Treasurer of the United States

Treasurer of the United States
Treasurer of the United States
	Incumbent; Marilynn Malerba ; since September 12, 2022
	United States Department of Treasury
Reports to	Secretary of the Treasury ; Deputy Secretary of the Treasury
Seat	Treasury Building ; Washington, D.C.
Appointer	President of the United States
Term length	No fixed term
Formation	May 14, 1777;246 years ago
First holder	Michael Hillegas

Last updated September 09, 2023

The Treasurer of the United States is an officer in the United States Department of the Treasury who serves as the custodian and trustee of the federal government's collateral assets and the supervisor of the department's currency and coinage production functions. The current treasurer is Marilynn Malerba, who is the first Native American to hold the office.^[1]

Responsibilities

By law, the treasurer is the depositary officer of the United States with regard to deposits of gold, special drawing rights,^[2] and financial gifts to the Library of Congress.^[3] The treasurer also directly oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) and the United States Mint, which respectively print and mint U.S. currency and coinage. In connection to the influence of federal monetary policy on currency and coinage production, the treasurer liaises on a regular basis with the Federal Reserve.^[4]

The duty perhaps most widely associated with the treasurer of the United States is affixing a facsimile signature to all Federal Reserve notes. Federal law requires both the treasurer's signature and the treasury secretary's countersignature for Federal Reserve notes to be considered legal tender.^[5]

Moreover, the Treasurer serves as a senior advisor and representative of the Treasury Department on behalf of the secretary in the areas of community development and public engagement.^[4]

History

Creation

On July 29, 1775, long before the Department of the Treasury ever existed, the Second Continental Congress established the Treasury Office to manage revolutionary wartime finances. Congress chose George Clymer and Michael Hillegas as joint treasurers of the United Colonies. On August 6, 1776, however, Clymer resigned from his post, thus making Hillegas the sole incumbent. The position received its current name on May 14, 1777, while Hillegas was still in office.^[6]

Change in functions over the years

The post of U.S. treasurer predates the United States Constitution. The treasurer was originally charged with the receipt and custody of all government funds independent of the treasury secretary, not unlike today's elected state treasurers. Beginning in 1939, the Office of the Treasurer and its cash management activities were brought under the direction of a broader Fiscal Service, one that also coordinated governmentwide accounting and debt management. Later in 1974, the cash management function in its entirety was transferred from the treasurer to what is now known as the Bureau of the Fiscal Service as a cost-saving measure.^[7] Responsibility for oversight of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) and the United States Mint was later assigned to the treasurer in 1981.^[8]^[6] In 1994, the treasurer was also named National Honorary Director of the U.S. Savings Bonds Campaign and therefore assigned the task of promoting - as opposed to managing - the program.^[9]

More recently, the requirement of the United States Senate confirmation for the appointment was dropped in August 2012.^[10]

Since the resignation of Elizabeth Rudel Smith in 1962, the length of time the office has been vacant totals more than 4,700 days, nearly thirteen years, while in the 180+ years prior to that, such time totaled less than a year.

Female officeholders

Georgia Neese Clark Gray became treasurer on June 21, 1949, making her the first woman to hold the office.^[11] Since then, every subsequent treasurer has been a woman,^[11] and several of those women have also been Hispanic, starting with Romana Acosta Bañuelos in 1971.^[12]

List of treasurers

No.	Name	Term of office	President(s) served under
1	Michael Hillegas	July 29, 1775 – September 11, 1789 (14 years, 44 days)	George Washington (also served under Confederation Congress)
1	Hillegas served jointly with George Clymer until August 6, 1776. The title of the office was "Treasurer of the United Colonies" until May 14, 1777.^[6]
2	Samuel Meredith	September 11, 1789 – December 1, 1801 (12 years, 81 days)	George Washington John Adams Thomas Jefferson
3	Thomas T. Tucker	December 1, 1801 – May 2, 1828 (26 years, 153 days) (served the longest term)	Thomas Jefferson James Madison James Monroe John Quincy Adams
33 days vacant
4	William Clark	June 4, 1828 – May 26, 1829 (356 days)	John Quincy Adams Andrew Jackson
5	John Campbell	May 26, 1829 – July 20, 1839 (10 years, 55 days)	Andrew Jackson Martin Van Buren
2 days vacant
6	William Selden	July 22, 1839 – November 23, 1850 (11 years, 124 days) (served under the most presidents)	Martin Van Buren William Henry Harrison John Tyler James K. Polk Zachary Taylor Millard Fillmore
4 days vacant
7	John Sloane	November 27, 1850 – April 1, 1853 (2 years, 125 days)	Millard Fillmore Franklin Pierce
3 days vacant
8	Samuel L. Casey	April 4, 1853 – December 22, 1859 (6 years, 262 days)	Franklin Pierce James Buchanan
68 days vacant
9	William C. Price	February 28, 1860 – March 21, 1861 (1 year, 21 days)	James Buchanan Abraham Lincoln
10	Francis E. Spinner	March 16, 1861 – July 30, 1875 (14 years, 136 days)	Abraham Lincoln Andrew Johnson Ulysses S. Grant
11	John C. New	June 30, 1875 – July 1, 1876 (1 year, 1 day)	Ulysses S. Grant
12	A. U. Wyman	July 1, 1876 – June 30, 1877 (364 days)	Ulysses S. Grant Rutherford B. Hayes
13	James Gilfillan	July 1, 1877 – March 31, 1883 (5 years, 273 days)	Rutherford B. Hayes James A. Garfield Chester A. Arthur
14	A. U. Wyman	April 1, 1883 – April 30, 1885 (2 years, 29 days)	Chester A. Arthur Grover Cleveland
15	Conrad N. Jordan	May 1, 1885 – March 23, 1887 (1 year, 326 days)	Grover Cleveland
62 days vacant
16	James W. Hyatt	May 24, 1887 – May 10, 1889 (1 year, 351 days)	Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison
17	James N. Huston	May 11, 1889 – April 24, 1891 (1 year, 348 days)	Benjamin Harrison
18	Enos H. Nebeker	April 25, 1891 – May 31, 1893 (2 years, 36 days)	Benjamin Harrison Grover Cleveland
19	Daniel N. Morgan	June 1, 1893 – June 30, 1897 (4 years, 29 days)	Grover Cleveland William McKinley
20	Ellis H. Roberts	July 1, 1897 – June 30, 1905 (7 years, 364 days)	William McKinley Theodore Roosevelt
21	Charles H. Treat	July 1, 1905 – October 30, 1909 (4 years, 121 days)	Theodore Roosevelt William Howard Taft
22	Lee McClung	November 1, 1909 – November 21, 1912 (3 years, 20 days)	William Howard Taft
23	Carmi A. Thompson	November 22, 1912 – March 31, 1913 (129 days) (served the shortest term)	William Howard Taft Woodrow Wilson
24	John Burke	April 1, 1913 – January 5, 1921 (7 years, 279 days)	Woodrow Wilson
117 days vacant
25	Frank White	May 2, 1921 – May 1, 1928 (6 years, 365 days)	Warren G. Harding Calvin Coolidge
30 days vacant
26	Harold Theodore Tate	May 31, 1928 – January 17, 1929 (231 days)	Calvin Coolidge
27	W. O. Woods	January 18, 1929 – May 31, 1933 (4 years, 133 days)	Calvin Coolidge Herbert Hoover Franklin Delano Roosevelt
28	William Alexander Julian	June 1, 1933 – May 29, 1949 (15 years, 362 days)	Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman
23 days vacant
29	Georgia Neese Clark	June 21, 1949 – January 27, 1953 (3 years, 220 days)	Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower
30	Ivy Baker Priest	January 28, 1953 – January 29, 1961 (8 years, 1 day)	Dwight D. Eisenhower John F. Kennedy
31	Elizabeth Rudel Smith	January 30, 1961 – April 13, 1962 (1 year, 73 days)	John F. Kennedy
265 days vacant
32	Kathryn O'Hay Granahan	January 3, 1963 – November 22, 1966 (3 years, 323 days)	John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson
898 days vacant
33	Dorothy Andrews Elston ^[13]	May 8, 1969 – July 3, 1971 (2 years, 56 days)	Richard Nixon
167 days vacant
34	Romana Acosta Bañuelos	December 17, 1971 – February 14, 1974 (2 years, 59 days)	Richard Nixon
127 days vacant
35	Francine Irving Neff	June 21, 1974 – January 19, 1977 (2 years, 212 days)	Richard Nixon Gerald Ford
236 days vacant
36	Azie Taylor Morton	September 12, 1977 – January 20, 1981 (3 years, 130 days)	Jimmy Carter
56 days vacant
37	Angela Marie Buchanan	March 17, 1981 – July 5, 1983 (2 years, 110 days)	Ronald Reagan
79 days vacant
38	Katherine D. Ortega	September 22, 1983 – July 1, 1989 (5 years, 282 days)	Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush
163 days vacant
39	Catalina Vasquez Villalpando	December 11, 1989 – January 20, 1993 (3 years, 40 days)	George H. W. Bush
405 days vacant
40	Mary Ellen Withrow	March 1, 1994 – January 20, 2001 (6 years, 325 days)	Bill Clinton
208 days vacant
41	Rosario Marin	August 16, 2001 – June 30, 2003 (1 year, 318 days)	George W. Bush
569 days vacant
42	Anna Escobedo Cabral	January 19, 2005 – January 20, 2009 (4 years, 1 day)	George W. Bush
198 days vacant
43	Rosa Gumataotao Rios	August 6, 2009 – July 11, 2016 (6 years, 340 days)	Barack Obama
343 days vacant
44	Jovita Carranza	June 19, 2017 – January 14, 2020 (2 years, 209 days)	Donald Trump
972 days vacant
45	Marilynn Malerba	September 12, 2022 – present (361 days)	Joe Biden

Related Research Articles

The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters pertaining to economic and fiscal policy. The secretary is, by custom, a member of the president's cabinet and, by law, a member of the National Security Council.

The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the U.S. Mint. These two agencies are responsible for printing all paper currency and minting coins, while the treasury executes currency circulation in the domestic fiscal system. The USDT collects all federal taxes through the Internal Revenue Service; manages U.S. government debt instruments; licenses and supervises banks and thrift institutions; and advises the legislative and executive branches on matters of fiscal policy. The department is administered by the secretary of the treasury, who is a member of the Cabinet. The treasurer of the United States has limited statutory duties, but advises the Secretary on various matters such as coinage and currency production. Signatures of both officials appear on all Federal Reserve notes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Reserve Note</span> Current paper currency of the United States

Federal Reserve Notes, also United States banknotes, are the currently issued banknotes of the United States dollar. The United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing produces the notes under the authority of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 and issues them to the Federal Reserve Banks at the discretion of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The Reserve Banks then circulate the notes to their member banks, at which point they become liabilities of the Reserve Banks and obligations of the United States.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) is a government agency within the United States Department of the Treasury that designs and produces a variety of security products for the United States government, most notable of which is Federal Reserve Notes for the Federal Reserve, the nation's central bank. In addition to paper currency, the BEP produces Treasury securities; military commissions and award certificates; invitations and admission cards; and many different types of identification cards, forms, and other special security documents for a variety of government agencies. The BEP does not produce coins; all coinage is produced by the United States Mint. With production facilities in Washington, D.C., and Fort Worth, Texas, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is the largest producer of government security documents in the United States.

The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. It does not produce paper money; that responsibility belongs to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The first United States Mint was created in Philadelphia in 1792, and soon joined by other centers, whose coins were identified by their own mint marks. There are currently four active coin-producing mints: Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, and West Point.

The United States ten-dollar bill ($10) is a denomination of U.S. currency. The obverse of the bill features the portrait of Alexander Hamilton, who served as the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, two renditions of the torch of the Statue of Liberty, and the words "We the People" from the original engrossed preamble of the United States Constitution. The reverse features the U.S. Treasury Building. All $10 bills issued today are Federal Reserve Notes.

The United States one-dollar bill (US$1), sometimes referred to as a single or a buck, has been the lowest value denomination of United States paper currency since the discontinuation of U.S. fractional currency notes in 1876. An image of the first U.S. president (1789–1797), George Washington, based on the Athenaeum Portrait, a 1796 painting by Gilbert Stuart, is currently featured on the obverse, and the Great Seal of the United States is featured on the reverse. The one-dollar bill has the oldest overall design of all U.S. currency currently being produced. The reverse design of the present dollar debuted in 1935, and the obverse in 1963 when it was first issued as a Federal Reserve Note.

The Coinage Act of 1792, passed by the United States Congress on April 2, 1792, created the United States dollar as the country's standard unit of money, established the United States Mint, and regulated the coinage of the United States. This act established the silver dollar as the unit of money in the United States, declared it to be lawful tender, and created a decimal system for U.S. currency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silver certificate (United States)</span> Paper currency used between 1878 and 1964

Silver certificates are a type of representative money issued between 1878 and 1964 in the United States as part of its circulation of paper currency. They were produced in response to silver agitation by citizens who were angered by the Fourth Coinage Act, which had effectively placed the United States on a gold standard. The certificates were initially redeemable for their face value of silver dollar coins and later in raw silver bullion. Since 1968 they have been redeemable only in Federal Reserve Notes and are thus obsolete, but still valid legal tender at their face value and thus are still an accepted form of currency.

Michael Hillegas was the first Treasurer of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gold certificate (United States)</span> Certificate of ownership that gold owners held instead of storing the actual gold

Gold certificates were issued by the United States Treasury as a form of representative money from 1865 to 1933. While the United States observed a gold standard, the certificates offered a more convenient way to pay in gold than the use of coins. General public ownership of gold certificates was outlawed in 1933 and since then they have been available only to the Federal Reserve Banks, with book-entry certificates replacing the paper form.

Symbols of the United States Department of the Treasury include the Flag of the Treasury Department and the U.S. Treasury Seal. The original seal actually predates the department itself, having originated with the Board of Treasury during the period of the Articles of Confederation. The seal is used on all U.S. paper currency, and on official Treasury documents.

Fractional currency, also referred to as shinplasters, was introduced by the United States federal government following the outbreak of the Civil War. These low-denomination banknotes of the United States dollar were in use between 21 August 1862 and 15 February 1876, and issued in denominations of 3, 5, 10, 15, 25, and 50 cents across five issuing periods. The complete type set below is part of the National Numismatic Collection, housed at the National Museum of American History, part of the Smithsonian Institution.

The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it into 100 cents, and authorized the minting of coins denominated in dollars and cents. U.S. banknotes are issued in the form of Federal Reserve Notes, popularly called greenbacks due to their predominantly green color.

The United States Treasury Police was the federal security police of the United States Department of the Treasury responsible for providing police and security to the Treasury Building and the Treasury Annex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosa Gumataotao Rios</span> American politician (born 1965)

Rosa Gumataotao Rios is an American academic. She served as the 43rd Treasurer of the United States and is a visiting scholar at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.

Spencer M. Clark was the first Superintendent of the National Currency Bureau, today known as the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, from 1862 to 1868.

US Treasury Department Specimen books, also known as BEP presentation albums, were published by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) from the mid-1860s through the 1910s. Prepared upon request of the United States Secretary of the Treasury, albums were generally presented to Cabinet members, select Members of Congress, diplomats and visiting dignitaries. Some extant albums still in their original binding bear the name of the recipient impressed in gold lettering on the cover. While no two presentation albums have exactly the same contents, each book usually contained portraits, vignettes, and/or images of buildings. Specimen books which contain whole proof images of currency are extremely rare.

Cuban silver certificates were banknotes issued by the Cuban government between 1934 and 1949. Prior and subsequent issues of Cuban banknotes were engraved and printed by nongovernmental private bank note companies in the United States, but the series from 1934 to 1949 were designed, engraved, and printed by the US government at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP).

The United States two-dollar bill ($2) is a current denomination of United States currency. A portrait of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States (1801–1809), is featured on the obverse of the note. The reverse features an engraving of the c. 1818 painting Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull.

References

↑ Hussein, Fatima (June 19, 2022). "Malerba sworn in as 1st Native American in US Treasurer post". apnews.com. Archived from the original on September 15, 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
↑ 12 U.S.C. § 467 : Deposits of gold coin, gold certificates, and Special Drawing Right certificates with United States Treasurer
↑ 2 U.S.C. § 157 : Funds of Library of Congress Trust Fund Board; management of
1 2 "Treasurer". home.treasury.gov. U.S. Department of the Treasury. Archived from the original on August 31, 2022. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
↑ Rappeport, Alan (December 8, 2022). "Yellen Is First Female Treasury Secretary With Signature on U.S. Dollar". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022. By tradition, the treasurer must sign the money along with the Treasury secretary. Both signatures are engraved onto plates at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, where they are printed and submitted to the Federal Reserve, which determines what currency will be added to circulation.
1 2 3 "History of the Treasury". home.treasury.gov. U.S. Department of the Treasury. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
↑ Bureau of the Fiscal Service. "Our History". U.S. Department of the Treasury. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
↑ "Records of the Treasurer of the United States". archives.gov. National Archives. August 15, 2016. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
↑ "Duties and Functions FAQs". U.S. Department of the Treasury. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
↑ "Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011" (PDF). GovInfo. August 10, 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 6, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
1 2 Cruz, Lenika (August 13, 2014). "Why Have All the U.S. Treasurers Since 1949 Been Women?". theatlantic.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
↑ Hocking, Bree (February 15, 2005). "Latina Treasurer Trend Creates a Mystery in D.C." rollcall.com. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved February 16, 2005.
↑ "Treasurers of the United States". Archived from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2018.

External links

Official website
"Treasurers of the United States". History of the Treasury. United States Department of the Treasury . Retrieved April 16, 2022.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Hussein, Fatima (June 19, 2022). "Malerba sworn in as 1st Native American in US Treasurer post". apnews.com. Archived from the original on September 15, 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2022.

[2] 12 U.S.C. § 467 : Deposits of gold coin, gold certificates, and Special Drawing Right certificates with United States Treasurer

[3] 2 U.S.C. § 157 : Funds of Library of Congress Trust Fund Board; management of

[TreasurerDescription-4] 1 2 "Treasurer". home.treasury.gov. U.S. Department of the Treasury. Archived from the original on August 31, 2022. Retrieved September 1, 2022.

[5] Rappeport, Alan (December 8, 2022). "Yellen Is First Female Treasury Secretary With Signature on U.S. Dollar". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022. By tradition, the treasurer must sign the money along with the Treasury secretary. Both signatures are engraved onto plates at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, where they are printed and submitted to the Federal Reserve, which determines what currency will be added to circulation.

[TreasuryHistory-6] 1 2 3 "History of the Treasury". home.treasury.gov. U.S. Department of the Treasury. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved September 1, 2022.

[7] Bureau of the Fiscal Service. "Our History". U.S. Department of the Treasury. Retrieved December 1, 2022.

[8] "Records of the Treasurer of the United States". archives.gov. National Archives. August 15, 2016. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved September 1, 2022.

[9] "Duties and Functions FAQs". U.S. Department of the Treasury. Retrieved December 1, 2022.

[10] "Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011" (PDF). GovInfo. August 10, 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 6, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2023.

[TreasurersWomen-11] 1 2 Cruz, Lenika (August 13, 2014). "Why Have All the U.S. Treasurers Since 1949 Been Women?". theatlantic.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2014.

[12] Hocking, Bree (February 15, 2005). "Latina Treasurer Trend Creates a Mystery in D.C." rollcall.com. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved February 16, 2005.

[13] "Treasurers of the United States". Archived from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2018.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

v t e United States Department of the Treasury
Headquarters: Treasury Building and Freedman's Bank Building Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury
Deputy Secretary of the Treasury	Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau Community Development Financial Institutions Fund Internal Revenue Service Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Office of Inspector General Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Office of Tax Policy
Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs	Office of East Asia Office of South and Southeast Asia Nations Office of Europe & Eurasia Office of the Western Hemisphere Office of International Monetary Policy Office of Banking and Securities Office of International Debt Policy Office of Development Policy Office of Financing Operations Office of African Nations Office of the Middle East and North Africa Office of International Trade Office of International Investment Office of Trade Finance Office of Technical Assistance Office of Risk and Research Analysis Exchange Stabilization Fund
Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance	Advanced Counterfeit Deterrence Federal Financing Bank Office of Debt Management Office of Financial Institutions Office of Financial Markets Office of Financial Stability Office of Fiscal Service Bureau of the Fiscal Service
Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence	Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes Office of Intelligence and Analysis Office of Foreign Assets Control Financial Crimes Enforcement Network Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture
Treasurer of the United States	Bureau of Engraving and Printing United States Mint