| Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System |
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Seal of the Federal Reserve |
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| Appointer | President of the United States |
| Inaugural holder | Charles Sumner Hamlin |
| Formation | August 10, 1914 |
| Website | Bios |
The Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is the head of the central banking system of the United States. Known colloquially as "Chairman of the Fed," or in market circles "Fed Chairman" or "Fed Chief". The Chairman is the "active executive officer" (see 12 U.S.C. § 242) of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
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As stipulated by the Banking Act of 1935, the President appoints the seven members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; they must then be confirmed by the Senate and serve for 14 years. Once appointed, Governors may not be removed from office for their policy views. The chairman and vice-chairman are chosen by the President from among the sitting Governors for four-year terms; these appointments are also subject to Senate confirmation.[1] By law, the chairman reports twice a year to Congress on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy objectives. He or she also testifies before Congress on numerous other issues and meets periodically with the Secretary of the Treasury.
Currently, the chairman is Ben Bernanke, a South Carolina macroeconomist nominated by George W. Bush and sworn into office on February 1, 2006, for a term lasting until January 31, 2010. He was nominated for a second time by President Obama in 2009. In 2010 he was confirmed by the senate for a second term, ending January 31, 2014. Bernanke succeeded Alan Greenspan, who served for more than 18 years during the terms of four U.S. Presidents.
The law applicable to the Chairman and all other members of the Board provides (in part):
¹ Served as Chair pro tempore from February 3, 1948, to April 15, 1948.
² Served as Chair pro tempore from March 3, 1996, to June 20, 1996.
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve did not exist prior to the major reorganization of the Fed in 1935 (Banking Act of 1935). Prior to that time, the "Federal Reserve Board" (created in 1913 under the Federal Reserve Act) had a Board of Directors. The directors' salaries were significantly lower and their terms of office were much shorter prior to 1935. In effect, the Federal Reserve Board members in Washington, D.C. were significantly less powerful than the presidents of the regional Federal Reserve Banks prior to 1935.[2]
Prior to 1935, the heads of the twelve district "Federal Reserve Banks" were called "Governors". In the 1935 act, the district heads had their titles changed to "President" (e.g., "President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis"), as part of a major shift of power to Washington.
Thus, Marriner Eccles was the first actual "Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board". The others prior to 1935 were "Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve System", with much more circumscribed power.
Office of the Federal Register http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=59049
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