Harry Hopkins

Harry Lloyd Hopkins (August 17, 1890 - January 29, 1946), American politician, American Democrat, served as Secretary of Commerce (1938-1940). Hopkins was an important advisor and confidant to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and one of the main architects of the New Deal. He participated in the establishment and leadership of the Works Progress Administration. During World War II, Hopkins served as President Roosevelt's chief personal adviser and effectively became the second-in-command in the White House. He participated in all major decisions between the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union, and played an extremely key role in the formulation and implementation of the Lend-Lease Act and the Yalta Conference. For his outstanding political insight and execution ability, Hopkins was called "the Lord Root of the Matter" by Prime Minister Winston Churchill. He was born in Sioux City, Iowa, into a saddler's family. Graduated from Greenier College in 1912. In 1931, he served in the New York Provisional Emergency Relief Administration and was appreciated by then Governor Roosevelt. After Roosevelt was elected president in 1933, he appointed him director of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, responsible for relief work for the unemployed. Later, he presided over the establishment of the National Engineering Administration. Through the implementation of a large number of small-scale practical engineering projects and the "relief for work" approach, employment opportunities were provided for millions of unemployed people across the country, thus enabling the smooth implementation of the relief plan, an important part of Roosevelt's New Deal. After the outbreak of World War II, he served as Roosevelt's main contributor for a long time. During the war, he participated in the work of the National Defense Advisory Committee and was responsible for the distribution of arms. After the Lend-Lease Act was passed, he served as the President's general counsel on the Lend-Lease Act. He visited the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union as a presidential envoy on many occasions, and accompanied Roosevelt to attend the Atlantic Conference, Tehran Conference and Yalta Conference, becoming the main liaison between the heads of the three major powers during the war. During the Soviet-German war, he used Lend-Lease materials to support the Soviet Union and held many talks with Stalin. In May 1945, he was sent by President Truman to the Soviet Union to arrange for the heads of state of the three major countries to participate in the Potsdam Conference. He died of illness on January 29, 1946.