James A. Garfield (1831–1881) American politician, 20th President of the United States (in office in 1881)
The first sentence, attributed to Garfield since the 1890s http://books.google.com/books?id=-RoPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA156&dq=%22Whoever+controls+the+volume+of+money%22, is almost certainly a paraphrase of Garfield's "absolute dictator" quote, above. The second part is a late 20th-century commentary misattributed to Garfield. <br class="br">Misattributed