Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry Hopkins
Harry Hopkins was one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's closest advisers and is credited with being one of the planners of Roosevelt's New Deal. Hopkins planned and directed many of the relief programs of the Works Progress Administration. When war broke out Hopkins also served as Roosevelt's chief diplomatic advisor and troubleshooter and he was also a key policy maker in the $50 billion Lend-Lease program that sent aid to the Allies.
Hopkins was in Sioux City, Iowa in 1890. He moved to New York City in 1912 to work for a number of social service agencies including Christodora House, and the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor (AICP) as director of AICP's Department of Family Welfare. He helped organize the Bronx Park Employment program, one of the first public employment programs in the U.S. In 1915, New York City Mayor John Purroy Mitchel appointed Hopkins executive secretary of the Bureau of Child Welfare which administered pensions to mothers with dependent children.After the first world war he moved to New Orleans to work for the American Red Cross as director of Civilian Relief and then as general manager in 1921. Hopkins helped draft a charter for the American Association of Social Workers (AASW) and was elected its president in 1923.
In 1922, Hopkins returned to New York City where he became manager of the Bellevue-Yorkville health project and assistant director of the AICP. In mid-1924 he became executive director of the New York Tuberculosis Association. In 1931, he met New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt while working for the Temporary Emergency Relief Administration (TERA). Hopkins' efficient administration of the organization gained Roosevelt's notice and in 1932, FDR promoted Hopkins to the presidency of the agency. Hopkins and Eleanor Roosevelt began a long friendship, arising out of their common interest in relief programs.
In March 1933, Roosevelt was inaugurated as President. He hired Hopkins as federal relief administrator. He supervised the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the Civil Works Administration (CWA), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Over 90% of the people employed by the Hopkins programs were persons who were unemployed or on relief. FERA, the largest program, involved giving money to localities to operate work relief projects to employ those on direct relief. CWA was similar, but did not require workers to be on relief in order to receive a government sponsored job. In less than four months, the CWA hired four million people, and during its five months of operation, the CWA built and repaired 200 swimming pools, 3,700 playgrounds, 40,000 schools, 250,000 miles of road, and 12 million feet of sewer pipe. The WPA, which followed the CWA, employed 8.5 million people in its seven-year history, who worked on 1.4 million projects, including the building or repair of 103 golf courses, 1,000 airports, 2,500 hospitals, 2,500 sports stadiums, 3,900 schools, 8,192 parks, 12,800 playgrounds, 124,031 bridges, 125,110 public buildings, and 651,087 miles of highways and roads. The WPA selected projects in cooperation with local and state governments. Hopkins started programs for youth (National Youth Administration) and for artists and writers (Federal One Programs). He and Eleanor Roosevelt worked together to publicize and defend New Deal relief programs.
FDR was grooming Hopkins as a possible successor. But when World War II broke out in Europe, Roosevelt decided to run again in 1940, winning an unprecedented third term. During the war years, Roosevelt worked closely on a number of projects with Hopkins, who lived in a White House bedroom for the next three-and-a-half years. During the war, Hopkins acted as Roosevelt's unofficial emissary to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Churchill escorted Hopkins all over the Great Britain, and converted him to the British cause. When FDR began the "Lend Lease" program, which supplied arms to the British (and later to the USSR), Hopkins became the administrator of the program. He went to Moscow in July 1941 to make personal contact with Joseph Stalin. Hopkins recommended, and the president accepted, the inclusion of the Soviets in Lend Lease. He then accompanied Churchill to the Atlantic Conference. Hopkins accompanied Roosevelt as an adviser to his meetings with Churchill and Stalin at Cairo, Tehran, Casablanca in 1942-43, and Yalta in 1945. Hopkins was also a supporter of China, which received Lend Lease aid for its military and air force. Some said that Hopkins wielded more diplomatic power than the entire State Department. He saw the president more often than any other adviser.
In mid-1943, Hopkins faced criticism from Republicans and the press, who alleged that he had abused his position for personal profit. One GOP congressman alleged in the House that British media tycoon Lord Beaverbrook had given Hopkins' wife Louise $500,000 worth of emeralds. The allegation was denied. Hopkins threatened to sue the Chicago Tribune for libel, but he was dissuaded by Roosevelt.
Hopkins' had significant health problems throughout his wartime service. In mid-1939, Hopkins was told that he had stomach cancer, and doctors performed an operation that removed 75% of his stomach. A few months after the operation, doctors stated that he had only four weeks to live, but Roosevelt brought in experts who transfused Hopkins with blood plasma that prolonged his life. Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote, "the curative impact of Hopkins' increasingly crucial role in the war effort was to postpone the sentence of death the doctors had given him for five more years." Roosevelt continued to send him on additional trips to Europe. He attended the Yalta Conference in February 1945.
In April of 1945, Roosevelt died at Warm Springs, Georgia. Hopkins tried to resign after Roosevelt died, but President Harry S. Truman sent him on one more mission to Moscow. But Hopkins health problems finally overtook him. Hopkins died in New York City on January 29, 1946, at the age of 55.
Hopkins continued to be the target of attacks from Republicans even after his death. In December of 1949 George Racey Jordan, testifying before the House Unamerican Activities Committee, accused Hopkins of passing nuclear secrets to the Soviets. The accusation was of doubtful voracity and the FBI concluded that Jordan's allegations could not be substantiated.
Hopkins was in Sioux City, Iowa in 1890. He moved to New York City in 1912 to work for a number of social service agencies including Christodora House, and the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor (AICP) as director of AICP's Department of Family Welfare. He helped organize the Bronx Park Employment program, one of the first public employment programs in the U.S. In 1915, New York City Mayor John Purroy Mitchel appointed Hopkins executive secretary of the Bureau of Child Welfare which administered pensions to mothers with dependent children.After the first world war he moved to New Orleans to work for the American Red Cross as director of Civilian Relief and then as general manager in 1921. Hopkins helped draft a charter for the American Association of Social Workers (AASW) and was elected its president in 1923.
In 1922, Hopkins returned to New York City where he became manager of the Bellevue-Yorkville health project and assistant director of the AICP. In mid-1924 he became executive director of the New York Tuberculosis Association. In 1931, he met New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt while working for the Temporary Emergency Relief Administration (TERA). Hopkins' efficient administration of the organization gained Roosevelt's notice and in 1932, FDR promoted Hopkins to the presidency of the agency. Hopkins and Eleanor Roosevelt began a long friendship, arising out of their common interest in relief programs.
In March 1933, Roosevelt was inaugurated as President. He hired Hopkins as federal relief administrator. He supervised the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the Civil Works Administration (CWA), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Over 90% of the people employed by the Hopkins programs were persons who were unemployed or on relief. FERA, the largest program, involved giving money to localities to operate work relief projects to employ those on direct relief. CWA was similar, but did not require workers to be on relief in order to receive a government sponsored job. In less than four months, the CWA hired four million people, and during its five months of operation, the CWA built and repaired 200 swimming pools, 3,700 playgrounds, 40,000 schools, 250,000 miles of road, and 12 million feet of sewer pipe. The WPA, which followed the CWA, employed 8.5 million people in its seven-year history, who worked on 1.4 million projects, including the building or repair of 103 golf courses, 1,000 airports, 2,500 hospitals, 2,500 sports stadiums, 3,900 schools, 8,192 parks, 12,800 playgrounds, 124,031 bridges, 125,110 public buildings, and 651,087 miles of highways and roads. The WPA selected projects in cooperation with local and state governments. Hopkins started programs for youth (National Youth Administration) and for artists and writers (Federal One Programs). He and Eleanor Roosevelt worked together to publicize and defend New Deal relief programs.
FDR was grooming Hopkins as a possible successor. But when World War II broke out in Europe, Roosevelt decided to run again in 1940, winning an unprecedented third term. During the war years, Roosevelt worked closely on a number of projects with Hopkins, who lived in a White House bedroom for the next three-and-a-half years. During the war, Hopkins acted as Roosevelt's unofficial emissary to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Churchill escorted Hopkins all over the Great Britain, and converted him to the British cause. When FDR began the "Lend Lease" program, which supplied arms to the British (and later to the USSR), Hopkins became the administrator of the program. He went to Moscow in July 1941 to make personal contact with Joseph Stalin. Hopkins recommended, and the president accepted, the inclusion of the Soviets in Lend Lease. He then accompanied Churchill to the Atlantic Conference. Hopkins accompanied Roosevelt as an adviser to his meetings with Churchill and Stalin at Cairo, Tehran, Casablanca in 1942-43, and Yalta in 1945. Hopkins was also a supporter of China, which received Lend Lease aid for its military and air force. Some said that Hopkins wielded more diplomatic power than the entire State Department. He saw the president more often than any other adviser.
In mid-1943, Hopkins faced criticism from Republicans and the press, who alleged that he had abused his position for personal profit. One GOP congressman alleged in the House that British media tycoon Lord Beaverbrook had given Hopkins' wife Louise $500,000 worth of emeralds. The allegation was denied. Hopkins threatened to sue the Chicago Tribune for libel, but he was dissuaded by Roosevelt.
Hopkins' had significant health problems throughout his wartime service. In mid-1939, Hopkins was told that he had stomach cancer, and doctors performed an operation that removed 75% of his stomach. A few months after the operation, doctors stated that he had only four weeks to live, but Roosevelt brought in experts who transfused Hopkins with blood plasma that prolonged his life. Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote, "the curative impact of Hopkins' increasingly crucial role in the war effort was to postpone the sentence of death the doctors had given him for five more years." Roosevelt continued to send him on additional trips to Europe. He attended the Yalta Conference in February 1945.
In April of 1945, Roosevelt died at Warm Springs, Georgia. Hopkins tried to resign after Roosevelt died, but President Harry S. Truman sent him on one more mission to Moscow. But Hopkins health problems finally overtook him. Hopkins died in New York City on January 29, 1946, at the age of 55.
Hopkins continued to be the target of attacks from Republicans even after his death. In December of 1949 George Racey Jordan, testifying before the House Unamerican Activities Committee, accused Hopkins of passing nuclear secrets to the Soviets. The accusation was of doubtful voracity and the FBI concluded that Jordan's allegations could not be substantiated.