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Ben S. Bernanke: “Unlikely revolutionary” Since he was selected in 2005 to replace Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Federal Reserve, Bernanke has made bold, unprecedented moves in an attempt to bolster the U.S. economy.
This 1975 photo of Ben S. Bernanke was featured in the 25th Reunion Report of the Harvard Class. Though he attended Harvard University, the future Federal Reserve chairman went on to become a professor of economics at Princeton.
Photo from the 25th Reunion Report of the Harvard Class
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Photo from the 25th Reunion Report of the Harvard Class
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Oct. 24, 2005
Ben S. Bernanke was tapped on Oct. 24, 2005 to serve as chairman of the Federal Reserve. He was selected by President George W. Bush to succeed economist Alan Greenspan, who had held the post for 18 years. Though the stock markets reacted positively to the selection, White House officials acknowledged that Bernanke was not an ideal nominee in that he had only worked in academia and did not have experience in the financial or business sectors.
J. Scott Applewhite
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AP
Nov. 15, 2005
Before taking the helm of the Fed, Bernanke served as a member of the Federal Reserve Board and headed President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers. In this Nov. 15, 2005, photo, he waits to face the U.S. Senate Banking Committee for his confirmation hearings to become Fed chief. Prior to the hearing, committee Chairman Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) said Bernanke "is a good appointment, a highly qualified individual" for the job.
Larry Downing
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Reuters
Feb. 6, 2006
President George W. Bush, left, looks on as Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson, center, administers the oath of office to Bernanke as the 14th chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee.
Jay L. Clendenin
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Agency Pool Photo
Feb. 15, 2006
Traders in the two-year options pit at the Chicago Board of Trade work as congressional testimony by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is broadcast on a large screen television, in Chicago. Bernanke, in his first report to Congress, said the U.S. economy is in a sustained expansion that may require additional interest rate increases to restrain inflation.
Joe Tabacca
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Bloomberg
March 28, 2006
Bernanke, fourth from top at left, attends his first Federal Open Market Committee meeting as Fed chief. At the meeting, the committee unanimously voted to raise its benchmark interest rate to 4.75 percent in an effort to keep a lid on inflation.
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Reuters
December 2006
Bernanke is known for his soft-spoken manner and measured demeanor, but has still managed to transform the Fed, an organization that prior to his leadership, many considered stodgy and slow to make decisions. In this photo, the chairman works at his desk in his Federal Reserve building office.
Bill O'Leary
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The Washington Post
Jan. 26, 2007
Fellow Fed officials and Fed watchers have said Bernanke's leadership style is starkly different from his predecessor Alan Greenspan’s. Instead of strong-arming those who disagree with him, Bernanke has developed a reputation for engaging in intellectual debates and respecting others’ points of view even when he disagrees. Here, he poses in the boardroom of Fed headquarters in Washington.
Manuel Balce Ceneta
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AP
August 2008
Each August, members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and other key economists meet in Jackson Hole, Wyo., for an economic policy symposium. Here, Bernanke chats with Timothy F. Geithner, then-president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, during a break at 2008’s event. The pair would soon become key figures in shaping the U.S.’s financial rescue as crisis erupted on Wall Street later that year.
Andrew Harrer
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Bloomberg
September 2008
In the fall of 2008, Wall Street fell into a tailspin: Major investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed, while massive bailouts were orchestrated for Merrill Lynch, Wachovia, insurer AIG, and other financial institutions. Bernanke was a key voice in shaping the government's policy response to the turmoil. He is pictured with then-Treasury secretary Henry Paulson; then-chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission Christopher Cox; Democratic Sens. Christopher Dodd and Harry Reid; and Democratic Reps. Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi, among others.
David Brody
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Bloomberg
March 24, 2009
Bernanke testified before the House Financial Services Committee on AIG. The hearing was held after news broke that the firm had awarded extravagant bonuses to its executives after receiving a government bailout. Bernanke's appearance on Capitol Hill came just days after the Fed announced it would pump $1.2 trillion into the economy through a measure known as "quantitative easing." This meant that the central bank would purchase Treasury bonds and mortgage-related securities in an effort to bring down the cost of borrowing for consumers.
Susan Walsh
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AP
2009
Time Magazine named Bernanke its Person of the Year in 2009. In explaining the selection, Time's Michael Grunwald wrote, "Chairman Bernanke of Washington was determined not to be the Fed chairman who presided over Depression 2.0. So when turbulence in U.S. housing markets metastasized into the worst global financial crisis in more than 75 years, he conjured up trillions of new dollars and blasted them into the economy; engineered massive public rescues of failing private companies; ratcheted down interest rates to zero; lent to mutual funds, hedge funds, foreign banks, investment banks, manufacturers, insurers and other borrowers who had never dreamed of receiving Fed cash; jump-started stalled credit markets in everything from car loans to corporate paper; revolutionized housing finance with a breathtaking shopping spree for mortgage bonds; blew up the Fed's balance sheet to three times its previous size; and generally transformed the staid arena of central banking into a stage for desperate improvisation. He didn’t just reshape U.S. monetary policy; he led an effort to save the world economy."
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Reuters
April 2009
In a profile, The Post's Neil Irwin described Bernanke as an "unlikely revolutionary." Irwin wrote: "In the past 18 months, Bernanke has transformed [the Federal Reserve], invoking rarely used emergency authorities. His decision to do so has drawn criticism — he has transcended traditional limits on the role of a central bank, stretched the Fed's legal authority and to some, usurped the responsibility of political authorities in committing vast sums of taxpayer dollars."
Kevin Clark
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The Washington Post
December 2009
Bernanke appears before the Senate Banking Committee in a confirmation hearing for a second four-year term as Fed chairman. Bernanke was eventually confirmed on Jan. 28, 2010, but he scraped by with the narrowest margin in the history of the position. At the time, many analysts said the close call might disempower Bernanke and the Federal Reserve for an extended period of time.
Linda Davidson
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The Washington Post
November 2010
Bernanke and the Fed announced the beginning of a $600 billion bond-buying program in an effort to boost the economy by lowering key interest rates. Even though the measure was a relatively risky and untested way to prop up the economy, Fed officials said that they decided to take action due to concerns that unemployment was too high and inflation was too low. Following the announcement, Bernanke came under fire from some international leaders who said the policy amounted to currency manipulation. At the G-20 summit in Seoul that came just days later, President Obama was forced to defend the Fed's initiative.
Joshua Roberts
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Bloomberg
April 27, 2011
Bernanke holds the Federal Reserve’s first ever scheduled news conference. The move was part of Bernanke's effort to make the central bank less secretive and to burnish its image after it some members of Congress and international leaders criticized its decision to undertake a second round of quantitative easing.
Susan Walsh
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AP
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Section:/business/economy
![In a profile, The Post's Neil Irwin described Bernanke as an 'unlikely revolutionary.' Irwin wrote: 'In the past 18 months, Bernanke has transformed [the Federal Reserve], invoking rarely used emergency authorities. His decision to do so has drawn criticism — he has transcended traditional limits on the role of a central bank, stretched the Fed's legal authority and to some, usurped the responsibility of political authorities in committing vast sums of taxpayer dollars.'](/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2011/08/22/National-Economy/Images/bernanke10.JPG)
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