Joseph W. McIntosh

Joseph W. McIntosh served as US comptroller of the currency from December 20, 1924, to November 20, 1928. Under the provisions of the original Federal Reserve Act, the comptroller of the currency was an ex-officio member of the Federal Reserve Board.

McIntosh was born in 1873, in Macomb, Illinois. From 1897 to 1905, he worked for three different companies in the banking industry, including Farmers State Bank in Eustis, Nebraska; Citizens Bank in Macomb, Illinois; and Armour & Co in Chicago.

In 1907, McIntosh joined Western Stoneware Co. in Monmouth, Illinois, as a receiver. He went on to become vice president and treasurer at the company.

From 1917 to 1920, McIntosh served in the US Army, starting as a major and finishing his active duty as a colonel. He served as chief of subsistence in the army during the first six months of 1918. During his three years of service in the army, McIntosh served in France, Italy, and the Balkans. At the conclusion of his service, he was decorated with the Croix Merito di Guerra (Italian); Polonia Restituta (Polish); Order of Merit (Serbian); and the War Cross (Czechoslovakian).

In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge appointed McIntosh to serve as the comptroller of the currency. During the first year of his term, 166 national banks with $566.6 million in assets became state banks, while 113 state banks with $245 million in assets entered the federal banking system. In 1927, the McFadden Act was signed into law, amending national banking laws as well as the Federal Reserve Act.

In 1928, McIntosh accepted a partner position at W. J. Wollman & Co., a stock brokerage firm in New York. He also served as a director at Pure Oil Co. in Chicago and at First National Bank in Miami.

McIntosh died in 1952.

Written by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. See disclaimer.