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Nomination of Donald T. Regan To Be Secretary of the Treasury

January 20, 1981

The President today nominated Donald T. Regan, of Colts Neck, N.J., to be the Secretary of the Treasury.

Mr. Regan is chairman and chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch and Co., Inc., the holding company formed in May 1973 by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.

Mr. Regan was born on December 21, 1918. He was graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in 1940. He joined the United States Marine Corps and retired at the end of World War II as a lieutenant colonel.

In 1946 Mr. Regan joined Merrill Lynch as an account executive trainee. Following his training, he worked as an account executive in Washington, D.C. In early 1952 he was named manager of the Over-the-Counter Department in New York. In 1954 Mr. Regan became a general partner in Merrill Lynch.

From 1955 until 1960, Mr. Regan served as manager of the Merrill Lynch office in Philadelphia. In 1960 he returned to New York as administrative division director.

In April 1964 Mr. Regan was elected executive vice president of Merrill Lynch, and in 1968 he became president. He was named chairman and chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith in January 1971. He relinquished those titles in January 1980 and continues as a director and member of the executive committee of the company.

Mr. Regan is the author of "A View from the Street," an analysis of the events on Wall Street during the crisis years of 1969 and 1970, which was published in 1972 by The New American Library. He has also written many articles that have appeared in various financial and business publications.

Mr. Regan is a member of the Policy Committee of the Business Roundtable. He is also a trustee of the Committee for Economic Development and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as chairman of the trustees of the University of Pennsylvania from 1974 to 1978 and is currently a life trustee of the university. He holds honorary degrees from four universities and is a trustee of the Charles E. Merrill Trust, a charitable foundation.

He is married to the former Ann Buchanan, and they have four children: Donna, Donald, Richard, and Diane.

Ronald Reagan, Nomination of Donald T. Regan To Be Secretary of the Treasury Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/247534

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