John J. Raskob

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John Jakob Raskob (1879-1950) was a financial executive and businessman for DuPont, General Motors, and the builder of the Empire State Building. Outside of his business life, he became chairman of the Democratic National Committee and was key supporter of Alfred E. Smith's candidacy for President of the United States. After Franklin D. Roosevelt became President, Raskob became a prominent opponent of the New Deal through his support of a number of anti-Roosevelt organization including the American Liberty League. Raskob was also a leader in the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment.

He was initially hired in 1901 by Pierre du Pont as a personal secretary. In 1911 he became assistant treasurer of DuPont, in 1914 treasurer, and in 1918 vice-president of finance for both DuPont and General Motors (Raskob had been an early investor in General Motors and had engineered DuPont's ownership of 43% of GM, purchased from the finacially troubled William C. Durant.

While with GM, he led the creation of General Motors Acceptance Corporation, the corporation that allowed GM dealers to offer installment credit directly to customers. He also promoted the use of standard financial statistics to measure the performance of different operations within a diversified company, primarily through his associate Donaldson Brown.

Raskob was very bullish in the stock market of the 1920s and wrote an article for Ladies Home Journal entitled "Everybody Ought to be Rich." He suggested that every American could become wealthy by investing $15 per week in common stocks.

Raskob held the head financial job at both firms until 1928, when he resigned from GM in a dispute with chairman Alfred P. Sloan. Raskob had supported Democratic presidential candidate Al Smith in the 1928 election, and Smith invited Raskob to become chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Sloan, a supporter of Herbert Hoover, insisted that Raskob resign either from GM or the DNC. Raskob left GM after the board supported Sloan, sold his GM stock, and used the proceeds to build the Empire State Building. Raskob made Smith president of the Empire State Co., that operated the building, based on a promise to do business together the night that Smith lost the presidential election. Raskob served as chairman of the DNC through 1932. Raskob continued to promote the Smith candidacy as Chairman of the DNC, and to advocate for the adoption of an anti-prohibition policy. Both of these positions were opposed by different factions within the Democratic Party, and when Franklin D. Roosevelt won the party's nomination, and the election, in 1932 Raskob withdrew from politics until his involvement with the American Liberty League, an anti-New Deal organization active around the time of the 1936 election.

Raskob's business interests from this time were focused on the Empire State Building, but also included extensive precious metal mining interests in Nevada and New Mexi. Raskob remained with DuPont until his retirement from the company in 1946.

Raskob had 13 children, and lost one son, William F. Raskob II, to an auto accident at the age of 20, establishing a charitable foundation in his honor which survives today ([the Bill Raskob Foundation]). After his death, a substantial amount of his wealth went to support the [Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities] which had been founded in the mid-1940's, and remains one of the largest family-operating charitable foundations in the U.S.

John J. Raskob

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