Nicholas F. Brady

Nicholas Frederick Brady (born April 11, 1930) is an American banker and politician from New Jersey who briefly served in the United States Senate for eight months in 1982 and served as the 68th United States Secretary of the Treasury under U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush from 1988 to 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party.

In April 1982, he was appointed U.S. senator to finish the unexpired term of Harrison A. Williams, and did not seek election. As of 2026, Brady is the last Republican to serve in New Jersey's Class 1 U.S. Senate seat and is the oldest living former U.S. senator since the death of Daniel J. Evans.

As U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Brady proposed and enacted a novel debt-reduction agreement for developing countries which became known as Brady Bonds.

Brady was born on April 11, 1930 in Manhattan, New York City, the son of James Cox Brady Jr., and his wife, Eliot Chace. He was named for his paternal great-uncle, businessman and philanthropist Nicholas Frederic Brady. His great-grandfather was industrialist Anthony N. Brady. His father was a major figure in thoroughbred horse racing in the United States and Europe.

He grew up on an estate in Far Hills, New Jersey. After graduating from St. Mark's School in Southborough, Massachusetts, Brady attended Yale University (Bachelor of Arts, 1952), where he was a member of Chi Psi fraternity. He received his Master of Business Administration from Harvard University in 1954.

Brady's career in the banking industry spanned 34 years. He joined the now-defunct Dillon, Read & Co. in New York City in 1954, rising to chairman of the board in 1970.

He has been the Chairman of Darby Overseas Investments, Ltd. and Darby Technology Ventures Group, LLC, investment firms, since 1994. Mr. Brady is Chairman of Franklin Templeton Investment Funds (an international investment management company), a director of Hess Corporation (an exploration and production company) and Holowesko Partners Ltd. (investment management companies). He is also a director of the oilfield services company Weatherford International since 2004. He has been a director of the NCR Voyix, the Mitre Corporation, and Heinz, among others.

Brady is a former chairman of the boards of the now-defunct investment bank Dillon, Read & Co. (1970–1988) and Purolator Filters (1971–1987).

Brady served as the Republican committeeman of Somerset County, New Jersey. In 1981, he served as head of the transition team for Thomas Kean following Kean's election as Governor of New Jersey.

In 1982, Kean faced the duty of filling the vacant U.S. Senate Seat caused by the resignation of Senator Harrison A. Williams, following a planned expulsion vote in the wake of the Abscam. Williams delayed his resignation for ten months following his conviction for bribery, preventing Democratic governor Brendan Byrne from appointing a successor, until junior senator Bill Bradley announced he would vote for expulsion on March 10, 1982.

Brady married Katherine Douglas (known as Kitty, daughter of Percy Livingston Douglas, president of the Otis Elevator Company) in 1952, and they had four children and 13 grandchildren. Katherine Brady died on January 6, 2021 at age 89.

Although never involved with horse racing at the same level as his father, he served for a time as chairman of The Jockey Club. Mill House (Stable) is the nom de course for Brady's racing operation.