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The Secret Diary of Harold L. Ickes, Volume II: The Inside Struggle, 1936 - 1939
759 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1954
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About the author
Harold L. Ickes
58 books2 followersHarold LeClair Ickes was an American administrator and politician. He served as United States Secretary of the Interior for 13 years, from 1933 to 1946, the longest tenure of anyone to hold the office, and the second longest-serving Cabinet member in U.S. history after James Wilson. Ickes and Labor Secretary Frances Perkins were the only original members of the Roosevelt cabinet who remained in office for his entire presidency.
Ickes was responsible for implementing much of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal". He was in charge of the major relief program, the Public Works Administration (PWA), and in charge of the federal government's environmental efforts.
In his day, he was considered a prominent liberal spokesman, a skillful orator and a noted supporter of many African-American causes, although he was at times politically expedient where state-level segregation was concerned. Before his national-level political career, where he did remove segregation in areas of his direct control, he had been the president of the Chicago NAACP.
Ickes was responsible for implementing much of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal". He was in charge of the major relief program, the Public Works Administration (PWA), and in charge of the federal government's environmental efforts.
In his day, he was considered a prominent liberal spokesman, a skillful orator and a noted supporter of many African-American causes, although he was at times politically expedient where state-level segregation was concerned. Before his national-level political career, where he did remove segregation in areas of his direct control, he had been the president of the Chicago NAACP.
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October 20, 2015
This volume picks up right where the first one left off - shortly after the 1936 landslide reelection of FDR. Whereas the focus in the first volume was on the Great Depression, establishing the New Deal (in particular, Ickes' stewardship of the Public Works Administration), and trying to turn the country around economically, this volume tilts more towards the looming war in Europe. the fight over the Supreme Court, and - to a lesser extent - the 1938 mid-term elections. This volume ends right after WWII officially begins in September 1939.
The first quarter of this book focuses almost exclusively on FDR's ill-fated attempt to "pack" a conservative Supreme Court with liberal Justices, in part by insisting that for every Justice age 70 or older, FDR could appoint an additional Justice. This turned out to be one of FDR's biggest blunders during his presidency. Yet, at the time, Ickes and most other people in the Administration were all for it - thinking that the then-current makeup and ideology of the Court presented a serious threat to liberty as they knew it. I almost find it comical, reading seventy-eight years later how worried they all were about the Court destroying the New Deal. But, you have to remember the time in which this was written to get a better appreciation of what Ickes and others thought and wrote. Nonetheless, I am not sure how such intelligent and able men thought that a plan like that could feasibly work.
Ickes then writes of the mild heart attack that he suffered in 1937. I am not surprised that he had such a serious health scare, as he worked inhuman hours for the previous four years, with few breaks in between lengthy periods of intense, exacting work. All of the hours, stress, and headaches eventually took their toll on his health. Fortunately, he recovered completely and was able to somewhat moderate his workload after that - although it still remained heavy.
Some discussion is given over to the 1938 mid-term elections. Although Ickes does not dwell on this, FDR again failed when he tried to prevent the nomination or election of several Democratic Congressmen who deserted him on the Supreme Court issue. I should also mention that, as a backdrop to this, Ickes chronicles the growing chasm between FDR and Vice President John Nance Garner. The latter was openly opposed to first the Court plan, and then to almost everything else that FDR wanted to do. While Ickes praised Garner at length in Volume I, that praise quickly turned to dislike and disappointment in this volume.
Ickes goes on several trips during this time: Alaska, California, Nevada, Florida, Maine, and of course Chicago. He marries Jane Dahlman, who was more than 30 years younger than he was, and right at the end of this volume they have a child: Harold McEwen Ickes, who went on to be Chief of Staff for Bill Clinton. As per his style, Ickes does not dwell on personal items such as this, and remains somewhat unsentimental about them. I suspect that he did not feel it proper to put down on paper his feelings regarding such personal matters.
The majority of the book revolves around the worsening situation in Europe. Ickes believed that war was inevitable because he could see then that Hitler was a maniac, and that Britain and France had appeased him far too long to expect him to behave himself and carry out his agreements with them and other countries. In light of the horrors and atrocities that came about because of WWII, it is depressing to read that the top leaders in the U.S. knew that bad things were coming, yet felt paralyzed to try to stop them largely because there was such a strong isolationist sentiment in the U.S. at that time. As with the first volume, this was an interesting peak back in time.
The first quarter of this book focuses almost exclusively on FDR's ill-fated attempt to "pack" a conservative Supreme Court with liberal Justices, in part by insisting that for every Justice age 70 or older, FDR could appoint an additional Justice. This turned out to be one of FDR's biggest blunders during his presidency. Yet, at the time, Ickes and most other people in the Administration were all for it - thinking that the then-current makeup and ideology of the Court presented a serious threat to liberty as they knew it. I almost find it comical, reading seventy-eight years later how worried they all were about the Court destroying the New Deal. But, you have to remember the time in which this was written to get a better appreciation of what Ickes and others thought and wrote. Nonetheless, I am not sure how such intelligent and able men thought that a plan like that could feasibly work.
Ickes then writes of the mild heart attack that he suffered in 1937. I am not surprised that he had such a serious health scare, as he worked inhuman hours for the previous four years, with few breaks in between lengthy periods of intense, exacting work. All of the hours, stress, and headaches eventually took their toll on his health. Fortunately, he recovered completely and was able to somewhat moderate his workload after that - although it still remained heavy.
Some discussion is given over to the 1938 mid-term elections. Although Ickes does not dwell on this, FDR again failed when he tried to prevent the nomination or election of several Democratic Congressmen who deserted him on the Supreme Court issue. I should also mention that, as a backdrop to this, Ickes chronicles the growing chasm between FDR and Vice President John Nance Garner. The latter was openly opposed to first the Court plan, and then to almost everything else that FDR wanted to do. While Ickes praised Garner at length in Volume I, that praise quickly turned to dislike and disappointment in this volume.
Ickes goes on several trips during this time: Alaska, California, Nevada, Florida, Maine, and of course Chicago. He marries Jane Dahlman, who was more than 30 years younger than he was, and right at the end of this volume they have a child: Harold McEwen Ickes, who went on to be Chief of Staff for Bill Clinton. As per his style, Ickes does not dwell on personal items such as this, and remains somewhat unsentimental about them. I suspect that he did not feel it proper to put down on paper his feelings regarding such personal matters.
The majority of the book revolves around the worsening situation in Europe. Ickes believed that war was inevitable because he could see then that Hitler was a maniac, and that Britain and France had appeased him far too long to expect him to behave himself and carry out his agreements with them and other countries. In light of the horrors and atrocities that came about because of WWII, it is depressing to read that the top leaders in the U.S. knew that bad things were coming, yet felt paralyzed to try to stop them largely because there was such a strong isolationist sentiment in the U.S. at that time. As with the first volume, this was an interesting peak back in time.
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