The 1907 panic was Pierpont’s last hurrah. Although semiretired, reporting to work periodically for only an hour or two, he suddenly functioned as America’s central bank. Within two week’s time, he saved several trust companies and a leading brokerage house, bailed out New York City, and rescued the Stock Exchange. His victory was Pyrrhic, however, as America decided that never again would one man wield such power. The 1907 panic would be the last time that bankers loomed so much larger than regulators in a crisis. Afterward, the pendulum would swing decidedly toward government financial
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