Not available to order
Publication date:
25 August 2017Length of book:
294 pagesPublisher
Fairleigh Dickinson University PressISBN-13: 9781683930778
In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson opened the nation’s door to an era of reform. To help him, he brought to Washington men imbued with a progressive spirit—and in some, grudges as well!
Before work on reforms got underway, two high ranking officials of the Treasury Department attacked a local bank over its banking practices. The bank officers had close ties to Wall Street; the Treasury officials were no friends of Wall Street (with scars to prove it). Aggressive bank examinations, hostile interviews, and accusatory letters ensued, eventually resulting in the bank filing an injunction against the government.
But after an acrimonious court hearing, the injunction appeared to have failed. Indeed, a grand jury indicted the bank officers of perjury. In 1916, a three-week criminal trial of the bankers took place in which former Presidents Taft and Roosevelt appeared on behalf of the bankers. It was a cause celebre in the nation’s capital and much of the country.
When the verdict was reached it was clear “bad blood” had been spilled everywhere—and this nasty, little war had been more than just about reform.
Before work on reforms got underway, two high ranking officials of the Treasury Department attacked a local bank over its banking practices. The bank officers had close ties to Wall Street; the Treasury officials were no friends of Wall Street (with scars to prove it). Aggressive bank examinations, hostile interviews, and accusatory letters ensued, eventually resulting in the bank filing an injunction against the government.
But after an acrimonious court hearing, the injunction appeared to have failed. Indeed, a grand jury indicted the bank officers of perjury. In 1916, a three-week criminal trial of the bankers took place in which former Presidents Taft and Roosevelt appeared on behalf of the bankers. It was a cause celebre in the nation’s capital and much of the country.
When the verdict was reached it was clear “bad blood” had been spilled everywhere—and this nasty, little war had been more than just about reform.
‘The Riggs War’ is an absorbing piece of scholarship, studded with detailed biographical observations of both the main and tangential figures in the court proceedings.