History

There was no federal agency that could make massive loans to critical sectors of the depressed economy. To address these problems, President Herbert Hoover asked and Congress passed the Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act of 1932 with broad bipartisan support. Hoover signed the Act into law on January 22. Like the Federal Reserve, the RFC would loan to banks, but it was designed to serve state-chartered banks and small banks in rural areas that were not part of the Federal Reserve System. Another distinction was that the RFC could make loans on the basis of collateral that the Federal Reserve and other lenders would not accept. The related Banking Act of 1932, signed on February 27, broadened the Federal Reserve's lending powers, and gave it the power to make national policy to mitigate the problems with the economy. Eugene Meyer, who had pushed for both pieces of legislation, after heading up an organization similar to the RFC during World War I, was a governor of the Federal Reserve, and Chairman of the Board of the RFC. Essentially, the RFC was the "discount lending" arm of the Federal Reserve.

The initial funding for the RFC came from the sale of US$500 million worth of stocks and bonds to the United States Treasury. To obtain more capital, it sold US$1.5 billion in bonds to the Treasury, which then sold them to the general public. In its first couple of years, the RFC needed a loan of US$51.3 billion from the Treasury and US$3.1 billion from the public.

The RFC lent to solvent institutions that could not be sold to repay their existing liabilities but would be able to do so in the long run. A main reason for such loans was to ensure that depositors got their money back. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation spent US$1.5 billion in 1932, US$1.8 billion in 1933, and US$1.8 billion in 1934 before dropping to about US$350 million a year. In August 1939, on the eve of World War II, it greatly expanded to build munitions factories. In 1941, it disbursed US$1.8 billion. The total loaned or otherwise disbursed by the RFC from 1932 through 1941 was US$9.465 billion.

Chairmen of the Board of Directors

Name	Dates of service
Eugene Meyer	February 2, 1932 – July 31, 1932
Atlee Pomerene	August 1, 1932 – March 4, 1933
Jesse H. Jones	May 5, 1933 – July 15, 1939
Emil Schram	July 16, 1939 – June 29, 1941
Charles B. Henderson	June 30, 1941 – April 9, 1947
John D. Goodloe	April 9, 1947 – April 30, 1948
Harley Hise	August 5, 1948 – October 9, 1950
W. Elmer Harber	October 11, 1950 – May 4, 1951

Administrators and Deputy Administrators

Name and position	Dates of service
W. Stuart Symington, Administrator	May 4, 1951 – February 15, 1952
Peter I. Bukowski, Deputy Administrator	June 20, 1951 – December 31, 1951
Leo Nielson, Acting Administrator	February 15, 1952 – February 26, 1952
Harry A. McDonald, Administrator	February 26, 1952 – May 1, 1953
Clarence A. Beutel, Deputy Administrator	September 10, 1952 – June 1, 1953
Kenton R. Cravens, Administrator	May 1, 1953 – March 31, 1954
Laurence B. Robbins, Deputy Administrator	December 10, 1953 – March 31, 1954
Laurence B. Robbins, Acting Administrator	March 31, 1954 – April 26, 1954
Laurence B. Robbins, Administrator	April 26, 1954 – June 30, 1954