Volcker (49 page)
Where does he keep the money? Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli at a reception with Volcker during his tenure as Fed chairman. (Undated photograph from Volcker's personal collection)
Laughter in the Oval Office: Ronald Reagan's team was relieved when the independent-minded Volcker stepped down as Fed chairman, to be replaced by Alan Greenspan. Left to right: Greenspan, Volcker, Vice President George H. W. Bush, Reagan, and Treasury Secretary James Baker. (White House photograph)
Volcker checks the president's notes: At a White House press conference, June 2, 1987, Reagan announces that Greenspan will replace Volcker. (White House photograph)
Casting a long shadow: Volcker at the Federal Reserve building in Washington. (Photograph by Dennis Brack, via Black Star Photo)
Discussing a full court press: With the U.S. economy in free fall, presidential candidate Barack Obama consults with Volcker at a meeting in Coral Gables, Florida, in September 2008. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Happy days are here again? Volcker returned to government service as chairman of President Obama's Economic Recovery Board. Here he listens to an Obama address in New York City, flanked by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and real estate executive Penny Pritzker. (Photograph by Daniel Acker/European Pressphoto Agency)
“How about we call it the Obama Rule?” Volcker was not particularly pleased at having his name attached to the rule that restricted trading at banks. He thought it sounded boastful and might narrow his legacy to two words of limited scope. (Photograph by Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Volcker losesâbut finishes in the money: a racehorse named for the financial icon, ridden by John Velasquez, is beaten at Saratoga by a half length by Forum, under Javier Castellano, August 28, 2010. (Photograph from Thoroughbred Report.com)
Cartoon by Bil Canfield. (Used with permission of PARS International)
October 22, 1985, cartoon by Draper Hill. (Reprinted by permission of the
Detroit News)
(Used with the permission of Steve Kelley and Creators Syndicate. All rights reserved)
Cartoon by Joe Azar, originally published in
Legal Times
. (Reprinted by permission of Joe Azar)
The narrative in this biography relies first and foremost on contemporary documents. These include: (1) publicly available documents, such as transcripts of the Federal Open Market Committee and the minutes of meetings released by the U.S. Treasury; and (2) private documents made available from the personal files of Paul Volcker, such as personal correspondence and memos from the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve. Interviews with Paul Volcker and his contemporaries, those who worked both with him and for him, supplement the written record. Here are some details.
References to the Personal Papers of Paul Volcker are documents given to me by Volcker from his personal files. References to documents held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York come from two sources: (1) documents from Volcker's tenure as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which are the property of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; and (2) documents shipped in 1987 from Volcker's personal files at the Board of Governors for storage at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. As of this writing (January 2012), both sets of materials, referred to as Federal Reserve Bank of New York Archives, are available from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.