Bernard M. Baruch

Born

in Camden, South Carolina, The United States

August 19, 1870

Died

June 20, 1965

Bernard Mannes Baruch, the "Park Bench Statesman," made his fortune on Wall Street, but his greatest challenge and his greatest satisfaction were his service to his country as an economic adviser during both World Wars I and II and as a confidante to six presidents.

Bernard Mannes Baruch was born August 19, 1870, in Camden, the son of Simon and Isabelle Wolfe Baruch. His father was a German immigrant who came to America in 1855 to avoid Prussian conscription. He was 15 years old and knew only one person in America, Mannes Baum, the owner of a general store in Camden, who was married to an aunt of Baruch's mother.

Young Simon Baruch worked for Baum as a bookkeeper and, with Baum's help, taught himself English. Mrs. Baum persuaded her husba Bernard Mannes Baruch, the "Park Bench Statesman," made his fortune on Wall Street, but his greatest challenge and his greatest satisfaction were his service to his country as an economic adviser during both World Wars I and II and as a confidante to six presidents.

Bernard Mannes Baruch was born August 19, 1870, in Camden, the son of Simon and Isabelle Wolfe Baruch. His father was a German immigrant who came to America in 1855 to avoid Prussian conscription. He was 15 years old and knew only one person in America, Mannes Baum, the owner of a general store in Camden, who was married to an aunt of Baruch's mother.

Young Simon Baruch worked for Baum as a bookkeeper and, with Baum's help, taught himself English. Mrs. Baum persuaded her husband to send Simon to South Carolina Medical College and the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond.

He became a renowned surgeon chief on Robert E. Lee's staff during the Civil War. It was Mannes Baum who gave Simon the uniform and sword he wore when he joined the Third Battalion, South Carolina Infantry, in 1862.

Bernard's mother, Isabelle, was the daughter of Sailing Wolfe, a young merchant and planter of Winnsboro, and Sara Cohen, daughter of Rabbi Hartwig Cohen of Charleston. Baruch's family moved to New York when he was about 10 years old. While his remarkable accomplishments came in New York, Washington, and abroad, his roots were always in South Carolina. Seventy years after he went to New York, he still had not relinquished a trace of his Southern accent.

Baruch graduated from City College of New York in 1889, and his first job was as an office boy earning $3 a week. He ran errands in the banking and financial district and became enamored of the potential Wall Street held. He became a runner for a brokerage house and invested all his effort and time in learning the business, eventually becoming a broker and then a partner in the firm of A. A. Housman and Company. His earnings and commissions afforded him the opportunity to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, and by the time he was 30 years old, he had become a millionaire.

Baruch left Housman to open Baruch Brothers, in partnership with one of his brothers, Hartwig "Harty" Baruch. In succeeding years he lost his fortune and made it back several times.
In 1907, he and Harty bought H. Hentz and Company, an international commodity firm with offices on Wall Street and in Paris, London, Berlin, and other cities. By 1910, Bernard Baruch had become one of Wall Street's financial leaders.

When Woodrow Wilson was re-elected president and war was looming, he called on Baruch for advice because of the latter's understanding of the nation's economy and industrial resources. Baruch was chairman of the War Industries Board, which controlled the industrial establishment of the country for three years. With the end of the war imminent, he helped President Wilson negotiate the peace agreements in Paris.

When Baruch joined Woodrow Wilson's War Industries Board, he had left H. Hentz and Company to speculate on his own. His two other brothers, Sailing and Herman, joined H. Hentz and Company as managing partners. Herman Baruch, a doctor and banker, later became ambassador to Portugal and Holland.

After World War I, Baruch continued as an adviser to Presidents Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, Roosevelt, and Truman. He often conferred with officials on a bench in Washington's Lafayette Park because of the privacy and relaxed atmosphere. Thus, he became known as the "Park Bench Statesman."

In 1905, he had bought Hobcaw Barony, a 17,000-acre plantation about three miles by water from Georgetown in South Carolina. It originally was part of the barony granted Lord Carteret by King George II. Baruch would permit no telephone lines to be strung to Hobcaw. The plantation was his retreat for the hunting season and the month of May each year.

Baruch took great pride in his Souther ...more

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Average rating: 3.84 · 124 ratings · 13 reviews · 9 distinct works • Similar authors

	Baruch: My Own Story 4.05 avg rating — 87 ratings — published 1993 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Philosophy For Our Time really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 1954 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Public Years 3.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1962 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Making of the Repartion and Economic Sections of the Treaty liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2013 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	American Industry in the War: A Report of the War Industries Board by Bernard M. Baruch, Hugh S. Johnson liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2007 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay, Bernard M. Baruch (Foreword) 3.90 avg rating — 2,966 ratings — published 1841	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Shake Well Before Using: A New Collection of Impressions and Anecdotes Mostly Humorous by Bennett Cerf, Bernard M. Baruch 2.88 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 1951 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Road to Survival by William Vogt, Stuart I. Freeman (Illustrator) , Bernard M. Baruch (Introduction) 2.43 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 1948 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	These Eventful Years; The Twentieth Century in the Making by Franklin H. Hooper (Preface), James Louis Garvin , Carlton J.H. Hayes liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Bernard M. Baruch

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.”
― Bernard M. Baruch

tags: ataraxy, be-yourself, confidence, fitting-in, individuality, misattributed-dr-seuss, those-who-matter

116893 likes

“Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking.”
― Bernard M. Baruch

tags: listening, successful, talking

380 likes

“Millions saw the apple fall, Newton was the only one who asked why?”
― Bernard Baruch

tags: inspirational, science

299 likes

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