Frances Perkins

So a couple blogs ago threw Rosa Parks under the bus, so to speak. I thought she had a lot of fame for not doing all that much. She wouldn't get up to let someone sit in her spot. I've done that. Put me in a history book.

Last blog was about the TVA; one of the programs from the New Deal. OK, here is a woman that that is just the opposite - Frances Perkins. She is one of the most important people in our history, and nobody knows about her. I didn't really either until I read a book recently about FDR's New Deal. It was called "Nothing to Fear" taken from his line, "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself". As a side note, it seems to me that FDR was a phobophobiac - the fear of fear. Think about it.

I had heard of Frances before, but I didn't really know about her. She was the first female cabinet member, so I thought her place in history was just because of that. No, she did a lot more. It turns out that Roosevelt really didn't have a master plan going in. He was just willing to try different things until something worked. He's been criticized for his New Deal increasing the size of government and putting us further in debt. He didn't really want to create a lot of those new programs. More than anyone it was Frances that came up with those programs and pushed for a lot of the New Deal. Here is a good little project - most important non-president people in our history. I am going to work on that. I figure Frances would be in the top 10.