Harry J. Anslinger
| Harry Jacob Anslinger | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 1st Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics | |
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In office August 12, 1930 – May 1962 |
|
| President |
Herbert Hoover Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower John F. Kennedy |
| Succeeded by | Henry Giordano |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Harry Jacob Anslinger May 20, 1892 Altoona, Pennsylvania |
| Died | November 14, 1975 (aged 83) Altoona, Pennsylvania |
| Spouse(s) | Martha Kind Denniston |
Harry Jacob Anslinger (May 20, 1892 – November 14, 1975) was a United States government official who served as the first commissioner of the U.S. Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN). He was a staunch supporter of prohibition and the criminalization of drugs, and played a pivotal role in cannabis prohibition.
Anslinger held office an unprecedented 32 years in his role as commissioner until 1962. He then held office two years as U.S. Representative to the United Nations Narcotics Commission. The responsibilities once held by Anslinger are now largely under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Harry Anslinger's father, Robert J. Anslinger, was a barber by trade who was born in Bern, Switzerland. His mother, Rosa Christiana Fladt, was born in Baden, Germany. The family immigrated to the United States in 1881. Robert Anslinger worked in New York for two years, then moved to Altoona, Pennsylvania. In 1892, the year Harry was born, Anslinger went to work for the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Anslinger enrolled at Altoona Business College at the age of 17. He also went to work for the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1913, he was granted a furlough so he could enroll at Pennsylvania State College, where he studied in a two-year associate degree program in business and engineering.
In 1930, at age 38, Anslinger was appointed as the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.
Anslinger gained notoriety early in his career. At the age of 23 (in 1915), while working as an investigator for the Pennsylvania Railroad, he performed a detailed investigation that found the claim of a widower in a railroad accident to be fraudulent. He saved the company $50,000 and was promoted to captain of railroad police.
From 1917 to 1928, Anslinger worked for various military and police organizations. His duties took him all over the world, from Germany to Venezuela to Japan. His focus was on stopping international drug trafficking, and he is widely credited with shaping not only America's domestic and international drug policies, but for having influence on drug policies of other nations, particularly those that had not debated the issues internally.
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