Rexford Tugwell
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| Rexford Guy Tugwell | |
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Appointed Governor of Puerto Rico
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| In office 1941 – 1946 |
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| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman |
| Preceded by | José Miguel Gallardo |
| Succeeded by | Jesús T. Piñero |
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| Born | July 10, 1891 Sinclairville, New York |
| Died | July 21, 1979 (aged 87) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Profession | Economist, Academician |
Rexford Guy Tugwell (July 10, 1891 – July 21, 1979) was an agricultural economist who became part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Brain Trust," a group of Columbia academics who helped develop policy recommendations leading up to Roosevelt's 1932 election as President. Tugwell subsequently served in FDR's administration for four years and was one of the chief intellectual contributors to his New Deal. Later in his life, he also served as the governor of Puerto Rico, a then-appointed position.
Tugwell was born in Sinclairville, New York and studied at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Finance and Commerce. After graduation, he became a professor at the University of Washington, American University in Paris, and Columbia University.
In 1933, Tugwell was appointed to work in Roosevelt's administration, working in the United States Department of Agriculture. In 1934, he was promoted to the undersecretary position of the department, then became the head of the Resettlement Administration, a federal agency that relocated the urban poor to the suburbs and impoverished farmers to new rural communities. In 1937, when the RA came under political fire for being overly utopian and socialistic, he resigned from his position in the administration, but subsequently returned to public life the following year when he was appointed to the New York Planning Commission.
In the summer of 1927, a group of future New Dealers including Tugwell, were received by Stalin for a full six hours when they traveled on a junket to the Soviet Union. Leftist ideas strongly influenced Tugwell and other New Dealers, an influence now being reassessed by contemporary historians. [1]
Tugwell was appointed Governor of Puerto Rico from 1942 to 1946, the last non-Puerto Rican to serve in that post. As he prepared to retire from the Governorship, he was instrumental in getting a Puerto Rican appointed to the job, then Resident Commissioner Jesús T. Piñero. He also served as Chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico. After his stint as governor, he returned to teaching -- at the University of Chicago -- until his retirement; significantly, he moved to Greenbelt, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. designed and built by the Resettlement Administration under his direction. During this time, he wrote several books including a biography of Grover Cleveland, subtitled: A Biography of the President Whose Uncompromising Honesty and Integrity Failed America in a Time of Crisis. (Macmillan Company, New York (1968)) He also wrote a biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt entitled FDR: An Architect of an Era, as well as A Stricken Land, his memoirs of his years in Puerto Rico. This book will be reprinted in 2007 by the Muñoz Marín Foundation. He receives significant discussion in The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Schlaes.
[edit] In fiction
The novel The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick features a novel within a novel in which Tugwell becomes president.
| Preceded by José Miguel Gallardo |
Governor of Puerto Rico 1942-1946 |
Succeeded by Jesus T. Piñero |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Biography on Schoolnet
- Rexford G. Tugwell Mini-biography at the United States National Park Service website.
- 1934 Time Magazine Cover featuring Rexford G. Tugwell
