Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
Henry Paulsonis an American business executive who served as secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (2006â09). As Treasury secretary, Paulson was a member of the board of governors of the International Monetary Fund. Paulson had previously served as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the global bank holding companyGoldman Sachs Group, Inc., as well as chairman of the trade group Financial Services Forum.
Paulson was raised in Barrington, Illinois. He earned a bachelorâs degree in English from Dartmouth College (Hanover, New Hampshire) in 1968. He was awarded a masterâs degree in business administration from Harvard Business School (Cambridge, Massachusetts) in 1970. After graduating from Harvard, Paulson went to work at the Pentagon, where he served as staff assistant to the assistant secretary of defense until 1972. From 1972 to 1973 he was a member of the White House Domestic Council and an assistant to the president in the administration of Richard M. Nixon. In 1974 he joined Goldman Sachsâs Chicago office, becoming a partner in 1982 and a managing partner in 1988. He coheaded the firmâs investment banking division from 1990 to 1994, when he was named president and chief operating officer. He became chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs in 1999, succeeding Jon Corzine (who was later elected governor of New Jersey).
In May 2006 Paulson was nominated by U.S. Pres. George W. Bush to succeed John Snow as secretary of the Treasury, and in June 2006 his nomination was confirmed unanimously by the Senate. He was sworn into office in July.
Open full sized image
Henry Paulson (left) and George W. Bush in 2008.
Eric Draper/The White House
In 2008 Paulson became the designated leader of the Bush administrationâs attempt to stem a credit crisis resulting from widespread losses on faulty or subprime mortgage loans made by financial institutions. He quickly initiated efforts to avoid an economic slowdown, pushing through the federal takeover of troubled government mortgage-loan agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He worked with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to create a credit facility that enabled the insurance corporation American International Group (AIG), Inc., to avoid bankruptcy. Additionally, Paulson cooperated with Bush, Bernanke, and others to draft the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA), a bailout of the U.S. financial system made necessary by the growing credit crisis; the EESA was signed into law by Bush in October 2008. Paulson was active in the creation of the HOPE NOW Alliance, a cooperative effort among financial counselors, lenders, investors, and the U.S. government to assist struggling homeowners during the crisis. In 2009 he was succeeded as Treasury secretary by Timothy Geithner. Paulson later discussed the governmentâs handling of the economic crisis in his book On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System (2010).
An ardent conservationist, Paulson served as chairman of the Nature Conservancy from 2004 to 2006. In 2011 he founded the Paulson Institute, a think tank.
