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Harold LeClair Ickes (1874-1952) served as Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Secretary of the Interior for the entire length of Roosevelt's presidency. A Republican who distanced himself from the party establishment, he was a consistent and outspoken champion of progressive causes, FDR’s “liberal lightning rod,” who supported social justice and civil rights, criticized the Japanese American internment, and advocated self-rule and eventual independence for the world’s colonies. During the Great Depression Ickes headed the Public Works Administration.
Ickes Ickes regarded himself as a conservationist in the mold of Theodore Roosevelt. In his role as Secretary of the Interior, he took a special interest in the administration of the National Parks Service. Between 1933 and 1941, the NPS lands increased from 8.2 million acres to over 20 million acres. He arguedunsuccessfully for a comprehensive Wilderness Act, and for the expansion of the Department of Interior into the Department of Conservation.
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