George Leslie Harrison (January 26, 1887 – March 5, 1958) was an American banker, insurance executive and advisor to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson during World War II.[1]
After serving as general counsel to the Federal Reserve Board, Harrison served as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for 13 years, starting in 1928.[1] A year after he became president of the New York branch, the U.S. economy went into a recession. Harrison tried to curb an emerging stock bubble and persuaded the Federal Reserve board to raise interest rates, instead of letting the stock market react naturally to economic conditions.[4] In October 1929, the stock market crashed, starting the Great Depression. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates again following the crash and also failed to increase the money supply to combat deflation, thereby allowing conditions to deteriorate further.
During World War II, Harrison was War Secretary Henry L. Stimson's special assistant for matters relating to the development of the atomic bomb. He served with Stimson on the eight-member Interim Committee which examined problems expected to result from the bomb's creation and which recommended direct military use of the bomb against Japan without specific warning. Harrison chaired the committee when Stimson was absent, including at the Potsdam Conference.
One of Harrison's notable moments in this role was when he informed Secretary Stimson of the successful first test of the atomic bomb in New Mexico. Specifically, he cabled to him that:
"Doctor has just returned most enthusiastic and confident that the little boy is as husky as his big brother. The light in his eyes discernible from here to high hold and I could have heard his screams from here to my farm."[5]
Harrison and Stimson had not worked out a code for describing the test results ahead of time, so Harrison improvised the above, knowing Stimson would understand it to mean General Leslie Groves ("Doctor") had returned from New Mexico to Washington, D.C., and had reported that the tested "Fat Man" implosion-type atomic bomb (fueled by of plutonium-239) was as successful as the untested "Little Boy" bomb (fueled by uranium-235) was expected to be (prior to the test, the implosion design was expected to be much less powerful in its present form than the gun-type bomb). The light from here to high hold refers how the detonation was visible from "here" in Washington, D.C. to Stimson's Highhold estate nearly 250 miles away on Long Island. The bomb was so loud that Harrison could hear the detonation from "here" in Washington, D.C. to his farm on Upperville, VA, nearly 50 miles away.
Harrison returned to his position at New York Life after the war, becoming chair of the company's board in 1948.
Personal life
Harrison and his bride Alice at their wedding in 1940
Harrison married the widow of Rear Admiral Cary T. Grayson, who was the former Alice Gertrude Gordon.[3]
