Harry Hopkins
FDR's most trusted fixer, a gaunt social worker who channeled billions in Depression-era relief and became the president's shadow at wartime summits.
1890–1946 (age 56)·American New Deal administrator and WWII diplomat·Birthday: August 17·The Lost Generation
Biography
Harry Hopkins was the indispensable man in Franklin Roosevelt's inner circle, a figure who operated from a small bedroom in the White House and wielded more influence than most cabinet secretaries. A former social worker from Iowa, he brought a fierce urgency to the crisis of the Great Depression, quickly designing and launching the massive work-relief programs of the New Deal, arguing that putting people to work was more dignified than direct handouts. His health was fragile, but his energy and loyalty were boundless. As World War II engulfed the globe, Roosevelt sent his gaunt, ailing confidant on a series of critical missions to Churchill and Stalin, often as the president's personal representative. With no official title for much of the war, Hopkins lived on borrowed time and sheer nerve, facilitating the Lend-Lease program and helping to solidify the Grand Alliance against the Axis powers through sheer force of personality and trust.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Harry was born in 1890, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Harry Was Born
The biggest hits of 1890
Harry's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1890Born
Wounded Knee massacre marks the end of the Indian Wars
President: Benjamin Harrison
1895Started school
First public film screening by the Lumiere brothers
President: Grover Cleveland
1903Became a teenager
Wright brothers achieve first powered flight
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1906Could drive
San Francisco earthquake devastates the city
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1908Could vote
Ford Model T goes into production
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1911Turned 21
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 in New York
President: William Howard Taft
1920Turned 30
Women gain the right to vote in the US
Home: $3,395President: Woodrow Wilson"Swanee" — Al Jolson
1930Turned 40
Pluto discovered
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,510President: Herbert Hoover"Body and Soul" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front
1940Turned 50
The Blitz: Germany bombs London
Gas: $0.18/galHome: $2,938Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I'll Never Smile Again" — Tommy DorseyBest Picture: Rebecca
1946Died at 56
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
Key Achievements
- Administered the New Deal's largest relief program, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which employed millions of Americans.
- Served as President Franklin Roosevelt's chief diplomatic advisor and personal envoy to Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin during World War II.
- Was a key architect and administrator of the Lend-Lease program that supplied critical aid to Allied nations.
- Served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce from 1938 to 1940.
Did You Know?
He was so close to FDR that he lived in the White House for three and a half years during World War II.
Hopkins underwent surgery for stomach cancer in 1937 and lived with chronic health problems thereafter.
He was present at all the major Allied wartime conferences, including Tehran and Yalta.
Before government service, he was a social worker in New York City.
“We will tax and tax, and spend and spend, and elect and elect.”
