Andrew Brimmer, a former Harvard professor, was the first black person appointed to the Federal Reserve Board. President Lyndon B. Johnson gave him the position in 1966. Brimmer was working as the Assistant Secretary of Commerce of Economic Affairs when President Johnson took notice. His appointment caused uproar on the Federal Reserve Board and in the headlines, which read, “Desire to Aid Negroes Could Make New ‘Fed’ Member More Liberal.”
