Born into a wealther
Pittsburgh family in 1855, Andrew Mellon joined the family bank and rose to become president of its successor, the Mellon National Bank, in 1902. He was shrewd in his investments and built one of the great American fortunes.
In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed Mellon to become Secretary of the Treasury, the post which he retained until 1932. In the 1920's, he was widely regarded as a prophet of successful conservative financial policy, reducing the national debt and eliminating the high progressive income taxes of World War I. However, views about him changed with the arrival of the Great Depression. In 1932, he became Ambassador to Great Britain, but he resigned after the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
In 1937, Mellon donated his art collection along with money to National Gallery of Art.
