Bernard Baruch

Bernard Mannes Baruch . Current sources more typically stress the second syllable of each name, i.e. . Both pronunciations are given in ''World Words, Recommended Pronunciations'' (1948). Baruch himself wrote that "the name Baruch is pronounced differently by different members of the family...The first syllable should be pronounced as if it were spelled 'Baah' and the second syllable as if spelled 'rook,' pronounced to rhyme with 'spook.'"}} (August 19, 1870 – June 20, 1965) was an American financier and statesman.

After amassing a fortune on the New York Stock Exchange, he impressed President Woodrow Wilson by managing the nation's economic mobilization in World War I as chairman of the War Industries Board. He advised Wilson during the Paris Peace Conference. He made another fortune in the postwar bull market, but foresaw the Wall Street crash and sold out well in advance.

In World War II, he became a close advisor to President Roosevelt on the role of industry in war supply, and he was credited with greatly shortening the production time for tanks and aircraft. Later he helped to develop rehabilitation programs for injured servicemen. In 1946, he was the United States representative to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, though his Baruch Plan for international control of atomic energy was rejected by the Soviet Union. Provided by Wikipedia