Woodin, William Hartman [key], 1868–1934, American cabinet officer, b. Berwick, Pa. After studying engineering at Columbia, he entered (1892) the railroad-equipment firm founded by his grandfather and became its president in 1899. President of the American Car and Foundry Company after 1916, he steadily expanded his industrial holdings. Although a Republican, Woodin supported Franklin Delano Roosevelt for president in 1932 and became Roosevelt's secretary of the Treasury in 1933. He helped restore the nation's financial activities during the banking crisis of Mar., 1933. He resigned the post in Dec., 1933, because of ill health.
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