Evening star., 1948-10-24
Sherwood Sets
Hopkins Place
hHistory
ROOSEVELT AND HOPKINS
BY Robert E. Sherwood. (Har.
per G. Bros; S6.J
JOHN G.. HENRY.

y
JOHN C. HENRY.
Harry L. Hopkins was an Iowa
farm boy who became the con-
1idant of Presidents and prime
ministers in the greatest war in
world history. Well before he
achieved that status he had be-
come a controversial and pictur-
esque figure in American political
life, dating back to his administra-
ton of Federal relief, his uneasy
term as Secretary of Commerce and
his leadership in the precedent
making third-term nomination and
election of Franklin Roosevelt.
There was a widespread impress
sion that Hopkins was a Machia-
vellian personality in the life and
administration of Mr.. Roosevelt.
Some of the cavalier utterances at
tributed to him and the very cir
cumstance of his long residence
within the White House seem to
lend strength to this opinion but
there has been a rather considerable
amount of evidence since his own
death and that of the former
President tending to place their
relationship in a different light.
Exalted Messenger Boy.
The contrasting picture is that
Hopkins, in virtually his own words,
was an exalted messenger boy for
his President, that he functioned
primarily in a capacity of right
hand man whose only real concern
was to effect the decisions made by
the Chief Executive, regardless of
who or what stood in the path. If
such were the case, it could hardly
be disputed successfully that Mr..
Hopkins was aggressively effective,
particularly in his multiple global
dealings during wartime.
In constructing this book Mr.,
Sherwood devotes some TOO of its
900-plus pages to the war years. For
his material, Mr.. Sherwood draws
not only upon his own association
with the White House and with Mr..
Hopkins but upon 40 cases of docu-
ments which Hopkins in some man
ner seems to have accumulated dur
ing his Washington career. The dis
closure of some of the material,
even In paraphrased form, must be
giving the shudders to security Of
ficers of the executive departments
involved.
Authors Difficulties.
It is unfortunate that Mr.. Hop
kins did not live to do this job him
self, or at least to continue his COL
laboration with Mr.. Sherwood to
the finish. Despite the 40 cases of
documents, the author acknowl-
edges at several points an inability
to locate a piece of paper which
might have clarified an incident and
others an inability to decipher some
of the Hopkins hand-written notes.
Perhaps it is because of this that
the book too often seems more like
q Sherwood commentary on history
rather than fully Illuminating mar
rative of the Roosevelt Hopkins al
lance. Some, but not all, of this
shortcoming is offset by Is pages of
small-type notes at the back Of the
volume. many of which offer a con-
Trajectory Interpretation of certain
episodes:
Much of the newsworthy content
Of the book has appeared in serial
form in a national weekly magazine
and much of this, in turn, has ap-
peared in the daily press. There
are, however, amplified and enlight-
ening versions of the building of
wartime administration, of the shap-
ing of foreign policy with con-
siderable attention to the pulling
and hauling over our attitude to-
ward the Vichy French), of the con-
ception and implementation of our
epic lend-lease program, of the big
power conferences, and of other
high endeavors of the times.
The historians of tomorrow will
need this volume and, within its
limits, it ranks consideration along
with the memoirs of Cordell Hull, |
Henry Stimson and the forthcoming |
work by Gen. Eisenhower.