HARRY HOPKINSThe Envoy

HARRY HOPKINSThe Envoy

Part of the ‘Regional Greats’ series created by Russ Gifford © 2018

REGIONAL GREATS

• Does where you are born and raised have an impact?

• If you think it does have an impact… is it a positive one?

• Has regionalism declined? If so, does where you are born still matter today?

• At the end of the session, can you point out a place where you see the regional roots showing through?

HARRY HOPKINS

Things to Consider:

1 – How did Hopkins jump from small town boy to major league advisor?

2 –Did Hopkins’ life have a lasting impact? How well known is Hopkins today?

3 – Why was Hopkins so loved, and so hated?

WHO WAS HARRY HOPKINS?

Hopkins came to Washington to take charge of the relief effort when FDR took power in 1933.

He would become FDR’s strong right arm – and his legs.

He would also become the focal point for all Republican criticism of FDR.

WHO WAS HARRY HOPKINS?

But how did a small town boy from Iowa become the most trusted advisor in Presidential history, to the longest serving President in US History?

WHO WAS HARRY HOPKINS?

• Hopkins with Churchill link

• Hopkins, FDR, Churchill link

• Hopkins at Yalta link - 1:53

FDR and Hopkins (1933-1935?)

WHO WAS HARRY HOPKINS?

What do you know about Hopkins?

WHO WAS HARRY HOPKINS?

What do you know about Hopkins?

Born in Sioux City – Aug 17, 1890

Lived in Council Bluffs, Hastings, Kearney, Wichita, and Chicago before settling in Grinnell, Iowa.

Graduated Grinnell College, in 1912.

WHO WAS HARRY HOPKINS?

What do you know about Hopkins?

Hopkins, the adult, was always the most focused man in the room.

His specialty was finding the facts.

He was always known to ask questions to cut to “the heart of the matter.”

TIMELINE

1890 1912 1933

HOPKINS IN IOWA

Harry Hopkins frequently started his stories with “What are you doing here, Hopkins, the son of a harness maker from Sioux City?”

EARLY YEARS

• His father was “the most popular man in town” but he rarely stayed in any one spot too long.

• “Charming, Erratic, Easygoing … and somewhat shiftless.”

EARLY YEARS• Harry’s mother, Anna, a

school teacher, who was also active and dominant in church functions.

• She was strongly involved in the Methodist Missionary Society of Iowa.

WHILE AT GRINNELL• Harry, who had survived

a lengthy illness with Typhoid, as usually called ‘skinny.’

• In high school, and later in college, he was outstanding only in pranks and shenanigans.

AT GRINNELL

In the early years of the 20th Century, Grinnell College had a high reputation for scholarship, “which Hopkins neither increased, or appreciably lowered.”

COLLEGE

At Grinnell, Jesse Macy, a Civil War era soldier who had taught American History at the college since the end of the war,

Macy developed and taught what is likely the first political science course –and it fascinated Hopkins.

COLLEGE

Dr. Edward Steiner, who would write on immigration, taught a course called ‘Applied Christianity.’

Saying good bye on graduation, Steiner showed Hopkins a telegram from NY

CHRISTODORA HOUSESteiner’s telegram offered a summer position as a councilor at a camp in New Jersey for ‘poor’ kids from New York.

FIRST BATTLE

Hopkins, whose plans had been to travel to Montana and take over a newspaper with two other classmates, thought a summer in ‘the big city’ would be a nice experience.

He never intended to make a career of being a welfare officer, or a social worker.

NEW YORKOn the way to New York, he stopped in Chicago and got into the 1912 Republican convention, posing as Elihu Root’s secretary.

He heard TR tell the convention that the re-nomination of Taft was “naked theft.”

NEW YORKHe also stopped in Baltimore to see the floor fight to secure the 1912 nomination of Wilson.

IN NEW YORKBut the experience that would transform Hopkins was in New York.

Poverty in the City was a far different circumstance than poverty in rural Iowa.

The poverty was “alien, shocking, and enraging.”

IN NEW YORKAfter his two months at the camp, he began working at Christodora House – for $5 a month.

This was the New York of O. Henry, of Tammany Hall, of a young Al Capone.

Of Diamond Jim Brady, and the Millionaires Row, the Tenderloin, and all the rest.

THE FIRST STEPHopkins would convince John Kingsbury – in charge of the relatively wealthy Association to Improve Conditions for the Poor –to hire him.Kingsbury gave him a temp position – and Hopkins continued to work at Christodora House in the day, and at the AICP at night.

THE FIRST STEPHopkins returned within a month to ask for an additional for an extra $5 a month.

“Why in the world would I pay you more money?”

Hopkins had fallen in love and wanted to marry.

NEW YORKKingsbury gave him the money.

In return, Hopkins did something no one had done –he produced a study on the statistics of those in need, and why they were unemployed.

He was no longer an intern. Kingsbury put him in charge of the program.

NEW YORKArmed with facts and a better understanding of the situation, within a year, he found $5,000 in donations and created the Bronx Park Employment program.

It was one of the first public employment programs in the U.S.

WAR By 1918, Hopkins had transformed the Association, raising more money than ever –and spending it all.

He had amalgamated other charities into the program.

And had changed how the poor were treated when they were approached.

But with the coming war, things changed.

NEW YORKHopkins, who lobbied against the war, immediately attempts to enlist when war is declared.

He is turned down.

However, he is asked to takeover the Red Cross efforts, and will eventually run them all.

He will return to the AICP as the executive director in 1924.

THE ‘CHIEF’ - 1929

Herbert Hoover, an Iowan, an orphan, and a self made man, became President in 1929.

He was a gifted administrator, and people who worked for him loved him.

THE ‘CHIEF’ - 1929

Herbert Hoover, an Iowan, an orphan, and a self made man, became President in 1929.

He was a gifted administrator, and people who worked for him loved him.

But he was a technician, not a politician.It was believed he was the perfect choice for the good times of the era.

• At the same time that NY Governor

Al Smith is defeated for the

Presidency, former VP Candidate

and Polio survivor Franklin Roosevelt

overcomes Democratic losses to win

NY Governorship.

FDR ELECTED NY GOVERNOR

• On taking office, he pledges that

government is the tool of the people,

and that enlightened government

must be used to help those less

fortunate. It is not the message of the

‘rugged individualist’ GOP.

FDR ELECTED NY GOVERNOR

THE CRISIS - 1929

But the Boom conditions of the First World War, and the continued demand, lead to unrealistic expectations. Speculation and poor business practices continue the money chase. Until…..

CRISIS

• In 1929, the bottom fell out of the Roaring ‘20s.

• The Market, which usually traded 1 million shares, traded 12 million in one day.

• Many lost millions. Millions lost everything. 11 wealthy speculators committed suicide.

THE CRISIS - 1929

Only 1% of the public was in the Stock market – but it was the most influential 1%.

A spiral of cutbacks and business layoffs caused the economy to completely bottom out.

THE LOSSES

• The Stock market lost 90% of its value! $30 Billion – more than all the US money spent in the first World War!

• 5% owned 33% of the wealth – and they were the ones in the market, and owned the business.

• A full THIRD of the Gross National Product – GONE!

UNEMPLOYMENT

Unemployment quickly grows beyond anything anyone could anticipate –toping 25%.

Jobs cease to exist, and men will hit the road looking for new jobs, and wind up in ‘Hooverville's.’

TIMELINE

1929 1930 1931 1932 1933

October 1929: Wall Street Crashes!

Bank failures 1300 in 1930. 5000 by 1932

MacArthur routs Bonus Army

Unemployment 25% - or more.

FDR elected President!

Dust Bowl

Within days $30 B gone –US expenses in WWI !

Hoovervilles arise around nation.

The start of the 100 Days

Farm Strike

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

• The AICP had found $75,000 to pay people for work, and spent it all with Hopkins’ usual effort at making things happen quickly.

• He found more money, and continued.

• Then FDR decided the STATE should provide the funds – and tapped Hopkins to run the new agency. He dispenses $20 Million and NO graft.

But around the country, confrontations are escalating.

THE FARMERS’ HOLIDAY

• July 30, 1932 – Farmers, tired of the falling prices, are desperate.

Goal – to withhold from market all farm products for 30 days.

Eight days later, first pickets appear on roads outside Sioux City.

THE FARM STRIKE

1932

CLASHES

‘Reno’s Army’ Clashes at the picket lines in:• Sioux City• Danbury• Cherokee• Cushing• Omaha and surrounding areas

CONVOYS

LE MARS• 40% of all Iowa farms taxes are delinquent• Penny Auctions lead to Conflict

Judge C. C. Bradley taken by farmers

PRIMGHAR

FDR FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE IN 1921

PARALYZED FROM THE WAIST DOWN

BUT YOU’D NEVER KNOW IT

Whoever got the nomination in 1932 was assured of victory. The party bosses were not settled on Roosevelt –for many reasons.

THE 1932 CAMPAIGN

POLITICIAN

• But FDR will not be denied – and out maneuvers the party bosses by cutting a deal with John Nance Garner, Speaker of the House, and Presidential hopeful.

BOSSES, VOTERS, AND HOOVER

The Party bosses say, “Stay home. You’ve got this won.”

He was used to dealing with bosses – and he went past them to make his pitch to the American public.

FDR convinced the American public he understood them –and would fight for them.

Hoover never had a chance.

INAUGURATION DAY, 1933 • A quarter of the workforce was unemployed. (13M)• Farmers prices had fallen by 60%. • Industrial production less than half 1929 levels. • Two million people were homeless. • By the evening of March 4, 32 of the 48 states – as

well as the District of Columbia – had closed their banks.

• The New York Federal Reserve Bank was unable to open on the 5th.

The Great Depression – 1

FDR -- 8:15

WPA footage –

Brother can you spare a dime

A Look at the Times

THE 100 DAYS

• “The nation asks for action, and asks for action now…. We must act, and act quickly.”

• Major legislation passed in the first 100 days of FDR’s administration.

THE 100 DAYS• Emergency Banking Act• To give Americans confidence in the banks, Roosevelt signed the

Glass–Steagall Act , created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

• Federal Emergency Relief Administration -• Roosevelt's favorite – the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) – hired

250,000 young men.• Federal Trade Commission broad new regulatory powers -- and

provided mortgage relief to millions of farmers and homeowners.• Reconstruction Finance Corporation, financing for railroads and

industry. • Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA). • National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA)

GLASS-STEAGALL ACT

• “Vote! Vote!”• House Bill read to them – no copies

available. • 40 minutes allowed for debate! • Senate decided not to wait – took the

copy and opened debate – only to shout down any amendments by Huey Long and others wanting a more ‘leftist’ bill.

Sen. Huey Long

TALKING TO THE REAL ‘BOSSES’

Link

STILL TRIES TO BALANCE THE BUDGET

• Cuts military• Cuts veterans pensions• Congress balks• Second Bonus Army descends on Washington• FDR kills them with kindness: Army camp, tents, three

meals a day, and endless coffee.

THE DIFFERENCE• “Hoover sent the Army. Roosevelt sent his wife.”

EMERGENCY

• May, 1933 –The goal of the Federal Emergency Relief Act was to

put paychecks in the hands of the unemployed as soon as possible – without giving them a handout.

ACTION

“No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. ”

—President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933, on signing the National Industrial Recovery Act.

ACTION

“No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. ”

—President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933, on signing the National Industrial Recovery Act.

THE FACTS

• 25% unemployment – perhaps higher? – for three years

• No desire for direct relief – must have work• Huge projects in pipeline for PWA – $3.3 Billion in

dams, roads, airports –• But how to get people money NOW.

THE MAN FOR THE JOB

• FDR wants Harry Hopkins to take the national job. NY won’t let him go.

• FDR orders NY to give him up –and the new governor writes –“you have the whole country to chose from!”

THE MAN FOR THE JOB

• Hopkins arrives the next day, and tells Roosevelt he can ‘put 4 million people to work if he just has the money.’

THE MAN FOR THE JOB

• Action is almost instantaneous. By the evening of the second day, he had thrown together a staff, began collecting information, and sent emergency aid to seven states.

CWA

Within 2 weeks of opening the program, more than a million people signed on.

• 800,000 get a paycheck the first payday of the program

• 2.6 million employed by Christmas

THE MAN FOR THE JOB

• “They are fighting over the shovels in Sioux City.”

• – Lorena Hickok report

CWA WILL BECOME WPA

• With success, Hopkins eventually takes over lion’s share of the relief effort

• Lauded for ‘not letting politics’ make a difference

• Much of the program hatched in a car ride back from Grinnell!

THE MAN FOR THE JOB

• Hopkins – ‘lean, loose, disheveled man’ who talks quickly and out of the side of his mouth. He is irreverent, concise, and sometime profane. “He fires a volley of short, sharp questions, until he slashes through to the heart of the problem.”

Hopkins leads WPA press conference, 1935.

Hopkins’ desk was in the hall in the basement of the White House.

WPA• Food,

shelter, and work.

• 40 hours a week, $30 a month

• - $25 sent home.

CCC in Siouxland

CCC Camp at Stone Park

CWA / WPA in Siouxland

WPA in Siouxland

• Woodbury County:

The Floyd River had five years of various projects.Floyd River channel – 379 men created a 4,950 channelAverage pay: $44 to $78 a month, for 120 hours work.

THE RESULTS?

In one year since taking office:

Unemployment drops for first time – down to 22%Stock Market gains back some of its valueInternational Trade is upGross National Product up from year before.

THE CHALLENGES

• As things proceed, the one person Roosevelt finds he can rely on is Hopkins.

• And he enjoys his company.

• Hopkins and Mrs. Roosevelt work well together, pushing FDR to go further.

OTHER EVENTS IN 1933

• Work starts on Golden Gate Bridge• Hitler takes power • Einstein moves to Princeton, drops German citizenship• Shirley Temple signs a contract with Fox (she’s 5!) • The original King Kong Movie is shown • The First ever drive in Theatre is established in New Jersey • The Chocolate chip cookie is invented • The Board Game Monopoly is invented (sold in 1934)

• The Depression continues, but things are changing.

• By 1935, there are noticeable positives.

WPA, Social Security!

Signing into law one of those ‘active parts’ of the government – Social Security, in 1935.

WHAT IS THE PROPER ROLE OF GOVERNMENT?

Note that FDR continually appealed to the citizens to tell him if he was right – but did not resort to manipulation to persuade them. In fact, he listened to what they said.

Including when they said he was wrong.

THE MAN FOR THE JOB

• Part of that is because Hopkins (and Mrs. Roosevelt) have a network of people everywhere.

• They consistently tell FDR what he needs to hear –the truth.

WHAT IS THE PROPER ROLE OF GOVERNMENT?

Most importantly, FDR repeatedly led Americans AWAY from the dangerous shoals of the far Left, where Long, Coughlin, and Townsends were leading people.

Fr. Coughlin wanted nationalized banking, and repeatedly blamed Jews for the economic woes.

WHAT IS THE PROPER ROLE OF GOVERNMENT?

Other changes after FDR: security issues moved to the control of the Presidency, recognizing the difficulty for FDR preparing the US for the issues in Europe.

Consider for a moment, that major countries in Europe fell to Dictatorships – yet like George Washington, FDR avoided grasping the power that was offered.

CHANGING STATUS

• By 1938, FDR had been looking for his successors.

• William O. Douglas, Henry Wallace, and James F. Byrnes, and John Nance Gardner all thought they might be the one.

• FDR had encouraged each of them – but he seemed to want someone else – and it might be that Hopkins was that someone.

RELIEF VS DOLE

• The GOP hated Hopkins –

• He’d spent $8.5 BILLION

• But 15 million people had been helped.

THE MAN FOR THE JOB

• FDR made him Commerce Secretary in 1938, clearly preparing him for elected office.

• But his health decided the issue.

• FDR doted on him, though – getting doctor’s updates, and sending him handwritten notes.

BUT FIRST

• It is Hopkins who stage manages the 1940 Convention to go for Roosevelt.

THE MAN FOR THE JOB

• FDR valued his knowledge, and his insights without bias.

• When he returned, Hopkins resigned as Commerce Sec, and FDR made him his special envoy.

MAY 10, 1940

• But as war approached, on the night of the end of the Phony War, FDR asks Hopkins to stay the night so they can talk further. He will stay for years.

THE MAN FOR THE JOB

• As special envoy, FDR will send Hopkins to England to assess the British will to fight – and if they would stick with it.

THE MAN FOR THE JOB

• Unlike the envoy to St. James Court, Hopkins said the British would stand and fight, and never give in – if they had the materials to fight with.

THE MAN FOR THE JOB

• On his last night in England, he told Churchill, “If you are wondering what I am going to say,I will quote from the book of Ruth: ‘Whither thou goest, I will go ...”

LEND LEASE IS BORN

• FDR Agrees, and backs the British. Against the wishes of his actual envoy to England, Joe Kennedy.

THE MAN FOR THE JOB

• Hopkins is asked to make the same assessment of the Soviets when they are attacked by Germany –and after a grueling flight that almost kills him, he delivers his assessment that against all odds, the Soviets can win.

MAY 10, 1940

• His ability to make projects move, and avoid boondoggles and graft makes him vital as liaison between business and government as the War Productions begin.

FDR AND HOPKINS• Hopkins would be at FDR’s side through the Atlantic Conference with Churchill, at Casablanca, and Teheran, and Yalta.

• Though he tried to leave with Roosevelt’s death, Truman pressed Hopkins to remain. h yet another long flight to Russia, and with the work to pull together the Potsdam conference, and the United Nations.

HARRY HOPKINS

Hopkins would pass in 1945, at the age of 55.

HARRY HOPKINS

In the later Red Scare of the McCarthy years, the right would try to paint Hopkins as a secret Communist agent –when even Red baiter J. Edgar Hoover dismissed.

THE MAN FOR THE JOB

• Gen. George Marshall, no fan of the usual ‘pinhead’ government paper pushers, would later say, “He rendered a service to his country which will never even vaguely be appreciated.”

HARRY HOPKINS

Did you learn something about Harry Hopkins?

1 – How did Hopkins jump from small town boy to major league advisor?

2 –Did Hopkins’ life have a lasting impact? How well known is Hopkins today?

3 – Why was Hopkins so loved, and so hated?

REGIONAL GREATS

• Does where you are born and raised have an impact?

• If you think it does have an impact… is it a positive one?

• Has regionalism declined? If so, does where you are born still matter today?

• At the end of the session, can you point out a place where you see the regional roots showing through?

YOUR THOUGHTS?

Do you know more about Harry Hopkins than you did when you started?

Do you know more about the causes and the relationship to events fromthe Great Depression to WWII?

Can you name something that stood out to you in this class?

Feel free to email me your answers! russgifford@russgifford.net

FOR FURTHER READING

Harry Hopkins is an example of a selfless public servant.Reading of his experiences also informs you of the

actual facts of the Great Depression, the New Deal, and America’s dealings with England and Russia in

WWII. The Gold standard on Hopkins is

Roosevelt and Hopkins, by Robert Sherwood (1948)

Lifelong Learning Instructor, Western Iowa Tech Community College,Sioux City, Iowa 2004 – Present

CREATED BY RUSSELL GIFFORD

RUSSELL GIFFORD

Outstanding Instructor Award(Western Iowa Tech CC), 2011, Iowa

All Star Award(Institute for Lifelong Learning), 2013, Iowa

Gateway Spotlight Award(Gateway), 2004, South Dakota

Outstanding member, Rural Enterprise Program (Center for Rural Affairs), 2003, Nebraska

American Hometown Leadership Award(National Center for Small Communities), 2000,

Business Leadership Award(Chamber of Commerce), 1997, Nebraska