W. Michael Blumenthal

W. Michael Blumenthal

64th United States Secretary of the Treasury
In office January 23, 1977 – August 4, 1979
President	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	William E. Simon
Succeeded by	G. William Miller
Personal details
Born	Werner Michael Blumenthal January 3, 1926 (1926-01-03) (age 86) Oranienburg, Germany
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	University of California, Berkeley, Princeton University
Signature

Werner Michael Blumenthal (born January 3, 1926) served as United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Jimmy Carter from 1977-1979.

Life and career

Blumenthal was born in Oranienburg, Brandenburg, Germany, the son of Rose Valerie (née Markt) and Ewald Blumenthal.^[1] Blumenthal and his family were Jewish, and left the country in 1939, shortly before the outbreak of World War II. They went to Shanghai, and then to the United States in 1947. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1951 with a B.S. degree in business administration from the Haas School of Business, and later received a Ph.D from Princeton University, where he was also a Professor of Economics from 1953-1956. He then joined Crown Cork International Corporation, where he rose to Vice President and Director.

In the 1960s, he entered politics and public service. He served in the State Department from 1961 until 1967 as advisor to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson on trade. Following a ten-year career as president and then chairman of the board with Bendix International, President Jimmy Carter appointed him as Secretary of the Treasury, where he served from January 23, 1977 to August 4, 1979.

He returned to the business sector and joined Burroughs Corporation in 1980 as Vice Chairman, then Chairman of the Board a year later. After a merger into the Unisys Corporation in 1986, he became Chairman and CEO of Unisys, where he remained until retiring in 1990.^[2]

From his former marriage, Blumenthal had three daughters: Ann, Jill, and Jane, and has many grandchildren.

Currently he resides in Berlin and Princeton, New Jersey, with his wife, Barbara and his son Michael, and is director of the Jewish Museum Berlin. In 2008, he was elected as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, pledged to back President Barack Obama.

Awards and honors

Recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence.

In 1999, he received the Leo Baeck Medal for his humanitarian work promoting tolerance and social justice.

References

^ [1]
^ [2] Biography of W. Michael Blumenthal, Jewish Museum Berlin

Political offices
Preceded by William E. Simon	United States Secretary of the Treasury Served under: Jimmy Carter 1977–1979	Succeeded by G. William Miller

United States Secretaries of the Treasury

Hamilton • Wolcott • Dexter • Gallatin • Campbell • Dallas • Crawford • Rush • Ingham • McLane • Duane • Taney • Woodbury • Ewing • Forward • Spencer • Bibb • Walker • Meredith • Corwin • Guthrie • Cobb • Thomas • Dix • Chase • Fessenden • McCulloch • Boutwell • Richardson • Bristow • Morrill • Sherman • Windom • Folger • Gresham • McCulloch • Manning • Fairchild • Windom • Foster • Carlisle • Gage • Shaw • Cortelyou • MacVeagh • McAdoo • Glass • Houston • Mellon • Mills • Woodin • Morgenthau • Vinson • Snyder • Humphrey • Anderson • Dillon • Fowler • Barr • Kennedy • Connally • Shultz • Simon • Blumenthal • Miller • Regan • Baker • Brady • Bentsen • Rubin • Summers • O'Neill • Snow • Paulson • Geithner

Cabinet of President Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)

Cabinet

Secretary of State	Cyrus Vance (1977–1980) • Edmund Muskie (1980–1981)

Secretary of the Treasury	W. Michael Blumenthal (1977–1979) • G. William Miller (1979–1981)

Secretary of Defense	Harold Brown (1977–1981)

Attorney General	Griffin Bell (1977–1979) • Benjamin Civiletti (1979–1981)

Secretary of the Interior	Cecil D. Andrus (1977–1981)

Secretary of Agriculture	Robert Bergland (1977–1981)

Secretary of Commerce	Juanita M. Kreps (1977–1980) • Philip Klutznick (1980–1981)

Secretary of Labor	Ray Marshall (1977–1981)

Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare	Joseph A. Califano, Jr. (1977–1979) • Patricia Roberts Harris (1979–1979)

Secretary of Health and Human Services	Patricia Roberts Harris (1979–1981)

Secretary of Education	Shirley M. Hufstedler (1979–1981)

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development	Patricia Roberts Harris (1977–1979) • Maurice "Moon" Landrieu (1979–1981)

Secretary of Transportation	Brock Adams (1977–1979) • Neil Goldschmidt (1979–1981)

Secretary of Energy	James R. Schlesinger (1977–1979) • Charles Duncan, Jr. (1979–1981)

Cabinet-level

Vice President	Walter Mondale (1977–1981)

Ambassador to the United Nations	Andrew Young (1977 – 1979) • Donald McHenry (1979 – 1981)

Director of the Office of Management and Budget	Thomas "Bert" Lance (1977) • James T. McIntyre (1978 – 1981)

Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers	Charles Schultze (1977 – 1981)

Advisor to the President on National Security Affairs	Zbigniew Brzezinski (1977 – 1981)

Persondata
Name	Blumenthal, W. Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 3, 1926
Place of birth	Oranienburg, Germany
Date of death
Place of death