Righteous Pilgrim: The Life and Times of Harold L. Ickes, 1874-1952

Harold Ickes, Franklin Roosevelt's Secretary of the Interior and the New Deal's resident conscience, triumphed over an emotionally stunted, penurious childhood and massive personality flaws. His stint as a Chicago reporter exposed him to the unholy alliance between money and politics. A fervent Progressive, the irascible, nettlesome, arrogant, incorruptible politician with a satiric smile and the bespectacled face of a righteous scold harnessed the nation's energies, championing the wilderness, building dams, fighting dust storms. In this engaging, monumental biography, Watkins, editor of Wilderness magazine, probes Ickes's unhappy marriage, his insomnia and the frustrated hopes that drove him to use work to stave off depression and fill the emptiness within. Watkins measures the New Deal's successes against its roadblocks and failures. Photos. (Sept.)