J. P. Morgan organized emergency support during the Panic of 1907.
John Pierpont Morgan used his influence, financial resources, and New York library as a meeting place while banks and trust companies faced runs. He and other financiers examined institutions’ books, arranged loans, and helped prevent the failure of additional companies.
The crisis placed unusual responsibility on a private individual because the United States did not yet have a central bank capable of acting as a modern lender of last resort. Morgan’s intervention helped stabilize the immediate panic, but it also highlighted the risks of relying on one financier.
Aldrich–Vreeland legislation followed in 1908, and the Federal Reserve System was created in 1913. J. P. Morgan was not the cause of the panic; the initial shock involved the Knickerbocker Trust Company and the failed United Copper speculation.