Maurice Hubert Stans (March 22, 1908April 14, 1998) was an American accountant,

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, and political organizer who served as the 19th

United States Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...

from 1969 to 1972. He served as the finance chairman for the

Committee for the Re-Election of the President The Committee for the Re-election of the President (or the Committee to Re-elect the President, CRP, but often mocked by the acronym CREEP) was, officially, a fundraising organization of United States President Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election ...

, working for the re-election of

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

. He pleaded guilty to five counts for technical violations of the

Federal Election Campaign Act The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA, , ''et seq.'') is the primary United States federal law regulating political campaign fundraising and spending. The law originally focused on creating limits for campaign spending on communicati ...

that were revealed during the larger investigation into the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...

Early life and education

Stans was born on March 22, 1908, in Shakopee, Minnesota, the son of James Hubert Stans and Mathilda Stans (nee Nyssen). His father was the only child of Jan Hendrik Stans and Maria Catharina Crijns, a Belgian couple who immigrated to the United States in 1880. Stans graduated from Shakopee High School in 1925. He worked at a local foundry before traveling to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

to find work with friend, Otto F. Schultz. The same year, he began work as a stenographer and bookkeeper for a Chicago importer, while attending evening classes at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. In 1928 he joined the Chicago-based firm of Alexander Grant and Company, certified public accountants, and continued his part-time studies at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

while working at the firm's New York City office. He attended Columbia from 1928 to 1930.

Career

Stans was an executive partner with the Alexander Grant & Co. accounting firm in Chicago from 1940 until 1955. He was a

Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Stat ...

, licensed in New York, Ohio and Virginia. He was President of the American Institute of Accountants from 1954 to 1955 and won the Gold Medal for Distinguished Service to the Profession in 1954. He was inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame in 1960.

Public servant under Eisenhower and Nixon

He later served as U.S. deputy postmaster general from 1955 to 1957, in the

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

administration. He served as deputy director of the Bureau of the Budget from 1957 to 1958, and director of the Bureau of the Budget from 1958 to 1961, still under Eisenhower. He joined the Nixon administration as

secretary of commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...

from 1969 to 1972. In 1961, Stans was one of the founders of the African Wildlife Foundation.

Watergate

In mid-February 1972, Stans resigned as the secretary of commerce to chair the

(CRP),

's re-election campaign. Money that he raised for the campaign was clearly used to finance some of the illegal Watergate activities. Stans denied any knowledge of what the money was used for, only that it was authorized to be spent. On March 12, 1975, Stans pleaded guilty to three counts of violating the reporting sections of the Federal Election Campaign Act and two counts of accepting illegal campaign contributions. He was fined $5,000. The convictions were related to improperly giving campaign funds to G. Gordon Liddy, though Stans insisted that his guilt ended there and that he was not aware of Liddy's plan to use the money for what became the Watergate break in. He later authored a book, ''The Terrors of Justice: The Untold Side of Watergate'', in which he detailed his side of the Watergate story. Stans also wrote a book called "One of the Presidents' Men: Twenty Years With Eisenhower and Nixon" about his time serving in the Cabinets of two different presidential administrations.

Personal life

Stans died at the Huntington Memorial Hospital in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

, on April 14, 1998, at age 90, from complications of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF typically pr ...

References

External links

Papers of Maurice H. Stans, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Stans, Maurice H. 1908 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American politicians American accountants California politicians convicted of crimes California Republicans Directors of the Office of Management and Budget Eisenhower administration cabinet members Illinois Republicans Members of the Committee for the Re-Election of the President New York (state) Republicans Nixon administration cabinet members People convicted in the Watergate scandal People from Shakopee, Minnesota United States secretaries of commerce Writers from Minnesota