Harry Hopkins

Harry Hopkins, an obscure politician in 1915, rose to prominence through his work in many relief programs. After being rejected from the draft into World War 1 because of his bad eye, Hopkins joined the Red Cross, and became the general manager in 1924. From there he went on to draft the charter for the American Association of Social Workers, manage the Bellevue-Yorkville project, and become the executive director the New York Tuberculosis Association, which grew enormously during his tenure.

In 1931, Roosevelt appointed Jesse Straus as the president of the government program, Temporary Emergency Relief Association (precursor to FERA). Straus then named Hopkins, unknown to Roosevelt, as the executive director. Hopkins exhibited huge efficiency in his distribution of the 20 million granted to the organization, and in 1932, Roosevelt promoted him to the presidency.

Roosevelt didn’t stop there, summoning Hopkins in 1933 to work as a federal relief administrator. Hopkins operated all his programs on the belief that paid work was a much more pyschologicaly valuable offering that straight cash handouts. Hopkins ran many organizations under Roosevelt, from FERA (Federal Emergency Relief Association), the CWA (Civil Works Administration), and the WPA (Works Progress Administration). Under his direction, the WPA employed 8.5 million people, and completed 1.4 million projects: golf courses, airports, hospitals, sports stadiums, schools, parks, playgrounds, bridges, public buildings, and miles of roads and highways.

Harry Hopkins was not only one of the top federal aid workers, but also a political advisor to Roosevelt. FDR sent Hopkins on many political missions. He met with Stalin in Russia, and recommended their inclusion in the Lend Lease, of which he was a key administrator. Hopkins was also sent by Roosevelt to England as an unofficial emissary to Churchill (who nicknamed him “Lord Root of the Matter”) before World War 2. Henry Hopkins had more political power than the entire State Department, and it was rumored that Roosevelt was grooming him to be his successor, until Hopkins was diagnosed with stomach cancer, and Roosevelt decided to run for his third term. Even after, however, Hopkins was influential, identifying and sponsoring future leaders, including Dwight D Eisenhower, and attending the Yalta Conference in 1945.  He tried to retire after Roosevelt’s death, but Truman, Roosevelt’s successor was reluctant to let him go, sending him on one last mission to Moscow, helping to arrange the last Allied Conference. In September 1945, only a few months before his death from cancer complications, Hopkins was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal by President Truman.

http://www.pbs.org/behindcloseddoors/biographies/hopkins.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Hopkins

http://www.socialwelfarehistory.com/eras/harry-hopkins-and-work-relief-during-the-great-depression/