McAdoo, William G

McAdoo, William G(ibbs)

(born Oct. 31, 1863, near Marietta, Ga., U.S.—died Feb. 1, 1941, Washington, D.C.) U.S. public official. In 1892 he moved to New York, where he organized the Hudson and Manhattan Railway companies (later consolidated), which built tunnels under the Hudson River. A prominent supporter of Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 presidential campaign, he was appointed secretary of the treasury by Wilson in 1913; he married Wilson's daughter in 1914. During World War I he directed fund-raising drives that yielded $18 billion for the war effort. He was later director general of U.S. railroads (1917–19) and U.S. senator from California (1933–38).