Anderson, Samuel W. (Samuel Wagner), 1898-1962

Samuel Wagner Anderson (1898-1962) served in the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations in various economic and industrial posts from 1941 through 1955. After earning his masters degree in business administration from Harvard University in 1922, Mr. Anderson pusued a career as an investment banker in New York. In 1941 he came to Washington to serve in the Office of Production Management and then the War Production Board, of which he became vice-president in 1945. Anderson returned to New York and banking at the end of World War II, but became director of the Industry Division of the Economic Cooperation Administration in 1946. He later served in the Latin American Loan Department of the World Bank. In 1951, Anderson returned to industrial management as a deputy administrator for the Defense Production Administration. During his tenure there, he earned the title "Aluminum Czar" for his breaking of the aluminum monopoly. President Eisenhower appointed Samuel Anderson Assistant Secretary of Commerce for International Affairs in 1953, and he remained in this post until 1955, when he went to the Conference on Problems of War and Peace in Mexico City as an advisor to the American Delegation. He also served as president of the American Watch Association from 1955 to 1958. After his retirement from public office for health reasons, Mr. Anderson acted as a private consultant in international affairs until his death on 14 December 1962.