Review of
Summoned:
Frances Perkins and the General Welfare, a PBS video
Five out
of five stars
The first woman
in the cabinet most significant
One of the
best decisions that President Franklin Roosevelt made was to appoint Frances
Perkins the US Secretary of Labor. She was the first woman appointed to the presidential
Cabinet and is arguably one of the top ten best cabinet appointments in
history. She was a driving force in the creation of the Social Security program,
the 40-hour week, the eight-hour day, the federal minimum wage and unemployment
compensation.
Given the deep conservative currents in the American
political establishment and the judiciary, the legislative battles to enact
these programs were intense and uncertain until they were passed by the Congress,
signed by President Roosevelt and passed the judicial review of the Supreme
Court. While both Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt provided Perkins with some
political cover, she was unquestionably the primary force in making it happen.
This video is the history of movements that
were a fundamental change in the social contracts between the Federal
government and the citizenry. Perkins was an extremely skilled political operative
as well as a writer of legislation. It seems unlikely that President Roosevelt
would have been able to achieve anywhere near the social legislation that he
was able to enact without her.
Frances Perkins is very much an
underappreciated person in the history of the United States. So much of what
she was able to steward into law is now considered a fundamental component of
the American political and economic system. Her story and significant accomplishments
are explained very well in this video. All high school students should be
required to view it.
