Smith, Harold D., 1898-1947

Harold D. Smith (1898-1947) came to the Federal government from Michigan, where he had been State Budget Director under Governor Frank Murphy. His fiscal reforms in Michigan attracted the attention of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who in April 1939 appointed Smith Director of the Bureau of the Budget. This coincided with the transfer of the Budget Bureau to the Executive Office of the President, authorized by the President's Reorganization Plan No. 1 in July 1939. In June 1946, Smith resigned to become vice president of the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development.

Government official.

Smith received degrees in engineering and public administration, and worked as Budget Director for the state of Michigan before Roosevelt appointed him Director of the Bureau of the Budget in 1939.

Bureau of the Budget was responsible for preparing and administering the budget, developing plans for more efficient administrative management of government activities, recommending Presidential action on legislation approved by Congress, and assisting in the preparation of Executive Orders and Proclamations. During World War II, the Bureau was also involved in organizing and liquidating emergency agencies and in making recommendations on personnel and economical utilization of supplies.