Perkins became the first female cabinet member, FDR’s Secretary of Labor, at the rock bottom of the Great Depression. She came with a “To Do List” – workman’s compensation, unemployment insurance, old age and health insurance; a minimum wage, a maximum work week, and the abolition of child labor. When she left office 12 years later (longest serving Cabinet Member), she had accomplished all but one—health insurance. Who wouldn’t want to ask her how it was done?
Frances Perkins, Woman Behind the New Deal (1933–1945)
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