The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience

This is a wonderfully researched and well-written book about a totally amazing woman. Frances is the definition of a dedicated public servant. A must read for anyone interested in the history of how the US escaped the depths of the Great Depression, the origin of social security, minimum wage and so much more.

As an American History teacher high school teacher, all my texts include a sidebar, or mention of sorts, about Frances Perkins. This book exceeded all my expectations, and I found myself breathless (?) as I raced to read more! In fact, I almost had a sick feeling of what would have happened if I hadn't read this book, a kind of "near miss," for it is that good. For a history teacher of 20+ years, I count it in my top 5 books or educating me about a person's impact on history. Even after reading it, I went back and learned about how Downey sleuthed to find all the details about Perkins--a feat that allows us to understand an appreciate her subject's life. The pivotal role of Perkins' accomplishments begins with her ties to the suffrage movement and crusade for better labor laws--as she herself said--"I'd rather have laws than a union." It highlights her close relationship with Florence Kelley, but also the New York of Tamany Hall, and the ins and outs of Albany politics. She even witnessed the Triangle Shirtwaist fire herself...then, later, she continues to press for changes in labor laws (a man's world) for women, and her particular crusade against child labor. Downey discusses Perkins' deep religiousness--how she prayed and pondered over the draftmanship of the Social Security proposal while in isolation at a priory. Do not blame Perkins for the state of Social Security today--for, as this book makes clear, it was an immediate lifesaver for millions of elderly Americans. She wanted to oversee it after she retired from the cabinet, but was not able to obtain the post. The background information of the causes of the Great Depression read very similar to what is occurring today, and Perkin's disappointment over the failure to produce some sort of national health care foreshadows our own current dialogue. Equally amazing is Francis Perkins teaching at Cornell into her eighties! And living in a sort of "frat house," as the only woman among young male students! I am glad that the book makes clear how Frances Perkins has been almost forgotten...and Downey has done a wonderful work here in assessing her importance. I, for one, am going to use a great deal of this information in my classroom next year and the years to come.

As a big fan of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, I am well aware that his secretary of labor was Frances Perkins, the first woman in a cabinet post. But I never realized until I read Kirstin Downey's "The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience" how much Perkins influenced the policies of FDR. Perkins was the most interesting woman. She obtained not just a college education but also a master's degree when many women didn't even finish high school. She started out as a social worker and latched on to Hull House, a situation that she considered "life-changing." The tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Fire helped to change her focus to labor issues, and she realized that politicians were needed "to correct social problems." She began working with Al Smith and went to Albany, NY when he became governor. When Smith ran for president and Roosevelt took over the governor's mansion, she then started working with FDR. When FDR became president and he asked Perkins to sign on as labor secretary, she rattled off a list of labor demands that she insisted he support. "She ticked off the items: a forty-hour workweek, a minimum wage, worker's compensation, unemployment compensation, a federal law banning child labor, direct federal aid for unemployment relief, Social Security, a revitalized public employment service, and health insurance." She realized that "She was proposing a fundamental and radical restructuring of American society, with enactment of historic social welfare and labor laws." FDR pledged to back her, and Perkins took the job. Downey does an admirable job of bringing Perkins to life, starting with her early childhood and following her through her long public career. She also details how Perkins and Roosevelt developed a working and flirtatious friendship and mutual respect. At first, Perkins felt that FDR possessed a "streak of vanity and insincerity." His contracting polio caused a fundamental change in Roosevelt that caused him to be "more approachable, kinder, more introspective, and Frances found herself warming to him." Still, the ever-loyal Perkins was often not supported by FDR in many situations--especially when she was impeached. In many ways, Perkins' life was a tragic life. Her husband had to be hospitalized for much of their married life with depression. Her daughter also developed bi-polar disorder and depression when she reached college age. They were estranged for long periods of time. Even though she was brilliant, many men were against her (even fellow cabinet members) because she was a woman. But the religious Perkins looked proudly on the many things she accomplished as labor secretary. In fact, she managed to bring about almost everything on her list except for health care (something that still hasn't been resolved in 2009). But even her accomplishments bring some sadness in that most people who enjoy the benefits of her labors don't even know her

Kristen Downey's biography of Frances Perkins reveals Perkins as a serious activist for social justice causes born out of her early experiences as a student, intern, and community organizer. That she would also become an architect of the New Deal legislation and a major policy developer is a testament to her vision, intellect, determination and social skills. Like many women who have followed her in history, her personal struggle to balance life and career was a private anguish, but a personal story that will ring familiar to many women today.

In this age when Presidential cabinet members come and go almost with the frequency of auto salesmen, several generations of politics watchers have grown up pretty much ignorant of the name Frances Perkins. Her time in the national spotlight was brief --- the 12 years of Franklin Roosevelt's presidency. As FDR's Secretary of Labor she was especially prominent during the years 1933-1940, when domestic concerns were on the front burner and she played a leading role in pushing for such causes as the Social Security Act, wage and hour laws, immigration reform, workplace safety, the right of workers to organize, pensions, welfare and old-age insurance. When World War II erupted, she was less often in the news but still active in matters like pushing for admission of Jewish refugees into the U.S. As the first woman ever to serve in a President's cabinet, she was subject to blatant sexist attitudes and scurrilous rumors not only from know-nothing outsiders but also from her own colleagues in government. Author Kirstin Downey was perhaps too young to have known anything about Perkins at first-hand, but she has done a thorough job of bringing this determined yet personally complex woman to life for a new audience. She shows how Perkins's complex character was molded by early revolt against her family background and by a conscious strategy of working with "imperfect people" to attain ends she thought important. Downey is sympathetic toward her subject's sly tactic of first studying closely the people she wanted to use, then playing up to them in ways that helped her get things done. She had a gift for ingratiating herself with people who could help her. She was an early associate of Jane Addams and Al Smith. Sinclair Lewis wanted to marry her, and when Franklin Roosevelt came into her orbit, she played him as a great pianist plays a Steinway, feeding him ideas and plans and usually letting him take credit for carrying them out. Downey calls her FDR's "moral conscience," which seems in hindsight only a very slight exaggeration. Downey's portrait of FDR meshes closely with those drawn by other writers: a cagey operator who gave you the impression of agreeing to your ideas, then went his own often different way. Frances was not Perkins's real name. She was born Fanny Coralie Perkins in Boston in 1880, but during her college years she changed her first name as a calculated stratagem for getting on in the world. She also shaved two years off her age, a move that came back to haunt her later when critics came howling after her, hatchets in hand. Her zeal for improving the lot of working people was awakened in 1911 when she was an eyewitness to the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire in New York, in which 146 people died mainly because the company had locked the exit doors they might have used. When governor-elect Roosevelt of New York offered her a post on the State Industrial Commission, it set her course for life and began her long association with the future

The Amazing Frances Perkins, March 9, 2009 Kirstin Downey has brought the life and times of one of our most important national heroes, Francis Perkins to a living contemporary icon. Perkins contributions through her works have given all of America a better chance for a higher quality of life. Taking the moral high road, combined with great intelligence and humanity, Perkins was able to guide the Social Security Act, Child Labor Laws, and Safety in the Work Place, unemployment insurance and minimum wage into reality. In her personal life she was forced to overcome extreme personal problems and adversity she made her life an important beacon to all who care for their fellow man. She downplayed her natural flirtatious and charming personality to be taken seriously in the world of all powerful men. But the book gives great insight into deep understanding FP had in the political world. It could be said that FP was a woman before her time, but I believe this book shows Francis Perkins to be a woman for all seasons and all times. She fought for the right, the underprivileged, and all peoples regardless of race or religion. Her work in the Economic Recovery Act could truly be a road map today for Osama. Eight years in the writing, and this book couldn't be more timely than today in our own desperate economic times