Harry Hopkins (1890–1946) was one of the major architects and managers of the New Deal, a wide-ranging series of programs of economic reform and unemployment relief initiated in response to the devastation of the Great Depression (1929–39). Hopkins went on to become a major U.S. policymaker during World War II (1939–45). Brought to Washington, D.C., by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (in office 1933–45), Hopkins was widely credited with effectively using the power of the federal government to support the nation's economy during a difficult era in U.S. history.

Harry Lloyd Hopkins was born in Sioux City, Iowa, and grew up largely in Grinnell, Iowa. In 1912 Hopkins graduated from Grinnell College, where he had studied social work. He then left Iowa for New York City and a career in the same field, rising rapidly to the administrative ranks of his profession between 1915 to 1930. During this period Hopkins also became active in social movements, especially those focused on creating pensions for widows with children and relief for the families of servicemen who had fought during World War I (1914–18). Hopkins was one of the founders of the American Association of Social Workers, the first national professional organization for social workers.

Hopkins' reputation as a talented administrator reached the ear of Roosevelt, then New York's governor, who brought Hopkins into his administration. Hopkins' job was to help develop relief programs for New York state residents during the early years of the Great Depression. After Roosevelt became the president of the United States in 1933, Hopkins was invited to join Roosevelt in Washington, D.C. He was appointed head of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), a New Deal agency that granted federal money to individual states for unemployment relief.

In 1935 Hopkins began to develop the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which became one of the federal government's major efforts to combat unemployment during the Great Depression. A temporary job-creation program, the WPA's focus was on getting the average American back to work through socially useful jobs. The program proved enormously popular. It provided jobs and income—along with hope—to Americans looking for economic relief and stability. It also helped bolster the nation's infrastructure. Although the WPA thousands of miles of roads were built, along with bridges, parks, playgrounds, schools, airports, post offices, and other public buildings. Although the WPA was a federal program, Hopkins had the foresight to operate it in a decentralized fashion, with many decisions made at state and local levels. The WPA did not have the “feel” of a huge, federal bureaucratic program, largely because it was administered by local governments that defined their own needs and projects and that were allowed to manage their own WPA monetary allotments.

Despite his success, health problems forced Hopkins to resign from government service in 1940. Within a year, however, he was back in service, responding to Roosevelt's plea for assistance in administering government programs during World War II (1939–45). Despite his weakened health Hopkins returned to work and supervised Roosevelt's controversial Lend-Lease Act, which provided supplies to Great Britain and other Allied powers. In this role Hopkins became a kind of unofficial roving ambassador for Roosevelt, providing him with impressions, observations, insights, and advice. Hopkins quickly familiarized himself with most aspects of the war effort and worked closely with Winston Churchill (1874–65), the prime minister of Great Britain. He also conferred with Soviet leader and then U.S. ally Joseph Stalin (1879–1953).

Hopkins' actions during World War II, despite his poor health, marked the high point of his career as a public servant. Although Hopkins worked mostly behind the scenes, he was praised worldwide by Allied forces for his creative and honest approach to the war effort. He also was known for his help in sustaining the confidence of Americans to overcome the crises of war and economic downturns.

His increasingly poor health and the death of his friend President Roosevelt in 1945 did not deter Hopkins from playing an important role in winning congressional approval for the establishment of the United Nations, an international cooperative organization. For his service to the United States, President Harry Truman (in office 1945–53) awarded Hopkins the Distinguished Service Medal, the nation's highest civilian honor. Hopkins died months later, in January 1946.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adams, Henry H. Harry Hopkins: A Biography. New York: Putnam, 1977. Print.

Kurzman, Paul A. Harry Hopkins and the New Deal. Fair Lawn: Burdick, 1974. Print.

McJimsey, George T. Harry Hopkins: Ally of the Poor and Defender of Democracy. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1987. Print.

Schwartz, Bonnie F. The Civil Works Administration, 1933–1934: The Business of Emergency Employment in the New Deal. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1984. Print.

Tuttle, Dwight W. Harry L. Hopkins and Anglo-American-Soviet Relations, 1941–1945. New York: Garland, 1983. Print.