Ickes, Harold LeClaire
Harold LeClaire Ickes (1874–1952), an American statesman who acted as Secretary of the Interior, head of the Public Works Administration (PWA), and head of the Petroleum Administration for War (PAW), under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The PAW was charged with coordinating the efforts of the U.S. government, military, and energy industry to insure a secure supply of fuel for the nation’s World War II effort. In his role as Secretary of the Interior, he came into frequent conflict with business interests, both as a conservationist and because of the public programs he established. President Harry S. Truman accepted Ickes’ resignation from the Cabinet in 1946, which resulted from an argument over Truman’s nomination of Edwin W. Pauley, an oil executive, as Undersecretary of the Navy.
Further Reading
Harold LeClaire Ickes - Biography (U. S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service)
Watkins, T.H. Righteous Pilgrim: The Life and Times of Harold L. Ickes, 1874-1952. NY: Henry Holt Co., 1992.
