Is Paul Volcker Jewish?

No, we do not think that former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker is a Jew. According to reporter Roni Sofer of the usually reliable Israeli source YNet, he is a Jew. However this is disputed by credible evidence.

The 2004 biography by Joseph B. Treaster, Paul Volcker: The Making of a Financial Legend, says Volcker attended a Lutheran church on Sundays with his mother, while his father went to an Episcopalian church.

A member of our nearest Teaneck synagogue who has written a new book about Volcker confirmed to us that Volcker is not a Jew. William Silber has published, Volcker: The Triumph of Persistence

Volcker is a native son of Teaneck New Jersey and a graduate of Teaneck High School. His father was the township's first Municipal manager.

Volcker was appointed Chairman of the Federal Reserve in August 1979 by President Jimmy Carter and reappointed in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan.

Volcker served on the Obama economic team. WSJ reports that his influence was substantial, "At least for the day, the most powerful man in the U.S. financial industry and for equities markets is 82 years old, a man who ended his leadership of the Federal Reserve more than 20 years ago."

Forbes reported in January 2011 that Volcker was retiring from public life, "Gone Fishing: Paul Volcker Retires From Public Life, Heads For the River," saying, "Later this week Paul Volcker, the man who helped guide the U.S. through two of its most serious recent economic crises, will step down as the chairman of the President’s Economic Advisory Board."   //augmented repost from 3/09//