Herbert Mayhew Lord

Herbert Mayhew Lord (December 6, 1859 – June 2, 1930) was a United States Army officer and public official. He was most notable for his service as the Army's Director of Finance during World War I and the Director of the United States Bureau of the Budget (now the Office of Management and Budget) from 1922 to 1929.

A native of Rockland, Maine, Lord received bachelor's and master's degrees from Colby College and worked as a newspaper reporter and editor. As a staff member of the United States House of Representatives, Lord played an important role in the creation of the Dingley Act, which raised tariffs to counteract the lowering of rates that occurred under the Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act. In 1898, Lord began a military career when he was appointed a major of United States Volunteers for the Spanish–American War and assigned to duty with the Paymaster Department. After the war, Lord continued to work in finance for the Army and was frequently called upon to provide expertise for special projects, including overseeing the disbursement of federal disaster relief funds following the Great Salem fire of 1914.

During World War I, Lord was promoted to brigadier general as the Army's Director of Finance and led the effort to manage expenditure of $24 billion in War Department appropriations. His post-war activities included an effort to pay corporations for wartime goods and services when Congress was not in session; his initiative helped avert an economic crisis, and the U.S. Congress retroactively approved his actions. Lord also acted on his own initiative to provide disability payments to soldiers who were wounded, injured, or suffered severe illness during the war, another action Congress approved retroactively. In 1922, Lord was appointed as budget director, and he remained in the position until 1929. Lord prioritized the economy in government during the administrations of presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover, which helped pay down the country's World War I debt and create a surplus in the federal budget.

Lord became ill in 1929 and resigned as budget director. His health did not improve, and he died in Washington, D.C., on June 2, 1930. Lord was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Early life Herbert M. Lord was born in Rockland, Maine, on December 6, 1859, the son of Sabin Lord and Abbie (Swett) Lord. He was raised and educated in Rockland, and graduated from Rockland High School.

Lord briefly attended Bates College, then transferred to Colby College. As a teacher, he specialized in the Greek, Latin, and English languages, and also served as the principal of the high school in Thomaston, Maine. In 1920, Colby College awarded Lord the honorary degree of LL.D.

In March 1919, Congress adjourned without making provisions to pay more than $800 million that the military owed to factories, railroads, and other businesses for services and materiel they provided during the war. Ruth Mayhew Lord (1890–1974) was the wife of Franklin Robinson Van Rensselaer.