The Devils of American Finance - Past and Present

1933: WALL ST. AND THE CRASH OF '29

Charles Mitchell was president of First National City Bank, and played a prominent role in the Crash. His bank (now Citi) was a key player in the stock speculation that inflated the bubble of the Twenties. Acquitted on charges of tax evasion, the government won a civil suit against him and Congress' Pecora Commission investigated Mitchell for his role in the Crash.

As authors Thomas Huertas and Joan Silverman wrote in the Business History Review:

"Called by many the greatest bond salesman who ever lived, Charles E. Mitchell was also singled out during the Depression as the man 'more responsible than all the other put together for the excesses that have resulted in this economic disaster." Acclaimed in the 1920s, Mitchell – also know as 'Sunshine Charley,' 'Scapegoat of the Crash' – was despised in the 1930s and prosecuted by the US government into the 1950s."

Mitchell returned to banking, however, and died rich.

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