The Little-Known Treasury Secretary Whose Ideas Are Still Debated

The philosophy of the American supply-side godfather still argued over even by those who never heard of him

U.S. President Calvin Coolidge and his Cabinet: (seated, from left) Secretary of War Dwight F. Davis, Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg, President Calvin Coolidge, Secretary of the Treasury Andrew W. Mellon, and Attorney General John G. Sargent, (standing, from left) Postmaster General Harry S. New, Secretary of Labor James J. Davis, Secretary of Commerce William F. Whiting, Secretary of Agriculture William M. Jardine, Secretary of the Interior Roy O. West, and Secretary of the Navy Curtis D. Wilbur, on Jan. 4, 1929. FPG/Getty Images

The arguments about this often-forgotten U.S. Treasury Secretary continue a century later.

The policies and writings of 1920s U.S. Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon touch on much of what Americans debate today: Taxes, economic growth, and inflation.