Upon the recommendation of Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon, President Coolidge appointed Ogden L. Mills (1884-1937) Undersecretary of the Treasury in 1927. To Mills fell much of the responsibility for representing the Treasury Department before Congress. Mills continued as Undersecretary in President Hoover's administration, during which the dominant issues were the post World War I reconstruction of Europe and the German American Debt Funding Agreement (1930) which arranged German payment to the United States for costs suffered by the American army and citizens during World War I.
Toward the end of his term Secretary Mellon spent much of his time overseas, and President Hoover grew to rely greatly on Mills, who served as Acting Secretary during Mellon's absence. Hoover promoted Mills to Secretary when Mellon vacated the position in 1932. As Secretary, Mills continued the policies of his predecessor, recommending a drastic reduction in government spending and a tax increase, in order to balance the budget by 1934. Congress also imposed a general manufacturer's excise tax but neither of these policies helped alleviate the Depression. Mills resigned at the end of Hoover's term in 1933.
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