Harry Hopkins Quotes


Whither thou goist, I will go … even to the end.


Context

Hopkins was a social worker with no military of political experience. But the President trusted him implicitly. Most American military officers and Ambassador to England Joseph P. Kennedy, a Nazi sympathizer & father of JFK, believed that England could not stand up to Hitler. Any military aid we gave England would fall into the hands of the Germans. Everyone was shocked when Roosevelt sent Hopkins to England to make a military recommendation. Hopkins, FDR’s closest advisor made this powerful and moving statement to Churchill and other British leaders. The combination of the first Biblical phrase with the second recognition of the possibility of failure, was inspirational for the British—just the effect Roosevelt sought.


Citations

Harry Hopkins, 1890-1946, U. S. Secretary of Commerce (Democrat), Director, Works Progress Administration, Director, Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Special Assistant to the President, Statement to Winston Churchill, London, February 1941

Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations

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Harry Hopkins
Harry Hopkins
  • Born: August 17, 1890
  • Died: January 29, 1946
  • Nationality: American
  • Profession: Diplomat

Harry Lloyd Hopkins was the 8th Secretary of Commerce, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's closest advisor on foreign policy during World War II. He was one of the architects of the New Deal, especially the relief programs of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which he directed and built into the largest employer in the country. In World War II, he was Roosevelt's chief diplomatic troubleshooter and liaison with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. He supervised the $50 billion Lend-Lease program of military aid to the Allies.