Becoming Madam Secretary

by Stephanie Dray

say his true political gift was that he liked people…and he made them feel liked. He certainly knew how to make me feel as if I were his closest friend and confidant.

“Because many people in America believe poverty is a moral problem having to do with sloth or some other sin we can blame on individuals. But I believe poverty in America is an economic problem that can be solved…and I intend to solve it.”

“Should I be honored, alarmed, or bewildered that you’ve been asking after me?”

“Socially responsible consumers look for a league-approved white label to know whether a garment has been sewn in humane conditions.”

The immigrants in those tenements believed in happy endings, after all; it’s why they came to America in the first place. And I needed to believe in happy endings too. My work would be too depressing without hope.

“Only you would get your heart broken over an economic theory. But don’t worry, I’ll stay sweet on you even if you become a dirty capitalist and make a million dollars.”

“A progressive Republican,” Mr. Wilson replied. “I believe in good government, public accountability, and Theodore Roosevelt.”

I still had nightmares after that about Mary Hogan and her bloody stump. I’d continue to have them the rest of my life.

Every year, thousands of us are maimed…because the life of men and women is so cheap, and property is so sacred.”

learned that Frank’s Revolutionary ancestor, Isaac Roosevelt, was an officer in the Continental Army, a friend of Alexander Hamilton, and an advocate for the Constitution of the United States with a Bill of Rights.

Doesn’t she know you’re saving the lives of girls who paint clocks?” He was referring to young women who contracted radium poisoning while employed to paint luminous dials.

But my conversations with federal officials made clear that President Hoover wasn’t simply misinformed; he was lying. And I was appalled. This kind of dishonesty in such a dire crisis seemed to be an immoral abuse of power, and I felt my Revolutionary ancestors spinning in their graves.

“What the people of the United States want is security—security of life, security of opportunity to earn a living, security to plan their lives.”

As my grandmother always said, When in doubt, do what’s right.

there was a hue and cry against civil servants serving past the age of forty.

Social Security—which was expanded again and again to cover more Americans of every race and creed—is now so much a part of American psychology that I truly believe no politician, political party, or political group can possibly destroy it and maintain a democratic system.