Snow, John William (1939– )

US public servant, secretary of the Treasury 2003–06. He replaced Paul O'Neill as Treasury secretary during a period of economic downturn, and under his stewardship the US economy grew by 4% a year and the unemployment rate fell. He resigned in July 2006 and was replaced by Henry Paulson. As chair of the Business Roundtable 1994–96, an influential association of US chief executive officers (CEOs), Snow facilitated the passing of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Born in Toledo, Ohio, Snow earned a doctorate in economics at the University of Virginia and studied law at George Washington University. He later taught economics at the University of Maryland and worked in a Washington, DC law firm. He served as an undersecretary at the Department of Transportation under President Gerald Ford in 1975–76. Between 1989 and 2003, he was chief executive officer and chairman (from 1991) of CSX Corporation, the country's largest railroad company.