Alan Greenspan was the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman who pledged liquidity during the 1987 crash.
Greenspan had become Federal Reserve chairman in August 1987, only weeks before Black Monday. On October 20, the day after the Dow’s record percentage fall, the Federal Reserve issued a brief statement saying it was ready to serve as a source of liquidity to support the economic and financial system.
The statement helped reassure markets that banks would have access to central-bank funding if necessary. The Fed also encouraged banks to continue lending to securities firms. This response is often cited as an early example of a central bank acting quickly to limit the risk that a market crash would become a broader financial breakdown.
Greenspan’s role is sometimes confused with that of Paul Volcker, who led the Federal Reserve during the early 1980s, or Ben Bernanke, who chaired it during the 2008 crisis. The 1987 intervention did not immediately erase the market loss, but the financial system avoided the widespread bank failures seen in the early 1930s.