page_title: Anna M. Rosenberg
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Anna M. Rosenberg / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: Anna M. Rosenberg is pictured being sworn in as Assistant Secretary of Defense in this photo. Doing the honors is Felix Larkin (left) General Counsel of the Department of Defense. Also participating in the ceremony are General George C. Marshall (second from right), and Robert A. Lovett, (right), Deputy Secretary of Defense.
context_page_description: Anna Marie Rosenberg, later Anna Rosenberg Hoffman, was an American public official and businesswoman.
context_section_description: During World War I, she served as a student nurse and sold Liberty Bonds.
  In 1934, Nathan Straus, regional director for the National Recovery Act, made her assistant. In 1936, she succeeded him as regional director. In 1937, she became regional director of the Social Security Board through 1943.
  In 1941, she served in the Office of Defense Health and Welfare Services through 1942. In 1942, she served as regional director of the War Manpower Commission through 1945. Concurrently, 1941–1945, she consulted to the Retraining and Reemployment Administration. In 1944, when U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sent her to Europe to report on the needs of American soldiers after their demobilization, she recommended education and supported the G.I. Bill of Rights.
  After the war, she ran a consulting business, with customers that included large businesses and public figures.
  In late 1950, she was nominated for Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Personnel. Joseph McCarthy and his staff launched an all-out campaign to oppose her nomination due to alleged connections to the Communist Party, but she was recommended by the Senate Armed Services Committee. In spite of opposition, on November 15, 1950 she was named Assistant Secretary of Defense, a post she held until January 1953.
  When she was sworn in as the assistant secretary of defense it was the highest position ever held by a woman in the Defense Department. She was to coordinate the Defense Department's staffing, which was divided among many agencies. Also while in the position, Rosenberg worked to implement the National Security Act, promoted racial integration of the services, and supported legislation that safeguarded the rights of minorities in the military.
  In 1955, New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. selected her to serve on the New York City Board of Hospitals. She also served on New York State Governor Averell Harriman's Business Advisory Council and co-chaired the National Hearth Committee.  In 1959, she chaired a three-member panel to mediate between the New York Transit Authority and two unions.
  In the 1960s, she served on the New York City Board of Education among other bodies.
caption: Anna M. Rosenberg being sworn in as Assistant Secretary of Defense
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