'Alexander Sachs' (
August 1,
1893 -
June 23,
1973) was an American economist and banker. In 1939, he delivered the
Einstein-Szilárd letter to
Franklin D. Roosevelt, in which it was suggested that the
atomic bomb be built.
Born in
Rossien, Lithuania, Sachs came to the U.S. in 1904. He was educated at
Townsend Harris High School in
New York City, the
City College of New York, and
Columbia College. In 1913 he joined the municipal bond department at Boston-based investment bank
Lee, Higginson & Co., but in 1915 returned to education as a graduate student in social sciences, philosophy and jurisprudence at
Harvard College.
Between 1918 and 1921 he was an aide to
Justice Brandeis and the
Zionist Organization of America on international problems of the Middle East and the
World War I peace conference.
From 1922 to 1929 he was economist and investment analyst for Walter Eugene Meyer in equity investment acquisitions. He then organized and became Director of Economics Investment Research at the Lehman Corporation, a newly established investment company of
Lehman Brothers. From 1931 he joined the board at Lehman. He was Vice President from 1936 to 1943, remaining on the board until his death in 1973.
In 1933, Sachs served as organizer and chief of the economic research division of the
National Recovery Administration. In 1936, he served on the
National Policy Committee. During the war, he was economic adviser to the Petroleum Industry War Council, and special counsel to the director of the
Office of Strategic Services.
References
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Papers of Alexander Sachs
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Alexander Sachs, 79, Prominent Economist, Dies Jean R. Hailey