The 1907 panic exposed how fragile and vulnerable was the country’s banking system. Though the panic had finally been contained by decisive action on Morgan’s part, the panic became clear that the United States could not afford to keep relying on one man to guarantee its stability, especially since that man was now seventy years old, semiretired, and focused primarily on amassing an unsurpassed art collection and yachting to more congenial climes with his bevy of middle-aged mistresses. Shaken by the crisis, the U.S. Congress decided to act. In 1908, it created the National Monetary
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