Talk:Andrew Mellon

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Dates

This article states: "He ranked, at the time, as one of the three richest people in the United States alongside John D. Rockefeller and Henry Ford." However, given that "the time" referred to in the previous sentence is 1889, this conflicts with the Wikipedia article on Henry Ford, which states: "Upon his marriage to Clara Ala Bryant in 1888, Ford supported himself by farming and running a sawmill." It's pretty unlikely, therefore, that a year later, Ford would have been "one of the three richest people in the United States." Clocke 20:59, 30 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Misinformation and infringement

Hmm...this is copied word for word from http://www.ustreas.gov/education/history/secretaries/awmellon.html Is that ok to do?

As I understand it, all text on .gov websites is public domain; I've listed the page as a reference though, which is always useful, thanks. --W(t) 05:23, 2005 May 23 (UTC)

I think this article needs a lot more critical historical scrutiny. Referring to someone as a "genius" needs a lot of qualification, and I just don't see it in this pantheon of an article.

This article does not match up with the article on edward ness that states that it was Andrew Melon's responsibility to capture Alphonse Capone (aka Scarface). i would also like to add that calling someone a genius is somewhat opinionated and not encyclopedia appropriate.

Mellon was the Secretary of Treasury at the time, and thus he oversaw the government's efforts against prohibition. FWIW, his biography makes clear that he wanted prohibition efforts to be run by the Department of Justice, not Treasury, and that he was never thrilled about enforcing prohibition.theprez98 (talk) 04:26, 25 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The paragraph with citation [4] attributed reversal of the Mellon/Harding/Coolidge tax cuts to Roosevelt only. Tax rates began to significantly increase during the Hoover administration. The last two sentences could be replaced with something like:

By 1932, Mellon-era tax rates were already subject to reversal under budgetary pressure. The top tax rate increased to 63% in 1932, 79% in 1936, and by the end of World War II peaked at an effective rate of 90%.

Or just leave the subsequent tax history out.

Citations: Revenue Act of 1932 Revenue Act of 1936 Individual Income Tax Act of 1944 --EH SuperX (talk) 04:24, 26 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The paragraph that contains note 5 begins "Mellon's policy reduced the public debt (largely inherited from World War I obligations) from $33 billion in 1921 to about $33 billion in 1930". The stated debt figures obviously aren't a reduction in debt. The correct figures may be in Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, pt 2, p. 1117. This source is cited in Thomas Sowell, "Trickle Down" Theory and "Tax Cuts for the Rich", Hoover Institution Press 2012, in which he states that the national debt was just under $24 billion in 1921, and was reduced to just under $18 billion in 1928. (User: perduedk) 11:47, 24 Sept 2012 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Perduedk (talk • contribs)

Choate Rosemary Hall

Choate was founded in 1896, Rosemary Hall was founded in 1890, weren't united until the 70's of 20th century, so I don't see how Andrew Mellon could have graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall.

Name?

Did he go by Andrew or William, I have a World Book encyclopedia that puts him under William Mellon. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.110.221.22 (talk) 06:46, 15 May 2007 (UTC).[reply]

By all accounts I have read, he was always Andrew or Andy (or AW in correspondence), but never William.theprez98 (talk) 04:23, 25 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Great Depression

I added some stuff about Andrew Mellon's role in causing the Great Depression. I got it from Bernanke's speech here: http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2004/200403022/default.htm

Feel free to edit it, but I feel it's important information. Myles —Preceding unsigned comment added by 144.62.240.2 (talk) 23:33, 16 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

-- Don't quote me, but I'm not sure how accurate that is. I have a book called freedom from fear and it talks about how Hoover ignored Mellon the entire time. So Mellon's liquidation didn't really take place. -- alexkreuz —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.94.17.207 (talk) 16:42, 26 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

National Gallery

the article should mention that Mellon was a dedicated collector of Old Masters paintings and gave millions of dollars worth of art to museums. His collection formed the nucleus of National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. He also gave money for the building. all this stated in the wiki article on the National Gallery of Art. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.155.220.107 (talk) 13:42, 30 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

H&R Block Ad?

Under Mellon tax trial there is a hyperlink that opens the H&R Block bank website in a seperate window. Is Wikipedia now advertising, is this some malicious phishing scam, or is this vandalism? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.204.25.225 (talk) 22:21, 28 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Vandalism

Please help watch out for vandalism on this page! I recently fixed a few spots, but there may be some that I missed. MidwestCuttlefish (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 20:29, 9 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]