Stephen Douglas Johnson
Encyclopedia
Stephen Douglas Johnson also known as Steve Johnson, was a Washington, D.C. banking lawyer; a chief lobbyist for the banking and insurance industries; U.S. House Chief Counsel for Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit from February 1995 to November 1997, the heyday of the Gingrich Revolution; and Bush Administration Senior Advisor to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) where among his varied duties he assisted the director Armando Falcon
in the investigation of financial misconduct at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Falcon was forced to resign in February 2003 by President George W. Bush
for releasing critical oversight reports stemming from the investigation. The investigation and reports were harbingers of the worldwide financial crisis which was to occur. The forced resignation of Falcon led Johnson to resign immediately even though Bush eased up and allowed Falcon to finish his term.
As a law firm associate, lobbyist, financial services executive, U.S. House Chief Counsel and senior governmental advisor, he loved nothing more than walking across the grounds and through the buildings composing the Hill
, especially on crisp cool autumn days. And he was a student of the Hill’s history and had a deep appreciation and realization of it embodying what America was all about. Because he admired what Washingtonians called the “wise men,” he, too, dreamed that as his hair turned grey with age he would evolve one day into becoming one of them. His career path and achievements had already well placed him on that road.
from late January 1995 through November 1997 which were the years of Newt Gingrich
’s reforms. Rather than being ideological, Johnson was a pragmatic liberal Republican who endeavored to advance reform and modernization of the financial services sector; to seek fair tax and other benefits for all Americans; and to clarify for the common good privacy, credit, and other issues relevant to the banking, insurance, and securities industries. He also negotiated with the Federal Reserve Board, the Treasury Department, and other federal agencies on all jurisdictional matters. He often got Alan Greenspan
and John D. Hawke, Jr.
then undersecretary of the U.S. Treasury to testify at U.S. House hearings which were shaped by him. While he served as Chief Counsel under Chairperson Marge Roukema
, he also had to strike a balance between the diverse personalities composing the subcommittee membership that included Bill McCollum
, Toby Roth
, Sonny Bono
, Ron Paul
, Gerald C. Weller, Peter T. King
, and Doug Bereuter
of the majority to Joseph Kennedy II, Charles E. Schumer, Bruce Vento
, Kweisi Mfume
, John J. LaFalce
, Carolyn B. Maloney
, Ken Bentsen, and Cynthia A. McKinney to achieve outcomes with which they all could live. He also worked with and for the full banking committee’s chairman, Jim Leach
. Additionally, he also had been counsel to the United States House Subcommittee on Domestic and International Policy.
As part of his duties, Johnson had to meet with banking and insurance industries representatives and others who were affected by them. He would, therefore, see a wide array of people with different and divergent interests whether it was Hugh McColl
of Bank of America
or a James Robinson
of AMEX
, or a former congressman like John B. Anderson
about a very localized banking matter or the leadership of ACORN
. Often he would have to share the speaker’s dais with these same individuals at events such as the ABA
conventions, Princeton University
’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs forums, etc. Overall, Johnson was “…by all accounts well-liked and respected. Both banking and insurance representatives lauded his talent and abilities with both the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers and the Bankers Roundtable not shy about praising him”.
After his United States House of Representatives
experience, Johnson helped raise the profile of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners
in his brief tenure and, thereafter, worked as Assistant Vice President of the American Insurance Association to August 1999, for whom he also advocated the interests of the insurance industry before the European Union
and World Trade Organization
(WTO). He then moved on to become Vice President and Senior Counsel of the Columbus Group/Columbia Capitol Corporation whose managing directors included Mark Warner
, now the junior U. S. senator from Virginia. When the Bush Administration took office in January 2001, Johnson became Senior Advisor to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight
where he addressed legislative and regulatory issues involving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac plus assisting the director, Armando Falcon
, on all other agency matters. Falcon’s and Johnson’s investigations of these two government chartered agencies led to criticisms of the two which became a foreshadowing of what would evolve and become the worldwide financial crisis. Falcon was forced to resign by President George W. Bush
on February 4, 2003 and Johnson quit immediately thereafter. Shortly, he left for New York City to pursue work in international consulting.
Prior to serving on the Hill as Chief Counsel, Johnson began his career as an associate with Muldoon, Murphy and Faucette, a Washington, D.C. based law firm whose specialty was S & L conversions in the late 1980s and 1990’s. From Muldoon et al., Johnson went on to become Regulatory Counsel for ISD/Shaw, now Federal Analytics, Inc, which was headed by Karen Shaw for whom he contributed to the three-volume Combating Credit Discrimination published by the Chicago based American Bankers Institute.
. He graduated cum laude from Tulane University of Louisiana in 1985. Beforehand, he had attended Germany’s University of Hamburg
. He received his J.D. from Tulane Law School in 1988 and his L.L.M. in Banking Law from Boston University
’s School of Law in 1989.
Johnson died on September 18, 2003 at George Washington University Hospital
in Washington, D.C.
from complications from a fall he had during the Northeast Blackout of 2003
(August 14, 2003) and from other health problems arising from a business trip immediately thereafter to the Orient. At the time of his death, Johnson was in Washington, D.C., very briefly to deliver divorce papers which his attorney Raoul Felder
could not do. Interment occurred in the Flossmoor area subsequently because Johnson wished to be buried near his maternal grandfather, Jan Crull, a scion of old Dutch Protestant Patrician family and a man who had achieved success before World War II and never repeated it thereafter. Johnson adored his grandfather for the man taught him that one should take life as it is; do the best one can with it; and never look back, not even in anger.
Armando Falcon
Armando Falcon, Jr. is the former Director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight , a position he held from 1999-2005...
in the investigation of financial misconduct at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Falcon was forced to resign in February 2003 by President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
for releasing critical oversight reports stemming from the investigation. The investigation and reports were harbingers of the worldwide financial crisis which was to occur. The forced resignation of Falcon led Johnson to resign immediately even though Bush eased up and allowed Falcon to finish his term.
As a law firm associate, lobbyist, financial services executive, U.S. House Chief Counsel and senior governmental advisor, he loved nothing more than walking across the grounds and through the buildings composing the Hill
The Hill
The Hill may refer to:* The Hill , a 1905 school novel by Horace Annesley Vachell* The Hill , a 1965 war film starring Sean Connery* The Hill * The Hill , a daily newspaper covering the U.S...
, especially on crisp cool autumn days. And he was a student of the Hill’s history and had a deep appreciation and realization of it embodying what America was all about. Because he admired what Washingtonians called the “wise men,” he, too, dreamed that as his hair turned grey with age he would evolve one day into becoming one of them. His career path and achievements had already well placed him on that road.
Career
Johnson was Chief Counsel of the United States House Financial Services Subcommittee On Financial Institutions And Consumer CreditUnited States House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
The U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit is a subcommittee of the House Committee on Financial Services.-Jurisdiction:...
from late January 1995 through November 1997 which were the years of Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....
’s reforms. Rather than being ideological, Johnson was a pragmatic liberal Republican who endeavored to advance reform and modernization of the financial services sector; to seek fair tax and other benefits for all Americans; and to clarify for the common good privacy, credit, and other issues relevant to the banking, insurance, and securities industries. He also negotiated with the Federal Reserve Board, the Treasury Department, and other federal agencies on all jurisdictional matters. He often got Alan Greenspan
Alan Greenspan
Alan Greenspan is an American economist who served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1987 to 2006. He currently works as a private advisor and provides consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC...
and John D. Hawke, Jr.
John D. Hawke, Jr.
John D. Hawke served as the United States Comptroller of the Currency from 1998 to 2004.John D. Hawke, Jr., was born in New York City on June 26, 1933. He was graduated from Yale University in 1954 with a B.A. in English. From 1955 to 1957 he served on active duty with the U.S...
then undersecretary of the U.S. Treasury to testify at U.S. House hearings which were shaped by him. While he served as Chief Counsel under Chairperson Marge Roukema
Marge Roukema
Margaret Scafati "Marge" Roukema represented New Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives for twenty-two years as a Republican. No woman has served in Congress from New Jersey since Roukema left office....
, he also had to strike a balance between the diverse personalities composing the subcommittee membership that included Bill McCollum
Bill McCollum
Ira William "Bill" McCollum, Jr. is a former Florida Attorney General. A Republican, he was Florida's 36th attorney general, taking office in 2007...
, Toby Roth
Toby Roth
Tobias Anton Roth is a former Republican United States congressman who represented Wisconsin's 8th congressional district. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1997, when he did not run for re-election. Previously, Roth served in the Wisconsin State Assembly from...
, Sonny Bono
Sonny Bono
Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono was an American recording artist, record producer, actor, and politician whose career spanned over three decades.-Early life:...
, Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
, Gerald C. Weller, Peter T. King
Peter T. King
Peter T. "Pete" King is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party. King's central Long Island district includes parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties....
, and Doug Bereuter
Doug Bereuter
Douglas Kent "Doug" Bereuter is a retired Republican politician from Nebraska. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 until 2004.-Early life:Bereuter was born in York, Nebraska and reared in Utica, Nebraska...
of the majority to Joseph Kennedy II, Charles E. Schumer, Bruce Vento
Bruce Vento
Bruce Frank Vento was an American politician, a Democratic-Farmer-Labor member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 until his death in 2000...
, Kweisi Mfume
Kweisi Mfume
Kweisi Mfume is the former President/CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People , as well as a five-term Democratic Congressman from Maryland's 7th congressional district, serving in the 100th through 104th Congress...
, John J. LaFalce
John J. LaFalce
John Joseph LaFalce is a former congressman from the state of New York; he served from 1975 to 2003.LaFalce was first elected to the 94th United States Congress in 1974 and re-elected to each succeeding Congress through the 107th, serving his Western New York congressional district for 28 years,...
, Carolyn B. Maloney
Carolyn B. Maloney
Carolyn Bosher Maloney is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, popularly known as the "silk stocking district", includes most of Manhattan's East Side; Astoria and Long Island City in Queens; and Roosevelt Island.-Early life,...
, Ken Bentsen, and Cynthia A. McKinney to achieve outcomes with which they all could live. He also worked with and for the full banking committee’s chairman, Jim Leach
Jim Leach
James Albert Smith "Jim" Leach is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa. In August 2009, he became Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities ....
. Additionally, he also had been counsel to the United States House Subcommittee on Domestic and International Policy.
As part of his duties, Johnson had to meet with banking and insurance industries representatives and others who were affected by them. He would, therefore, see a wide array of people with different and divergent interests whether it was Hugh McColl
Hugh McColl
Hugh L. McColl Jr. is a fourth-generation banker and the former Chairman and CEO of Bank of America. McColl was a driving force behind consolidating a series of progressively larger, mostly Southern banks, thrifts and financial institutions into a super-regional banking force, "the first...
of Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
or a James Robinson
James D. Robinson III
James Dixon Robinson III was the chief executive officer of American Express Co. from 1977 until his retirement in 1993.-Education:...
of AMEX
AMEX
AMEX, AmEx or Amex may refer to:*American Stock Exchange*American Express, a global financial services corporation*American Express Community Stadium, association football stadium in Brighton, England, currently sponsored by American Express...
, or a former congressman like John B. Anderson
John B. Anderson
John Bayard Anderson is a former United States Congressman and Presidential candidate from Illinois. He was a U.S. Representative from the 16th Congressional District of Illinois for ten terms from 1961 through 1981 and an Independent candidate in the 1980 presidential election. He was previously...
about a very localized banking matter or the leadership of ACORN
Acorn
The acorn, or oak nut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives . It usually contains a single seed , enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. Acorns vary from 1–6 cm long and 0.8–4 cm broad...
. Often he would have to share the speaker’s dais with these same individuals at events such as the ABA
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
conventions, Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs forums, etc. Overall, Johnson was “…by all accounts well-liked and respected. Both banking and insurance representatives lauded his talent and abilities with both the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers and the Bankers Roundtable not shy about praising him”.
After his United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
experience, Johnson helped raise the profile of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners
National Association of Insurance Commissioners
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners is an Internal Revenue Code Section 501 non-profit organization which seeks to organize the regulatory and supervisory efforts of the various state insurance commissioners from around the United States. The NAIC was formed in 1871. Its current...
in his brief tenure and, thereafter, worked as Assistant Vice President of the American Insurance Association to August 1999, for whom he also advocated the interests of the insurance industry before the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
(WTO). He then moved on to become Vice President and Senior Counsel of the Columbus Group/Columbia Capitol Corporation whose managing directors included Mark Warner
Mark Warner
Mark Robert Warner is an American politician and businessman, currently serving in the United States Senate as the junior senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Warner was the 69th governor of Virginia from 2002 to 2006 and is the honorary chairman of...
, now the junior U. S. senator from Virginia. When the Bush Administration took office in January 2001, Johnson became Senior Advisor to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight
Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight
The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight was an agency within the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It was charged with ensuring the capital adequacy and financial safety and soundness of two government sponsored enterprises—the Federal National Mortgage Association and the...
where he addressed legislative and regulatory issues involving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac plus assisting the director, Armando Falcon
Armando Falcon
Armando Falcon, Jr. is the former Director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight , a position he held from 1999-2005...
, on all other agency matters. Falcon’s and Johnson’s investigations of these two government chartered agencies led to criticisms of the two which became a foreshadowing of what would evolve and become the worldwide financial crisis. Falcon was forced to resign by President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
on February 4, 2003 and Johnson quit immediately thereafter. Shortly, he left for New York City to pursue work in international consulting.
Prior to serving on the Hill as Chief Counsel, Johnson began his career as an associate with Muldoon, Murphy and Faucette, a Washington, D.C. based law firm whose specialty was S & L conversions in the late 1980s and 1990’s. From Muldoon et al., Johnson went on to become Regulatory Counsel for ISD/Shaw, now Federal Analytics, Inc, which was headed by Karen Shaw for whom he contributed to the three-volume Combating Credit Discrimination published by the Chicago based American Bankers Institute.
Early life, education, and death
Johnson was raised in Flossmoor, IllinoisFlossmoor, Illinois
Flossmoor is a village in south suburban Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,464 at the 2010 census.The village is renowned for the quality and architectural variety of its housing stock, as well as its proximity to numerous country clubs. It prides itself on being a...
. He graduated cum laude from Tulane University of Louisiana in 1985. Beforehand, he had attended Germany’s University of Hamburg
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...
. He received his J.D. from Tulane Law School in 1988 and his L.L.M. in Banking Law from Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
’s School of Law in 1989.
Johnson died on September 18, 2003 at George Washington University Hospital
George Washington University Hospital
The George Washington University Hospital is a hospital in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It opened on On August 23, 2002, with 371 beds in a 400,000 sq. ft. building, housing than $45 million of medical equipment and cost more than $96 million to construct...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
from complications from a fall he had during the Northeast Blackout of 2003
Northeast Blackout of 2003
The Northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage that occurred throughout parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Ontario, Canada on Thursday, August 14, 2003, just before 4:10 p.m....
(August 14, 2003) and from other health problems arising from a business trip immediately thereafter to the Orient. At the time of his death, Johnson was in Washington, D.C., very briefly to deliver divorce papers which his attorney Raoul Felder
Raoul Felder
Raoul Lionel Felder is an American lawyer and matrimonialattorney. Felder has written several books and has published numerous articles related to matrimonial law, politics and social issues...
could not do. Interment occurred in the Flossmoor area subsequently because Johnson wished to be buried near his maternal grandfather, Jan Crull, a scion of old Dutch Protestant Patrician family and a man who had achieved success before World War II and never repeated it thereafter. Johnson adored his grandfather for the man taught him that one should take life as it is; do the best one can with it; and never look back, not even in anger.