Carter Glass was an American politician who became a principal foe in the Senate of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 1930s.
Background
Carter Glass was born on the 4th of January, 1858 in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. The son of Robert Henry and Augusta (Christian) Glass. Both parents were of Scots-Irish ancestry, their forebears having settled in Virginia before the American Revolution. His mother died when he was two, but his father promptly remarried, he and his second wife had seven children.
Education
Carter studied at public private schools in Lynchburg.
Career
Glass followed his father’s path into journalism, finally becoming proprietor of the Lynchburg Daily News and the Daily Advance. A lifelong Democrat, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1902–18), where his most notable contribution was the framing and sponsoring of the Federal Reserve Act (1913). President Woodrow Wilson appointed him secretary of the Treasury in 1918, and he supported Wilson’s fight for U.S. adherence to the League of Nations.
In 1920 Glass accepted an interim appointment as senator from Virginia and thereafter won election and reelection until his death. As senator his main role was one of opposition. He was a leader of the conservative Southern Democratic bloc in the Senate. He supported Roosevelt for president in 1932 but soon became one of his sharpest critics. His bitterest assault on Roosevelt came during the controversy over “packing” the U.S. Supreme Court (1937). One of the greatest experts on monetary matters ever to serve in Congress, Glass was the principal author of the Glass-Steagall Act (1933), which established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and helped curb bank speculation.
Achievements
Views
The sense of being connected is how the Church as a whole should be structured. At its heart is an understanding of the Christian community as the 'body of Christ '.
Connections
Carter Glass was married to Aurelia Caldwell. His second marriage was to Mistress. They had four children, Powell, Carter, Mary Archer, and Augusta Christian.