Theodore Roosevelt was the U.S. president during the Panic of 1907, the crisis that helped lead to the Federal Reserve’s creation.
The panic began after a failed attempt to corner the stock of United Copper Company. Depositors then rushed to withdraw money from banks and trust companies connected to the speculators. The New York Stock Exchange fell sharply, and the crisis spread through the financial system.
J. P. Morgan organized private support for troubled institutions and persuaded banks to provide emergency liquidity. His intervention highlighted the danger of relying on one private financier rather than a permanent central bank during a nationwide panic.
Roosevelt was president from 1901 to 1909, and he was succeeded by William Howard Taft in March 1909. After the panic, the National Monetary Commission studied banking systems abroad. Its work contributed to the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, signed by President Woodrow Wilson.