In the late 1950s, Bill was at the center of a campaign to create a new institution of higher learning in West Michigan – an effort that launched Grand Valley State University. But turning that vision into reality was no small challenge. The country was in a recession, the state government was running a large deficit, and the state legislature put strict conditions on its approval for the school. Among other things, backers of the new school were required to raise $1 million from the private sector and secure a site for the institution. “We are the only college to start with no assets and a million-dollar debt,” Bill noted.

Bill and his colleagues drummed up support in numerous meetings – many in the Seidman’s home. Typically, Bill would conclude with a recording of “High Hopes,” a popular song about achieving the impossible through sheer effort. In the end, a newly appointed Board of Control (chaired by Bill) and various citizens committees raised the necessary funds from thousands of donors. Appropriations were approved by Michigan’s governor, and Grand Valley was officially a state college.

“The thing I’m proudest of is that I formed a group that started a new university – Grand Valley State College in Allendale, Michigan.” Bill Seidman

Bill remained close to Grand Valley throughout his life. He remained chairman of the school’s Board of Control for 12 years. In the 1970s, he helped establish the F.E. Seidman College of Business, named for his father. Through the years, he enjoyed meeting informally with students to discuss a range of topics. As he once noted, “The best way we can work for the right kind of educational institutions is to take as big an interest and give as much of your time as possible to them.”

Bill’s contribution of time and effort certainly paid off. “Seidman is the man who earned, and rightfully deserves, the title of Father of Grand Valley College,” former Grand Valley President James Zumberge once noted. “He supplied the leadership in rallying the public and political forces around the idea of establishing a new four-year college near Grand Rapids. Without his dedicated effort and unrelenting drive, Grand Valley College would not exist today.”

In 1974, Bill left his accounting firm to work for Gerald Ford, a longtime friend who was then the newly named U.S. vice president. Bill consulted with Ford on management and budget issues until Ford became president following Richard Nixon’s resignation.

“Inflation was high, interest rates were high, we had a real tough recession. Bill had a damned important job, and he did it very well.” President Gerald R. Ford

Bill was named White House assistant for economic affairs at an especially difficult time for the economy. The nation was experiencing both slow growth and high inflation, a combination dubbed “stagflation.” Bill said that if one looked at a graph of economic indicators, such as productivity and unemployment, “every line was going in the wrong direction.”

Bill worked on initiatives tackling inflation, industry deregulation, and tax policy. He had an especially close working relationship with Ford. “With our Grand Rapids background, we seemed to have a lot in common in the way we looked at things,” he said. Unlike most people in Washington, Bill had direct access to the president, seeing him “whenever I need to. Perhaps several times a week,” he told reporters.

At the White House, Bill acted as an “honest broker” who assembled experts with different perspectives and delivered information in an unbiased way. “It was my purpose to ensure that all views on every issue were fairly presented to the president,” he noted. Often, after a meeting, the president would privately ask for Bill’s opinion before taking action, but only after the president had heard all sides.

This innovative approach produced results. By the end of Ford’s tenure, the economic graphs were showing clear improvement. “Essentially, we changed the direction of every one of those lines,” Bill said. “Unemployment was down, interest rates were going down, productivity was going up, GDP was going up, taxes were going down and the deficit was not going up.”

Bill believed that government service is an honor and a duty – and truly important. When he was first recruited by Ford, a business executive asked why he would leave a successful private-sector career to go to Washington. Bill replied that he thought he could make a contribution. “And besides,” he added, “you’d better pay attention to what goes on down there because they can make or break you.”

In 1985, President Ronald Reagan appointed Bill chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). This job soon landed him squarely in the savings and loan (S&L) crisis of the late 1980s.

As FDIC chairman, Bill oversaw the closing of hundreds of failed banks and S&Ls. In 1989, President George H.W. Bush named him chairman of the new Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC), which was created to help clean up after the S&L crisis. The agency focused on recouping taxpayer losses through the sale of assets from failed institutions. It was critical but difficult task, and “the job combined all the best aspects of an undertaker, an IRS agent and a garbage collector,” Bill said.

Throughout the crisis and its aftermath, Bill worked closely with Congress. He “used refreshing candor to cultivate rapport with lawmakers, dispensing unvarnished appraisals of the perils menacing the financial systems,” said The New York Times. His clear and full discussion earned respect from both sides of the aisle in Congress.

Banking on Bill Seidman: He’s Not Blow-Dried. He Doesn’t Talk Gobbledygook. And in His Mission to Save America’s Banks, He’s Even Faced Down George Bush.
-Los Angeles Times headline, 1991

However, Bill’s approach was not always popular with the Bush White House, which sometimes saw him as being too straightforward with the public about the crisis. In one famous episode, a senior administration official wanted to have depositors pay to bail out the S&Ls. Referring to the then-current bank practice of giving small appliances to customers who opened a new account, Bill dubbed the idea the “reverse toaster theory.” As he explained, “Instead of the bank giving you a toaster, you give them one with your deposit.” The comment received a great deal of media attention, the idea was dropped, and Bill became widely known as a regulator who stood up for depositors.

The nation got through the S&L crisis thanks in large part to Bill’s guidance and work. Looking back years later, Senator Christopher Bond noted that “Bill will be most remembered as the man who rescued our economy during the savings and loan crisis in the late 1980s.”

Bill believed in sharing his insight and he found a variety of outlets for doing so. He wrote and spoke about economic subjects; taught courses at Wagner College in New York City and Michigan State University; and later started The Washington Campus, a university consortium that helps business leaders understand the public-policy process. He published Bank Director magazine and wrote books, including Full Faith and Credit, an account of his experience during the S&L crisis.

Bill understood the power of the media in reaching people. In the 1960s, he was a founder of WZZM, the third television station in Grand Rapids. He appeared on news shows such as “Meet the Press” and “Face the Nation.” And after leaving Washington, he was a highly popular commentator on the CNBC cable network, where he provided financial insight for a decade and a half. He often rode his bike to the studio, and was known to go on air with sport coat and tie, and baggy shorts off camera, below the desk. One staff member recalls that he spent more time than anyone else in the makeup room, because he was typically involved in “handholding, counseling, talking to” other guests.

In his on-air work, Bill was respected by colleagues and viewers alike. As one network host said, “I never liked to be on the other side” of a financial debate with Bill because “he was the most knowledgeable man I ever met on the subjects.” Another recalled that “no matter how wild the debate got around him, Seidman was always calm, always informed, always the voice of reason.”

On CNBC, Bill was “a warm, wonderful, brilliant man who had the incredible ability to make the most complex issues understandable and accessible” and “always brought incisive intelligence and spirit to his commentary.” – CNBC President Mark Hoffman

Bill’s philosophy on communication was straightforward. He told people it was important to “learn the facts before you start to think about anything.” He also believed that just being knowledgeable was not enough – it was important to be entertaining and engaging in order to get the message across. The formula proved to be highly effective in his media career. One viewer said, “I always stopped and paid close attention when Bill Seidman spoke on CNBC, because I knew I would learn something.” 

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