Secretary of the Treasury and later as the 8thU.S. Ambassador to NATO, both underU.S. PresidentRichard Nixon. He was Chief Executive and Chairman of the Board ofContinental Illinois during the 1950s and 1960s.
Kennedy was born on July 21, 1905, inRandolph, Utah, to George and Katherine Kennedy (née Johnson). His father was a rancher and served in Utah state government. His mother was ill for much of his childhood and the family grew up inKaysville and laterOgden. His grandparents John Kennedy and Peter Johnson formed the Bank of Randolph.
As a member ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), Kennedy married Lenora Margaret Bingham in the church'sSalt Lake Temple in November 1925. Shortly thereafter he served as amissionary for the church inLiverpool, England.[1] Hismission presidents wereJames E. Talmage andJohn A. Widtsoe.[2]
Kennedy attended public schools and received abachelor's degree fromWeber State University, graduating in 1928. His first government job was as a staff member for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.[3] During this time he built up his financial experience and later became assistant to then-Fed ChairmanMarriner Eccles. Kennedy was also attendingGeorge Washington University and received master's and law degrees from there in 1935 and 1937. He completed the Stonier Graduate School of Banking program, then housed atRutgers University, New Brunswick, in 1939.
He left the Federal Reserve and joined Continental of Illinois in 1946, starting in their bond department. By 1951, he was a bank President and later served as Chairman of the Board and CEO from 1959 to 1969. At the time of his appointment as Treasury Secretary in 1969, Continental Illinois ranked as the 15th largest bank in the world.
Kennedy served as counselor to John K. Edmunds in thepresidency of the LDS Church's ChicagoStake. He was also a member of the board of Nauvoo Restoration from its founding in 1962, and advisedDavid O. McKay,Harold B. Lee and other LDS Church leaders on banking matters. It was in part due to the advice of Kennedy that McKay restructured the management ofZions First National Bank so that thechurch's president no longer held the title of bank president, with Orval Adams assuming that title.[4]
During these same years, Kennedy also served as chairman of MayorRichard J. Daley's Mayor's Committee for Economic and Cultural Growth in Chicago.[5] In 1957, Kennedy became a member of the board of trustees of theUniversity of Chicago. While serving in this post, he was involved in fundraising. In 1966, he was asked to head a fundraising drive forBrigham Young University (BYU). He worked on this project until becoming the US Treasury Secretary.[6]
From 1961 until January 1969, Kennedy was a member of the board of trustees of theBrookings Institution. In 1963, he commissioned a house in Winnetka, Illinois.[7]
Kennedy served as a special assistant on debt management to Treasury SecretaryGeorge M. Humphrey. He also served on the staff of theBoard of Governors of the Federal Reserve system from 1930 to 1946,[8] ending up assistant to the Chairman.
In October 1962, U.S. PresidentJohn F. Kennedy (no relation) appointed him a member of a private corporation (COMSAT) to own and operate the United States' share of a globalsatellite communications system. He was elected to the permanent board of directors in 1964.[9]
In 1967, U.S. PresidentLyndon B. Johnson appointed Kennedy as chairman of the Commission on Budgetary Concepts, whose recommendations were adopted as standard government budgetary practice.
Kennedy was nominated by Nixon to be the 60th Secretary of the Treasury. He served from 1969 until 1971. Nixon, who had little interest in economics and expected his top economic advisers to run that portfolio, fairly quickly concluded that Kennedy was not up to the task, being weak both on policy-making and as a lead economics spokesman for the administration. Nixon concluded Kennedy was a "cipher" and by April 1970 told aide John Ehrlichman that Kennedy was to be replaced.[10]
Kennedy served as the U.S. Ambassador to NATO from March 1972 to February 1973.
He founded theUS-Taiwan Business Council in 1976, and served as its Chairman for fourteen years, until 1990.
He also served as a special representative of the LDS Church'sFirst Presidency.[11] This assignment required him to represent the church around the world, meeting with government and ecclesiastical leaders.
In 1985, theDavid M. Kennedy Center for International Studies at BYU opened and is named in his honor.
His wife, Lenora Bingham, died on August 24, 1995. Kennedy himself died inSalt Lake City, Utah, on May 1, 1996, fromcardiovascular disease andcongestive heart failure, at the age of 90. He was interred in Randolph City Cemetery, near to his birthplace inRandolph, Utah.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Served under:Richard Nixon 1969–1971 | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | United States Permanent Representative to NATO 1972–1973 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
