Born March 15, 1874

Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania

Died February 3, 1952

Olney, Maryland

Public administrator

"I have to be consulted before anyone can make any decision on an oil matter…. Just how the oil people will take this order I do not know. I suspect that some will like it and some won't."
Harold Ickes. © Bettmann/Corbis. Reproduced by permission.

In May 1941 President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945; served 1933–45; see entry) designated his trusted adviser, Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, to be the national coordinator for ensuring the military and home front had adequate gasoline and oil in the event the United States entered the war in Europe. The United States did indeed enter the war less than seven months later. Ickes carried out this important responsibility throughout the war years.

Ickes, known for his crusty and combative personality, promoted the orderly development of the nation's rich natural resources throughout...