Did you know? Alan Greenspan and Ayn Rand were close friends

NPR Books LISTEN & FOLLOW NPR App Apple Podcasts Spotify Amazon Music iHeart Radio YouTube Music RSS link Books Did you know? Alan Greenspan and Ayn Rand were close friends June 22, 20261:05 PM ET Anastasia Tsioulcas Alan Greenspan and Ayn Rand are pictured in the Oval Office on Sept. 4, 1974, after Greenspan's swearing in as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors. David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images/Hulton Archive hide caption toggle caption David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images/Hulton Archive One of the most important intellectual relationships in the life of Alan Greenspan, the prominent former central banker who died Monday, was with author Ayn Rand, whose 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged has become a perennial favorite among conservatives and which the Library of Congress named as one of the books that has shaped America. The two first met when he was in his mid-twenties and she was in her forties, and already well-established via her 1943 novel The Fountainhead, which had been a best-seller. They were introduced through Greenspan's then-wife, the Canadian art historian Joan Mitchell. Mitchell was a close friend of the wife of Nathaniel Branden. Branden was Rand's protege and longtime lover. Sponsor Message Greenspan and Mitchell wed in 1952, but divorced within a year. By contrast, Greenspan's relationship with Rand was far more lasting: they remained friends until her death in 1982. Obituaries Alan Greenspan, the legendary former Federal Reserve chair, dies Through the Branden connection, Greenspan joined Rand's "Collective," a small group of friends and thinkers who would gather regularly at Rand's midtown Manhattan apartment to discuss politics, world events and ideas. He became a Collective regular. According to Greenspan's 2007 memoir, The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World, Rand nicknamed Greenspan "the undertaker" early on in their friendship, thanks to his penchant for dark suits and his sober demeanor. His dour reputation was at odds with his early a...