History of the Treasury

Secretaries of the Treasury

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G. William Miller

G. William Miller was sworn in on August 6, 1979, as the 65th Secretary of the Treasury. He was nominated by President Carter on July 19, 1979, while Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, where he had been serving since March 8, 1978.

Secretary Miller was born on March 9, 1925, in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, and grew up in Borger, Texas. He graduated in 1945 from the Coast Guard Academy with a B.S. in marine engineering and served until 1949 as a Coast Guard officer in the Far East and on the U.S. West Coast.

He received a law degree from the University of California School of Law at Berkeley in 1952, and joined the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York City.

In 1956, Mr. Miller joined Textron, Inc. He became a Vice President of the company in 1957 and President in 1960. In 1968 he became Chief Executive Officer of Textron and was elected Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 1974, a post he held until he came to the Federal Reserve Board.

At the time he joined the Federal Reserve Board, Mr. Miller was a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and of several corporations. He was also a member of the Business Council and the Business Roundtable and Chairman of the Conference Board and of the National Alliance of Businessmen.

Mr. Miller was active throughout his business career in public service. He was Chairman of the President's Committee on HIRE -- concerned with employment of veterans -- when he was appointed to the Federal Reserve Board. He also served as Chairman of the U.S. Industrial Payroll Savings Bond Committee in 1977, and Co-Chairman of the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Trade and Economic Council and the Polish-U.S. Economic Council. He was also a member of the Distribution Committee of the Rhode Island Foundation and a member of the Advisory Board of the Coalition of Northeastern Governors.

From 1963 to 1965, Mr. Miller was Chairman of the Industry Advisory Council of the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity and in 1966 and 1967 he was a member of the National Council on the Humanities.