< Back one page or click on the timeline to continue your journey.

Overview

John J. Raskob (1879-1950) rose from private secretary to the highest executive levels at DuPont. Raskob attended business college after high school and was working as a stenographer at a pump-manufacturing firm when Pierre du Pont hired him as a bookkeeper for his midwestern steel and street railway businesses in 1900. When Pierre became treasurer of DuPont in1902, he made Raskob his private secretary. Raskob’s talent for financial management soon made him Pierre’s assistant. In 1911 Raskob became DuPont’s assistant treasurer. In 1914 he became treasurer, was elected to the Board of Directors, and joined the Executive Committee. The next year Raskob was named secretary treasurer of the Christiana Securities Company and also joined the General Motors board of directors. From 1918 to 1928, as vice president and chairman of the Finance Committee of General Motors, and as vice president in charge of finances at DuPont, he guided the financial operations of both companies.

Raskob resigned from GM in 1928 but stayed with DuPont until his retirement in 1946. During the 1920s and 1930s Raskob was involved in a variety of business activities and spearheaded the construction of the Empire State Building. He also was active in politics. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1928 to 1932, when he resigned to become a leading opponent of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. He was active in the Catholic Church and received many honors for his work on behalf of various charities and educational programs.

< Back one page or click on the timeline to continue your journey.