Harold Ickes

Harold Ickes (1874-1952), American jurist, who long served as U.S. secretary of the interior (1933-1946). Born in Frankstown Township, Pennsylvania, Harold Leclair Ickes worked as a newspaper reporter in Chicago, and began practicing law in 1907. He soon became active in municipal reform politics and civil liberties causes and in 1912 he helped form the Progressive (Bull Moose) Party. In 1916 he managed the presidential campaign of Republican candidate Charles Evans Hughes and in 1920, as delegate at large to the Republican convention, opposed the nomination of Warren G. Harding. In 1932 he led liberal Republican support for the Democratic candidate, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who subsequently appointed him secretary of the interior; he resigned this post in 1946 after a dispute with President Harry S. Truman. Ickes headed the Public Works Administration (1933-1939), and during World War II he was administrator of petroleum and solid fuels. He was known for his trenchant opinions, his commitment to social reform and conservation of natural resources, and his unimpeachable honesty. He wrote several books on Roosevelt-era politics.