Welcome  Exhibition Panels:  A Time of Crisis and Change  Atlantic City to Bretton Woods The Founding Fathers  From Around the World  Breaking the Mold  Laying the Foundation  Setting the Pace  Toward the Future  Links of interest		Joint Statement by Mr. de Rato & Mr. Wolfensohn What is Bretton Woods? The Founding Fathers John Maynard Keynes and Harry Dexter White were the intellectual founding fathers of the IMF and the World Bank. White was the chief international economist at the U.S. Treasury. In 1944, he drafted the American plan for the IMF that competed with the British Treasury blueprint drafted by Keynes. Most of White's plan was incorporated into the final acts adopted at Bretton Woods. The IMF was given the role of promoting global economic growth through international trade and financial stability. One of Keynes' most significant roles was as chairman of the Bank Commission. Under his leadership, the Bank articles were drafted rapidly and successfully despite the lack of pre-conference groundwork regarding the organization of the World Bank. Neither Keynes nor White lived to see their visions of the IMF and the World Bank become reality. Both men died of heart attacks, Keynes in April 1946, shortly after returning from the first meeting of IMF and World Bank Boards of Governors in Savannah, Georgia, and Harry Dexter White in August 1948.