Eddy, George A.

George Eddy was born in New Jersey on June 15, 1917. From 1921 to 1924 he attended Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, and he received his BA from Yale in 1928. During the years 1930-1933 Eddy attended graduate school at Harvard, earning a Masters in economics and an MBA. During his time at Harvard his chief interest was macroeconomic policies, specifically U.S. deficits and how to achieve prosperity with stable prices.

From 1933 to 1934 Eddy worked as the Assistant to the Economist and Vice President at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. From 1934 to 1936 he worked as a Research Analyst for the Division of Research and Statistics at the U.S. Treasury, and then from 1936 to 1939 he was back at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to work in their Research Department, first on matters related to the Far East and later on domestic finance and business issues. After a brief time as a columnist and reporter for the Journal of Commerce in New York City, Eddy returned to the Treasury in 1939 as a Senior Economic Analyst in the Division of Monetary Research. There Eddy worked under accused communist Harry Dexter White, who was the Director of the Division of Monetary Research at that time.

In 1941 Eddy married his wife Eileen. During World War II he was a lieutenant in the Navy, and remained in the Navy as a Reservist. Upon his return from the war he continued his work for the U.S. Treasury.

In 1954 Eddy was suspended from the Treasury as a security risk. At the time, a great many employees from the Treasury, including Secretary Henry Morgenthau, were being accused of communist sympathies. Miss Elizabeth Bentley, a former communist who became a government informer, was the government's primary source of information on the communist activities of many Treasury employees. Eddy's suspension was based on his associations with and open support of publicly identified communists, including Lauchlin M. Currie, Harry Dexter White, V. Frank Coe, Robert C. Barnard, Emile Despres, William Ludwig Ullman, Harold Glasser, Solomon Adler, and William Henry Taylor. According to the Treasury, these associations showed a lack of good judgment and discretion, and cast serious doubts about Eddy's own trustworthiness.

During Eddy's hearing his lawyer attacked the credibility of Elizabeth Bentley and the evidence against many of those named above, and Eddy mentioned to the Security Board that he also doubted the guilt of Alger Hiss. In late 1955, after his hearing, Eddy received full clearance and back pay, but soon resigned from his position at the Treasury. He then began working on a book about the accusations of Elizabeth Bentley and Whittaker Chambers against Alger Hiss and Harry Dexter White, a project he continued until 1962. He returned to economic work until the late 1980's, after the death of his wife, at which time he returned to his work on the Hiss-White case.

George Eddy was born in New Jersey on June 15, 1907. From 1921 to 1924 he attended Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, and he received his BA from Yale in 1928 (where he was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa). During the years 1930-1933 Eddy attended graduate school at Harvard, where he earned an MBA. During his time at Harvard his chief interest was macroeconomic policies, specifically U.S. deficits and how to achieve prosperity with stable prices.

By December of 1933 Eddy worked as the Assistant to the Economist and Vice President at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. From 1934 to 1936 he worked as a Research Analyst for the Division of Research and Statistics at the U.S. Treasury, and then from 1936 to 1939 he was back at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to work in their Research Department, first on matters related to the Far East and later on domestic finance and business issues. After a brief time as a columnist and reporter for the Journal of Commerce in New York City, Eddy returned to the Treasury in 1939 as a Senior Economic Analyst in the Division of Monetary Research. There Eddy worked under accused communist Harry Dexter White, who was the Director of the Division of Monetary Research at that time.

In 1941 Eddy married his wife Eileen. During World War II he was a lieutenant in the Navy, and remained in the Navy as a Reservist. Upon his return from the war he continued his work for the U.S. Treasury.

In 1954 Eddy was suspended from the Treasury as a security risk. At the time, a great many employees from the Treasury, including Secretary Henry Morgenthau, were being accused of communist sympathies. Miss Elizabeth Bentley, a former communist who became a government informer, was the government's primary source of information on the communist activities of many Treasury employees. Eddy's suspension was based on his associations with and open support of publicly identified communists, including Lauchlin B. Currie, Harry Dexter White, V. Frank Coe, Robert C. Barnard, Emile Despres, William Ludwig Ullman, Harold Glasser, Solomon Adler, and William Henry Taylor. According to the Treasury, these associations showed a lack of good judgment and discretion, and cast serious doubts about Eddy's own trustworthiness.

During Eddy's hearing his lawyer attacked the credibility of Elizabeth Bentley and the evidence against many of those named above, and Eddy mentioned to the Security Board that he also doubted the guilt of Alger Hiss. In late 1955, after his hearing, Eddy received full clearance and back pay, but soon resigned from his position at the Treasury. He then began working on a book about the accusations of Elizabeth Bentley and Whittaker Chambers against Alger Hiss and Harry Dexter White, a project he continued until 1962. He returned to economic work until the late 1980's, after the death of his wife, at which time he returned to his work on the Hiss-White case.

George A. Eddy died on April 13, 1998.