Chair of the Federal Reserve - Wikipedia Chair of the Federal Reserve Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Seal of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors Flag of the Federal Reserve System Incumbent Jerome Powell since February 5, 2018 Appointer the President of the United States ( with Senate advice and consent ) Formation August 10, 1914 ; 103 years ago ( 1914 - 08 - 10 ) First holder Charles Sumner Hamlin Salary $201,700 ( 2017 ) Website Official bio The Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is the head of the Federal Reserve, which is the central banking system of the United States. The position is known colloquially as `` Chair of the Fed '' or `` Fed Chair ''. The chair is the `` active executive officer '' of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The chair is chosen by the President of the United States from among the members of the Board of Governors ; and serves for four - year - terms after appointment. A chair may be appointed for several consecutive terms. William Martin was the longest serving chair, holding the position from 1951 to 1970. The current Chairman is Jerome Powell, who was sworn in on February 5, 2018. He was nominated to the position by President Donald Trump on November 2, 2017, and was later confirmed by the United States Senate. Contents 1 1935 reorganization 2 Appointment process 3 Conflict of interest law 4 List of Fed Chairs 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 External links 1935 reorganization Section 203 of the Banking Act of 1935 changed the name of the `` Federal Reserve Board '' to the `` Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. '' The directors ' salaries were significantly lower ( at $12,000 when first appointed in 1914 ) and their terms of office were much shorter prior to 1935. In effect, the Federal Reserve Board members in Washington, D.C., were significantly less powerful than the presidents of the regional Federal Reserve Banks prior to 1935. In the 1935 Act, the district heads had their titles changed to `` President '' ( e.g., `` President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis '' ). Appointment process As stipulated by the Banking Act of 1935, the President of the United States appoints the seven members of the Board of Governors ; they must then be confirmed by the Senate and serve four year terms. The nominees for chair and vice-chair may be chosen by the President from among the sitting Governors for four - year terms ; these appointments are also subject to Senate confirmation. The Senate Committee responsible for vetting a Fed Reserve Chair nominee is the Senate Committee on Finance. By law, the chair reports twice a year to Congress on the Federal Reserve 's monetary policy objectives. He or she also testifies before Congress on numerous other issues and meets periodically with the Treasury Secretary. Conflict of interest law The law applicable to the Chair and all other members of the Board provides ( in part ) : No member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall be an officer or director of any bank, banking institution, trust company, or Federal Reserve bank or hold stock in any bank, banking institution, or trust company ; and before entering upon his duties as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System he shall certify under oath that he has complied with this requirement, and such certification shall be filed with the secretary of the Board. List of Fed Chairs The following is a list of past and present Chairs of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. A chair serves for a four - year term after appointment, but may be reappointed for several consecutive four - year terms. As of 2018, there have been a total of sixteen Fed Chairs. # Photo Name ( chair ) ( Birth -- Death ) Term of office First Appointed by ( Term ) Start of term End of term Charles Sumner Hamlin ( 1861 -- 1938 ) August 10, 1914 August 10, 1916 Woodrow Wilson ( 1913 -- 1921 ) William P.G. Harding ( 1864 -- 1930 ) August 10, 1916 August 9, 1922 Daniel R. Crissinger ( 1860 -- 1942 ) May 1, 1923 September 15, 1927 Warren G. Harding ( 1921 -- 1923 ) Roy A. Young ( 1882 -- 1960 ) October 4, 1927 August 31, 1930 Calvin Coolidge ( 1923 -- 1929 ) 5 Eugene Meyer ( 1875 -- 1959 ) September 16, 1930 May 10, 1933 Herbert Hoover ( 1929 -- 1933 ) 6 Eugene Robert Black ( 1873 -- 1934 ) May 19, 1933 August 15, 1934 Franklin D. Roosevelt ( 1933 -- 1945 ) 7 Marriner S. Eccles ( 1890 -- 1977 ) November 15, 1934 February 3, 1948 8 Thomas B. McCabe ( 1893 -- 1982 ) April 15, 1948 April 2, 1951 Harry S. Truman ( 1945 -- 1953 ) 9 William M. Martin ( 1906 -- 1998 ) April 2, 1951 February 1, 1970 10 Arthur F. Burns ( 1904 -- 1987 ) February 1, 1970 January 31, 1978 Richard Nixon ( 1969 -- 1974 ) 11 G. William Miller ( 1925 -- 2006 ) March 8, 1978 August 6, 1979 Jimmy Carter ( 1977 -- 1981 ) 12 Paul Volcker ( 1927 -- ) August 6, 1979 August 11, 1987 13 Alan Greenspan ( 1926 -- ) August 11, 1987 January 31, 2006 Ronald Reagan ( 1981 -- 1989 ) 14 Ben Bernanke ( 1953 -- ) February 1, 2006 January 31, 2014 George W. Bush ( 2001 -- 2009 ) 15 Janet Yellen ( 1946 -- ) February 3, 2014 February 3, 2018 Barack Obama ( 2009 -- 2017 ) 16 Jerome Powell ( 1953 -- ) February 5, 2018 Incumbent Donald Trump ( 2017 -- ) See also Government of the United States portal History of central banking in the United States Notes Jump up ^ Johnston, Kevin ( January 31, 2017 ). `` What Is the Salary of the Federal Reserve Chairman ? ''. Investopedia. Retrieved 2018 - 02 - 05. Jump up ^ see 12 U.S.C. § 242 Jump up ^ `` Jerome H. Powell sworn in as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ''. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Retrieved 2018 - 02 - 05. Jump up ^ Appelbaum, Binyamin ( 2018 - 02 - 04 ). `` Powell Takes Over as Fed Chief as Economy Starts to Show Strain ''. The New York Times. ISSN 0362 - 4331. Retrieved 2018 - 02 - 05. Jump up ^ NPR. `` Senate Confirms Jerome Powell As New Federal Reserve Chair ''. Retrieved February 3, 2018. Jump up ^ Cox, Jeff ( January 31, 2018 ). `` Yellen leaving Fed Saturday, Powell to be sworn in Monday ''. CNBC. Retrieved February 3, 2018. Jump up ^ Gensler, Lauren ( November 2, 2017 ). `` Trump Taps Jerome Powell As Next Fed Chair In Call For Continuity ''. Forbes. Jump up ^ Sec. 203, Banking Act of 1935, Public Law no. 305, 49 Stat. 684, 704 ( Aug. 23, 1935 ). Jump up ^ `` The Reserve Board Nominations ''. The Independent. July 20, 1914. Retrieved August 21, 2012. Jump up ^ Meltzer, Allan H. ( 2003 ). A history of the Federal Reserve : Volume 1, 1913 - 1951. Chicago : University of Chicago Press. Jump up ^ `` Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen Makes Less Than 113 Other Staffers At The Fed ''. The Huffington Post. December 16, 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2015. Jump up ^ `` The Structure of the Federal Reserve System ''. Federalreserve.gov. Retrieved April 24, 2015. Jump up ^ Federal Reserve ( January 16, 2009 ). `` Board of Governors FAQ ''. Federal Reserve. Archived from the original on January 17, 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2009. Jump up ^ 12 U.S.C. § 244 Jump up ^ `` Federal Reserve Bank Presidents ''. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Retrieved December 8, 2007. Jump up ^ `` Chairs ''. Membership of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 1914 -- present. The Federal Reserve Board. February 3, 2014. Retrieved February 10, 2014. Jump up ^ Chairs were designated Governors before August 23, 1935, and were then designated Chairmen until approximately 2014, when Yellen became the first female chair. Jump up ^ Served as Chair pro tempore from February 3, 1948 to April 15, 1948. Jump up ^ Served as Chair pro tempore from March 3, 1996 to June 20, 1996. Jump up ^ `` Janet L. Yellen, Chair ''. federalreserve.gov. October 19, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2018. References Beckhart, Benjamin Haggott. 1972. Federal Reserve System. ( New York ) : American Institute of Banking. Shull, Bernard. 2005. The fourth branch : the Federal Reserve 's unlikely rise to power and influence. Westport, Conn. : Praeger. Andrews, Edmund L. ( November 5, 2005 ). `` All for a more open Fed ''. New Straits Times. p. 21. `` Executive Order 11110 - Amendment of Executive Order No. 10289 as Amended, Relating to the Performance of Certain Functions Affecting the Department of the Treasury ''. The American Presidency Project., via UCSB.edu External links Official website Public Statements of the Chairs of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, via the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank Nomination hearings, conducted in the Senate, for Chairs and Members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Timeline of Federal Reserve Chairs with related resources Federal Reserve System Federal Open Market Committee Chair Governors Federal Reserve Bank Banknotes Federal Reserve Note Federal Reserve Bank Note Reports Beige Book Federal Reserve Statistical Release Monetary Policy Report to the Congress Fedspeak Federal funds Discount window Federal funds Federal funds rate History of Federal Open Market Committee actions Primary dealer History Aldrich -- Vreeland Act Bloomberg v. Federal Reserve Board of Governors, FRS v. Investment Co. Institute Federal Reserve Act Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act History of central banking in the United States Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chair_of_the_Federal_Reserve&oldid=840120480 '' Categories : Chairs of the Federal Reserve Hidden categories : CS1 : Julian -- Gregorian uncertainty Use mdy dates from July 2016 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from July 2016 Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia Talk Contents About Wikipedia Español فارسی Galego 한국어 Nederlands नेपाली Polski Português Русский Simple English Українська Tiếng Việt 4 more Edit links This page was last edited on 7 May 2018, at 21 : 20. About Wikipedia

Question: who was the first chairman of the federal reserve
Answer: Charles Sumner Hamlin