Louis McHenry Howe

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Louis Howe is pictured upper left (Also pictured are Steve Early (upper right), Missy LeHand (lower left), and Marvin McIntyre (lower right)

Louis McHenry Howe (1871-1936) was an intimate friend and political advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He, along with Eleanor Roosevelt and Marguerite Missy LeHand, was one of the few close associates who supported FDR throughout the most difficult stages of his personal and political recuperation after being afflicted by paralytic illness.

Howe is most known for his fierce, astute, and lifelong devotion to the political career of Franklin D. Roosevelt who publicly credited him (along with James Farley) for his initial election in 1932. Howe was also well known for his ill health and diminutive appearance which was referred to as "gnome-like" or "ghoulish". Part of this antipathy to his appearance may well have been provoked by the success of the Roosevelt campaigns he managed. Howe was also referred to as "the man behind Roosevelt" and Eleanor Roosevelt frankly credited him for his influence on her political development as well.

Born in Indianapolis to an established and very well-to-do family, he suffered a disfiguring bicycle accident as a teenager. This handicap was in addition to chronic heart and respiratory ailments which he endured throughout his life. His father, Edward Porter Howe, after losing his considerable savings in the Panic of 1873, became a newspaper reporter, and eventually a newspaper owner in New York. Young Louis followed his father into the newspaper business becoming a co-editor, and covered the Spanish American War in the Philippines in 1898.

Howe first met Roosevelt in 1911, immediately recognizing the young politician's potential and eventually joining his staff. As a young Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Roosevelt followed Howe's advice to directly and personally monitor labor conditions in the Navy Yards. This gave FDR valuable administrative experience in understanding and maneuvering through government bureaucracy while also making connections to both labor leaders and the rank and file.

When Roosevelt was stricken with a paralytic illness, Howe's support was probably second only to Eleanor's in guiding and supporting FDR's personal and political resurrection. Howe had already become more intimately involved in the Roosevelt family situation when Eleanor had threatened to divorce her husband after discovering he had been involved in an extramarital affair with her social secretary, Lucy Mercer. With Franklin's mobility restricted, Howe played a mentorship role to Eleanor, helping her to become a more confident and effective public speaker. With this support FDR successfully attained the governorship of New York 1928, and then the presidency in 1932.

After FDR's inauguration Howe took up residence at the White House which gave him immeasurable and unaccountable influence on the president. It is known that Howe played a significant role in the early administration of the Civilian Conservation Corps, and it is often speculated that Howe gradually lost influence on the president as the administration became more focused on governance, as the number of additional presidential advisers increased, and as his own health deteriorated until he died in 1936.