Bernard M. Baruch*

The second son of a Jewish immigrant, Bernard Baruch was born in 1870 in Camden, South Carolina. His father served as a surgeon on General Robert E. Lee's staff during the Civil War.

In 1881, his family moved to New York, and Baruch graduated from the City College of New York eight years later. He eventually became a broker and then a partner in the firm of A. Housman and Company. He later opened his own brokerage firm and became one of Wall Street's financial leaders.

Baruch was a national defense advisor to President Woodrow Wilson during World War I. He also advised President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II. In 1946, the Baruch Plan proposed international control of atomic energy.

Baruch often discussed his ideas on a park bench in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House. A bench was dedicated to him there in 1960.