How Did Harold Ickes Affect The Economy

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Harold Ickes: The Icon of the Public Workers Administration
The Great Depression of the 1930s was a catastrophic time period of international stock market crashes, economic downfall, and drop in world trade. This led millions of Americans to become poor overnight, spiraling them into poverty. Consequently, many factories, businesses and construction projects slowed down. With production at a minimum, many workers were let go. Those who kept their jobs saw their salaries drop. Soon, the streets were filled with bread lines, soup kitchens, and many homeless people. Even farmers throughout the nation were affected by this event and were forced to leave their harvesting crops rotting in the fields. In 1932, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, introduced to Congress the New Deal. The programs and projects of the New Deal were designed to help America and her citizens get back on their feet. The Public Workers Administration (PWA) was created by the National Industry Recovery Act on June 16, 1933 by the President's first female cabinet member, Frances Perkins, along with Harold Ickes, James Farley, and Henry …show more content…

(Nievens 77) For his many attacks on Republican candidates, Harold Ickes was known as "Roosevelt's hatchet man". While participating in campaigns, his outspoken opinions led his democratic colleagues to record his thoughts in a diary entitled: The Secret Diary of Harold Ickes. By the beginning of 1946, Ickes was not getting along with President Harry Truman. Therefore, after thirteen years as Secretary of the Interior, he resigned in February of 1946. After his death in 1952, his democratic colleagues printed their three volume diary which included anecdotes about Ickes' as Secretary of the Interior. (“Harold Ickes”, “Harold LeClair Ickes”,

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