Henry Paulson is not the first strong Treasury Secretary to appear in a crisis, Arnold Kling notes:
John Connally held that job in the Nixon Administration, In response to a run on the dollar, he abandoned the Bretton Woods agreement and introduced wage and price controls. In the short term, this was well received, and it allowed the economy to rebound in time for Nixon’s re-election. In the long run, it was a disaster, ultimately unleashing virulent inflation and, as oil prices rose, leading to the painful disorder of rationing and lines at gasoline stations.Connally’s cure was worse than the disease. I strongly suspect that Paulson’s cure will prove similarly harmful.