• Interior
• Windows
• Walls
• Projects
• Buildings

The meaning of the name Sergei Aries. What does the name Sergey mean: meaning, origin. Folk signs and customs

Hopkins Harry Lloyd (1890-1946) - statesman and US diplomat. Special Advisor and Assistant to the President F.D. Roosevelt(1941-1945). Participant of the Quebec Conference (1943), Cairo Conference (1943), member of the US delegations to Tehran Conference(1943) and Crimean (Yalta) conference(1945). Below are three biographies of Hopkins.

Diplomat

Hopkins, Harry (1890-1946) - American statesman and diplomat. Hopkins' leadership activities in various charitable societies brought him closer to F. Roosevelt.

With Roosevelt's election as president, Hopkins received his first administrative post in 1933 - director of the Federal Office of Unemployment Assistance. In 1938, Hopkins was appointed Secretary of Commerce.

During World War II, Hopkins strongly advocated strengthening the coalition democratic countries in the fight against fascist aggression.

In early 1941, Hopkins, having left his post as Secretary of Commerce, went to London as Roosevelt's personal representative. After Hitler's Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Hopkins arrived in Moscow on 31. VII, where he negotiated with the Soviet government. One of the results of this visit was a conference of representatives of the USSR, Great Britain and the USA, held in September-October 1941, at which decisions were made on military supplies to the USSR, as well as on uniting the efforts of the three great powers to achieve victory over Hitlerism.

In 1941, Hopkins was promoted to Counselor and Special Assistant to the President. In August 1943, Hopkins accompanied Roosevelt to a conference in Quebec. He participated in Roosevelt's negotiations, Churchill And Chiang Kai-shek in Cairo and was a member of the US delegation to the Tehran Conference of 1943 and the Crimea Conference of 1945.

Hopkins has repeatedly spoken out in favor of providing Soviet Union effective assistance in the war and for the close cooperation of the three great powers in the post-war period.

After Roosevelt's death, Hopkins remained for some time as special assistant to the new President Truman. In May 1945, Truman sent D. Davis (see) to London and Hopkins to Moscow as his personal representatives. During his stay in the USSR (from 26. V to 7. VII 1945) Hopkins had several meetings with I. V. Stalin And V. M. Molotov. His negotiations in Moscow contributed to the achievement of an agreement between three governments - the USSR, the USA and Great Britain - on the issue of the formation of a Polish government of National Unity in accordance with the decision of the Crimean Conference (see). These negotiations were also preparation for Berlin Conference 1945, in which, however, Hopkins did not participate. In July 1945, Hopkins retired.

Diplomatic Dictionary. Ch. ed. A. Ya. Vyshinsky and S. A. Lozovsky. M., 1948.

American who contributed to the defeat of Nazi Germany

When W. Churchill was asked to name the names of two Americans (besides the president) whose contribution to the defeat of Nazi Germany was the most significant, the English prime minister replied that among military figures this was J. Marshall, and among civilians - Harry Hopkins. For 12 years he worked closely with Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Harry Lloyd Hopkins was born on August 17, 1890 in Sioux City, Iowa. He was the fourth of five children of saddler David Eldon and Anna Pickett Hopkins. His father tried many occupations and often moved from place to place.

Harry did well in school and at Grinnell College.

IN free time he played baseball, of which he remained a lifelong fan.

After the United States entered the First World War in 1917 world war, Hopkins decided to join the army or navy, but he was not accepted due to health reasons. He was later appointed to lead all Red Cross organizations in the southeastern states, centered in Atlanta.

In 1921, Hopkins returned to New York, where he worked for the Association for the Improvement of the Conditions of the Poor, then as managing director of the New York Tuberculosis Association.

Hopkins met Roosevelt in the midst of the 1928 election campaign, when the latter was a candidate for governor. This meeting made a huge impression on Harry.

Until 1940, Hopkins had no experience of diplomatic work. He became close to Roosevelt through his activities in various charitable societies. In 1933, he received the post of director of the Federal Unemployment Relief Administration, and five years later he was appointed Secretary of Commerce. His talent as a diplomat was revealed during the Second World War.

The general contours of Hopkins's foreign policy concept took shape in 1938-1941. The starting point was his awareness of the threat that German fascism posed to America. In a memorandum dated April 12, 1941, Hopkins wrote: “The German dictator can never be defeated by the old democratic order, the essence of which is the status quo. But Hitler’s new order can be defeated by the new order of democracy, the essence of which is the new course, provided he gets widespread and universal acceptance. Just as totalitarianism supports Hitler's new order, world democracy must support Roosevelt's new course. In this case, democracy will find unity and a promising purpose."

Many around the president were irritated by the fact that Hopkins was actually a member of the Roosevelt family. He lived in the White House for months. After the death of Hopkins' second wife, Barbara Duncan, in 1937, the president's wife, Eleanor, took care of his daughter. When Harry Lloyd got married for the third time (1942), the ceremony took place at the presidential residence with the participation of Roosevelt himself. In Washington circles, Hopkins was known as a lover of life, a theatergoer, and a regular at nightclubs. Everyone knew that he was the father of four children and, in general, lived quite modestly by American standards. His annual income while in the White House was lower than what he received before 1937.

He was loyal and boundlessly devoted to the president, but at the same time, he always defended his own opinion. The President said of him: "Harry is an excellent ambassador who works to achieve my goals." Roosevelt presented him to foreign leaders as someone who could be treated "with the same confidence that you would have if you were speaking to me personally."

Hopkins had no sympathy for professional diplomats. He believed that in conditions of war the president was obliged to justify the title of “the country's first diplomat,” and sought to provide the head of the executive branch with everything necessary to perform this function. His efforts were aimed at strengthening the White House's position with executive agencies accountable to the president and capable of conducting work abroad. The Lend-Lease administration, of which he was the head, was the main trump card in this game.

Several times at important negotiations, Hopkins acted as Secretary of State. But almost all of these negotiations, starting with the Atlantic Conference (1941) and ending with the Tehran Conference (1943), were either entirely or mostly devoted to discussing military problems and various aspects of coalition diplomacy.

The name of Hopkins is associated with the establishment of the practice of personal diplomacy. During foreign trips, he could act as an unofficial person and negotiate on issues that could hardly be touched upon if the negotiations were conducted by an ambassador, a minister, or the president himself. Hopkins, more than any of his contemporaries, excluding, of course, the heads of state of the Big Three, contributed to the rapprochement of the main participants in the military alliance.

“Mr. Root of the Question” is what Churchill once called Hopkins, and this title stuck with him. The presidential aide met the British prime minister in January 1941, when Roosevelt sent Hopkins as his emissary to London. Hopkins was instructed to decide on the spot whether the goals of the United States were consistent with the policy of supporting England.

Almost daily conversations with Churchill over a period of six weeks marked the beginning of their long friendship. Hopkins was one of the few who had the privilege of addressing Churchill by name. In January 1941, the American diplomat completely changed his opinion about the English leader and tried to convey this somewhat idealized image to the president.

In turn, Churchill devoted many pages to his American friend in his memoirs, calling him “an extraordinary man” who played a large, “and sometimes decisive role in the entire course of the war.” “In his fragile and sickly body, a passionate soul burned... I always enjoyed his company, especially when things were going badly. Sometimes he knew how to be very unpleasant and say harsh and bitter words. The experience of my life taught me to do the same in if necessary..."

In the summer of 1941, the United States continued to pursue a policy of rapprochement with England. Immediately after June 22, 1941, the question arose about the possible involvement of the USSR in this union. Roosevelt readily supported Hopkins' proposal made at the end of July to go to Moscow.

Hopkins's visit to Moscow in late July and early August 1941 can be seen as a clear breakthrough in American-Soviet relations. Hopkins' daily flight, most of which he spent in the tail compartment of the plane in the machine gunner's seat, was, of course, the act of a courageous man. Hopkins, after surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in his stomach in 1938, could only keep himself alive with the help of a special diet and timely medication.

In Moscow, Hopkins met with Stalin and other leaders of the Soviet state. He wanted to find out “how long Russia can hold out.” The Soviet side familiarized him in detail with the progress and prospects of military operations on the Soviet-German front, and he was presented with a list of weapons and materials needed by the USSR in the first place.

At the negotiations, Hopkins stated that the US and British governments would not want to send heavy weapons to the Soviet-German front before a meeting of representatives of the three governments took place in order to study the strategic interests of each front of the world war and each of the three countries. Stalin approved the idea of ​​convening such a meeting.

The Soviet leaders made a great impression on Hopkins, who told F. Roosevelt: "I am very confident about this front... There is a strong determination to win here." Hopkins's visit contributed to the improvement of American-Soviet relations and paved the way for a conference of representatives of the USSR, USA and Great Britain to be held in Moscow in October 1941.

On November 7, 1941, as a result of further negotiations between the USSR and the United States, the Lend-Lease law was extended to the USSR.

Many American diplomats noted Stalin's special attitude towards Roosevelt's assistant. Bohlen recalled that in one of the conversations Stalin called Hopkins “the first American who pleased him.” Hopkins, in turn, came to the conclusion that close cooperation with Stalin was possible within the framework of an anti-fascist alliance. The American diplomat saw in him a potential ally, without whom victory over the fascist-militarist “axis” seemed unthinkable, which had a decisive impact on his course of action. It was probably Hopkins's impressions of the meetings in the Kremlin that prompted Roosevelt to begin “courtship diplomacy” with Stalin.

So, in the winter and summer of 1941, Hopkins was able to quickly establish close relations with such different leaders as Churchill and Stalin.

He built his foreign policy program based on the recognition of “the priority of cooperation with Britain.” With the participation of Hopkins at the Anglo-American negotiations in July 1942, it was decided to postpone the opening of a second front in Europe indefinitely and replace it with the landing of allied troops in North Africa, which created ample opportunities for the implementation of Churchill’s Mediterranean strategy. Finally, it was he who finally convinced Roosevelt to reveal production secrets to the British nuclear weapons.

Hopkins was a constant participant in all meetings of the Big Three, actively prepared these meetings, and supervised correspondence between the leaders of the coalition powers. It was he who convinced Roosevelt to accept Stalin's proposal to hold a conference in Crimea, despite the fact that Churchill considered Yalta "the most inappropriate place for a meeting."

At the beginning of 1944, Hopkins' health deteriorated sharply.

For several months he did not get out of bed. The presidential aide returned to active work only at the end of the summer.

On the eve of the Yalta Conference, he did a tremendous amount of work.

In general, the American delegation acted in accordance with Hopkins' recommendations. Being behind Roosevelt's back, he skillfully maneuvered and tried to bring together the increasingly distant political programs of Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill. As a result, at the Yalta conference, the United States took a middle position on four of the five main positions, which allowed discussions to be brought to final results.

On April 12, 1945, Roosevelt died. “Russia has lost its greatest friend in America,” Hopkins wrote in a telegram to Stalin.

Hopkins' second visit to the USSR, this time as an emissary of G. Truman, was quite long (May 25 - June 7, 1945). The main attention was paid to the problem of post-war settlement in Europe. The Soviet side also confirmed its commitment to enter the war with Japan. According to the president's instructions, Hopkins was to do everything possible to overcome the crisis of confidence in US-Soviet relations, using any means - "diplomatic language, a baseball bat, or whatever he considered appropriate."

During negotiations with Stalin, deep differences between the two sides in their views on the post-war fate of Europe were revealed. The stumbling block was the Soviet concept of national security, which required the creation of “friendly” regimes along the western border of the USSR and “free hands” in Eastern Europe, primarily in Poland. Despite this, Hopkins brought the negotiations to an end: contradictions regarding the voting procedure in the UN Security Council were eliminated, and the dates for the conference in Potsdam were determined.

Hopkins's negotiations with Stalin "inspired new life into the Yalta spirit," notes historian D. Mac Jimsey. In the summer of 1945, the results of the mission to Moscow were considered an undoubted success. This was Hopkins's last diplomatic victory. On July 2, 1945, he finally said goodbye to public service.

Even in the fall of 1945, Harry was a strong proponent of cooperative diplomacy. At the same time, Hopkins could not hide his concern about the future of Poland. Neither the Potsdam Conference nor subsequent events dispelled his fears.

Harry Lloyd Hopkins died on January 29, 1946, aged 55. His son Robert, meeting with Truman shortly after the funeral, said: “You know, the only thing that could have saved him from death was your decision to send him somewhere on a foreign mission.”

Reprinted from the site http://100top.ru/encyclopedia/

Assistant to the President of the United States

HOPKINS Harry Lloyd (1890-1946). Special Advisor and Assistant to the President of the United States in 1941-1945. Born in Sioux City, Iowa. After graduating from college until 1933 he worked in charitable organizations New York. In 1938-1940 - Minister of Trade. In 1941 he was sent as a special presidential representative to London.

After the German attack on the USSR, he arrived in Moscow in July 1941, where he negotiated with the Soviet government and personally with Stalin. One of the results of this visit was a conference held in September-October 1941 of representatives of the USSR, Great Britain and the USA, at which important decisions were made to unite the efforts of the participants in the anti-Hitler coalition. Since 1941 - Advisor and Special Assistant to the President of the United States. He participated in all the most important wartime conferences: Quebec (1943), Cairo (1943), Tehran (1943) and Crimean (1945).

After Roosevelt's death, he remained for some time an assistant to the new President Truman. In May-June 1945, he again visited Moscow, where he negotiated with leading figures of the USSR. These negotiations contributed to the achievement of an agreement between the governments of the USSR, Great Britain and the USA on education, in accordance with the decisions of the Crimean Conference, the Polish government of national unity and the preparation of the Potsdam Conference of 1945. In July 1945 he retired. Hopkins spoke about one of his meetings with Stalin in a memoir essay (Hopkins N. The Inside Story of My Meeting with Stalin // The American Magazine. 12/14-15/1941).

Foreign Ministry employee V.M. talks about the impression Stalin made on foreign politicians. Berezhkov:

“We must admit that for all his disgusting qualities, Stalin had the ability to charm his interlocutors. He was undoubtedly a great actor and could create the image of a charming, modest, even simple man. In the first weeks of the war, when it seemed that the Soviet Union was about to collapse, all the high-ranking foreign visitors, starting with Harry Hopkins, were very pessimistic. And they left Moscow in full confidence that the Soviet people would fight and, ultimately, win. But our situation was truly catastrophic. The enemy was inevitably moving to the East. Almost every night we had to hide in bomb shelters. So what prompted Hopkins, Harriman, Beaverbrook and other experienced and skeptical politicians to change their point of view? Only conversations with Stalin. Despite the seemingly hopeless situation, he knew how to create an atmosphere of ease and calm...

And how do we understand Stalin’s Olympic calm and his statement to Hopkins that if the Americans send aluminum, the USSR will fight for at least four years? Undoubtedly, Stalin knows better how things are here! And so Hopkins, Beaverbrook, Harriman assure Roosevelt and Churchill that the Soviet Union will survive and that it makes sense to begin organizing military supplies to the staunch Soviet ally. Stalin was bluffing, but fortunately he was right. Just as when, after British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden visited the Moscow front in the second half of December 1941, he said:

The Russians were in Berlin twice, and will be a third time... Incorrigible Stalinists can regard such a prophecy as evidence of the leader’s foresight. But it seems to me that he played the role of an optimist here too. In a narrow circle, he admitted more than once in those days that “everything that was won by Lenin was lost,” and that disaster could not be avoided. With feigned cheerfulness, he covered up his lack of faith in the people, contemptuously calling the crowd that applauded him “fools” and blockheads.” But it was precisely this unloved and frightened people, sacrificing tens of millions of lives of their sons and daughters, made his prophecies possible” (Berezhkov V.M. How I stopped as a translator of Stalin. M.. 1993. P. 219).

“...How gloomily Stalin assessed the situation on the fronts and did not trust his own army is evidenced by his proposal to Roosevelt and Churchill to bring American and British troops into battle on Soviet territory. Thus, on July 30, 1941, Stalin pointed out to Harry Hopkins, Roosevelt’s emissary, the difficult situation in which the Soviet Union was at that moment, and stated that “American troops under American command are welcome in every sector of the Russian front”” (Hilger G . Stalin. Rostov-on-Don, 1988. P. 280; Bu-nichi. Minsk, 1994. P. 263).

Book materials used: Torchinov V.A., Leontyuk A.M. Around Stalin. Historical and biographical reference book. St. Petersburg, 2000.

Read further:

Historical Persons of the USA (biographical reference book).

Presidents of the United States (biographical reference book).

Personal message from Mr Churchill to Mr Stalin. July 28, 1941 (see about Hopkins).

W. Churchill and F. Roosevelt I.V. Stalin. August 15, 1941 (see about Hopkins).

Secret and personal from Prime Minister I.V. Stalin to President Mr. F. Roosevelt. October 19, 1944. (see about Hopkins).

US statesman and diplomat. Special Adviser and Assistant to the President F.D. Roosevelt (1941-1945). Participant of the Quebec Conference (1943), Cairo Conference (-1943), member of the US delegations at the Tehran Conference (1943) and the Crimean (Yalta) Conference (1945).

When W. Churchill was asked to name the names of two Americans (besides the president), whose contribution to the defeat of Nazi Germany was the most significant, the British prime minister replied that among military figures this was J. Marshall, and among civilians - Harry Hopkins. For 12 years he worked closely with Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Harry Lloyd Hopkins was born on August 17, 1890 in Sioux City, Iowa. He was the fourth of five children of saddler David Eldon and Anna Pickett Hopkins. His father tried many occupations and often moved from place to place. Harry did well in school and at Grinnell College. In his free time, he played baseball, which he remained a fan of throughout his life.

After the United States entered World War I in 1917, Hopkins decided to join the army or navy, but was rejected due to health reasons. He was later appointed to lead all Red Cross organizations in the southeastern states, centered in Atlanta.

In 1921, Hopkins returned to New York, where he worked for the Association for the Improvement of the Conditions of the Poor, then as managing director of the New York Tuberculosis Association.

Hopkins met Roosevelt in the midst of the 1928 election campaign, when the latter was a candidate for governor. This meeting made a huge impression on Harry.

Until 1940, Hopkins had no experience of diplomatic work. He became close to Roosevelt through his activities in various charitable societies. In 1933, he received the post of director of the Federal Unemployment Relief Administration, and five years later he was appointed secretary of commerce. His talent as a diplomat was revealed during the Second World War.

The general outlines of Hopkins's foreign policy concept took shape in 1938-1941. The starting point was his awareness of the threat that German fascism posed to America. In a memorandum dated April 12, 1941, Hopkins wrote: “The German dictator can never be defeated by the old democratic order, the essence of which is the status quo. But Hitler’s new order can be defeated by the new order of democracy, the essence of which is the new course, provided he gets widespread and universal acceptance. Just as totalitarianism supports Hitler's new order, world democracy must support Roosevelt's new course. In this case, democracy will find unity and a promising purpose."

Many around the president were irritated by the fact that Hopkins was actually a member of the Roosevelt family. He lived in the White House for months. After the death of Hopkins' second wife, Barbara Duncan, in 1937, the president's wife, Eleanor, took care of his daughter. When Harry Lloyd got married for the third time (1942), the ceremony took place at the presidential residence with the participation of Roosevelt himself. In Washington circles, Hopkins was known as a lover of life, a theatergoer, and a regular at nightclubs. Everyone knew that he was the father of four children and, in general, lived quite modestly by American standards. His annual income while in the White House was lower than what he received before 1937.

He was loyal and boundlessly devoted to the president, but at the same time, he always defended his own opinion. The President said of him: "Harry is an excellent ambassador who works to achieve my goals." Roosevelt presented him to foreign leaders as someone who could be treated "with the same confidence that you would have if you were speaking to me personally."

Hopkins had no sympathy for professional diplomats. He believed that in conditions of war the president was obliged to justify the title of “the country's first diplomat,” and sought to provide the head of the executive branch with everything necessary to perform this function. His efforts were aimed at strengthening the White House's position with executive agencies accountable to the president and capable of conducting work abroad. The Lend-Lease administration, of which he was the head, was the main trump card in this game.

Several times during important negotiations, Hopkins acted as Secretary of State. But almost all of these negotiations, starting with the Atlantic Conference (1941) and ending with the Tehran Conference (1943), were either entirely or mostly devoted to discussing military problems and various aspects of coalition diplomacy.

The name of Hopkins is associated with the establishment of the practice of personal diplomacy. During foreign trips, he could act as an unofficial person and negotiate on issues that could hardly be touched upon if the negotiations were conducted by an ambassador, a minister, or the president himself. Hopkins, more than any of his contemporaries, excluding, of course, the heads of state of the Big Three, contributed to the rapprochement of the main participants in the military alliance.

“Mr. Root of the Question” is what Churchill once called Hopkins, and this title stuck with him. The presidential aide met the British prime minister in January 1941, when Roosevelt sent Hopkins as his emissary to London. Hopkins was instructed to decide on the spot whether the goals of the United States were consistent with the policy of supporting England.

Almost daily conversations with Churchill over a period of six weeks marked the beginning of their long friendship. Hopkins was one of the few who had the privilege of addressing Churchill by name. In January 1941, the American diplomat completely changed his opinion about the English leader and tried to convey this somewhat idealized image to the president.

In turn, Churchill devoted many pages to his American friend in his memoirs, calling him “an extraordinary man” who played a large, “and sometimes decisive role in the entire course of the war.” “In his fragile and sickly body, a passionate soul burned... I always enjoyed his company, especially when things were going wrong. Sometimes he knew how to be very unpleasant and say harsh and bitter words. The experience of my life taught me to do the same in if necessary..."

In the summer of 1941, the United States continued to pursue a policy of rapprochement with England. Immediately after June 22, 1941, the question arose about the possible involvement of the USSR in this union. Roosevelt with ready

He supported Hopkins's proposal made at the end of July to go to Moscow. Hopkins's visit to Moscow in late July and early August 1941 can be seen as a clear breakthrough in American-Soviet relations. Hopkins' daily flight, most of which he spent in the tail compartment of the plane in the machine gunner's seat, was, of course, the act of a courageous man. Hopkins, after surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in his stomach in 1938, could only keep himself alive with the help of a special diet and timely medication.

In Moscow, Hopkins met with Stalin and other leaders of the Soviet state. He wanted to find out “how long Russia can hold out.” The Soviet side familiarized him in detail with the progress and prospects of military operations on the Soviet-German front, and he was presented with a list of weapons and materials needed by the USSR in the first place.

At the negotiations, Hopkins stated that the US and British governments would not want to send heavy weapons to the Soviet-German front before a meeting of representatives of the three governments took place in order to study the strategic interests of each front of the world war and each of the three countries. Stalin approved the idea of ​​convening such a meeting.

The Soviet leaders made a great impression on Hopkins, who told F. Roosevelt: “I am very confident about this front... There is a strong determination to win.” Hopkins's visit contributed to the improvement of American-Soviet relations and paved the way for a conference of representatives of the USSR, USA and Great Britain to be held in Moscow in October 1941.

On November 7, 1941, as a result of further negotiations between the USSR and the United States, the Lend-Lease law was extended to the USSR.

Many American diplomats noted Stalin's special attitude towards Roosevelt's assistant. Bohlen recalled that in one of the conversations Stalin called Hopkins “the first American who pleased him.” Hopkins, in turn, came to the conclusion that close cooperation with Stalin was possible within the framework of an anti-fascist alliance. The American diplomat saw in him a potential ally, without whom victory over the fascist-militarist “axis” seemed unthinkable, which had a decisive impact on his course of action. It was probably Hopkins's impressions of the meetings in the Kremlin that prompted Roosevelt to begin “courtship diplomacy” with Stalin.

So, in the winter and summer of 1941, Hopkins was able to quickly establish close relations with such different leaders as Churchill and Stalin. He built his foreign policy program based on the recognition of “the priority of cooperation with Britain.” With Hopkins' participation in the Anglo-American negotiations in July 1942, it was decided to postpone the opening of a second front in Europe indefinitely and replace it with the landing of Allied troops in North Africa, which created ample opportunities for the implementation of Churchill's Mediterranean strategy. Finally, it was he who finally convinced Roosevelt to reveal the secrets of nuclear weapons production to the British.

Hopkins was a constant participant in all meetings of the Big Three, actively prepared these meetings, and supervised correspondence between the leaders of the coalition powers. It was he who convinced Roosevelt to accept Stalin's proposal to hold a conference in Crimea, despite the fact that Churchill considered Yalta "the most inappropriate place for a meeting."

At the beginning of 1944, Hopkins' health deteriorated sharply. For several months he did not get out of bed. The presidential aide returned to active work only at the end of the summer.

On the eve of the Yalta Conference, he did a tremendous amount of work.

In general, the American delegation acted in accordance with Hopkins' recommendations. Being behind Roosevelt, he skillfully maneuvered and tried to bring together the increasingly distant political programs Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill. As a result, at the Yalta conference, the United States took a middle position on four of the five main positions, which allowed discussions to be brought to final results.

On April 12, 1945, Roosevelt died. “Russia has lost its greatest friend in America,” Hopkins wrote in a telegram to Stalin.

Hopkins' second visit to the USSR, this time as an emissary of G. Truman, was quite long (May 25 - June 7, 1945). The main attention was paid to the problem of post-war settlement in Europe. The Soviet side also confirmed its commitment to enter the war with Japan. According to the president's instructions, Hopkins was to do everything possible to overcome the crisis of confidence in US-Soviet relations, using any means - "diplomatic language, a baseball bat, or whatever he considered appropriate."

During negotiations with Stalin, deep differences between the two sides in their views on the post-war fate of Europe were revealed. The stumbling block was the Soviet concept of national security, which required the creation of “friendly” regimes along the western border of the USSR and “free hands” in Eastern Europe, especially in Poland. Despite this, Hopkins brought the negotiations to an end: contradictions regarding the voting procedure in the UN Security Council were eliminated, and the dates for the conference in Potsdam were determined.

Hopkins's negotiations with Stalin “breathed new life into the Yalta spirit,” notes historian D. Mac Jimsey. In the summer of 1945, the results of the mission to Moscow were considered an undoubted success. This was Hopkins's last diplomatic victory. On July 2, 1945, he finally said goodbye to public service.

Even in the fall of 1945, Harry was a strong proponent of cooperative diplomacy. At the same time, Hopkins could not hide his concern about the future of Poland. Neither the Potsdam Conference nor subsequent events dispelled his fears.

Harry Lloyd Hopkins died on January 29, 1946, aged 55. His son Robert, meeting with Truman shortly after the funeral, said: “You know, the only thing that could have saved him from death was your decision to send him somewhere on a foreign mission.”

Hopkins Harry

Assistant to Franklin Roosevelt, who served as US President from 1933 to 1945.

Churchill, in his memoirs, called Harry Hopkins an extraordinary person who played a large and sometimes decisive role in the entire course of the Second World War. Stalin said about Hopkins that he was the only American who pleased him. Meanwhile, the name of this wonderful man is almost forgotten today.

Today in school textbooks you can read about how wonderful US President Franklin Roosevelt was. He not only pulled the American economy out of the abyss of the Great Depression, but also made a great contribution to the defeat of Nazi Germany. All this is true, but school textbooks do not mention one of them outstanding people XX century Harry Hopkins. Meanwhile, without this man, Roosevelt would not have even become president of the United States.

Start political activity Franklin Roosevelt was unusually unsuccessful. In 1920 the convention democratic party nominated the 28-year-old politician as a candidate for the post of Vice President of the United States, and Roosevelt actively joined the fight. In his numerous speeches he said very correct words:

– “We are against the influence of money on politics, we are against the control of private individuals over the finances of the state, we are against treating a person as a commodity, we are against hunger wages, we are against the power of groups and cliques.” But voters didn't believe him. They thought that this polished dandy knew nothing and didn’t want to know about life ordinary Americans. And they had every reason to think so - Franklin had never even taken public transport. Voters also suspected that Roosevelt himself belonged to the groups and cliques that made the government work. And they were right about this too: having failed in the elections, the young politician got a well-paid position in a large financial corporation.

Another loss would mean for Roosevelt end of his political career. The Democratic Party already had a clear opinion about him: "First-class temperament, but second-class intelligence." Moreover, in August 1921, after swimming in cold water his legs gave out. It was only out of a sense of compassion for Roosevelt that in 1928, fellow party members helped him take the post of governor of New York State, and the victory was won by a small margin - 25 thousand votes. And a year later - on “Black Thursday” all The US economy began to go downhill. It is clear that it was the governors who were blamed for everything. Under these conditions, Roosevelt, contrary to expectations, brilliantly won the new elections - his margin over his closest Republican rival was 725 thousand votes, an increase of 29 times in two years.

Roosevelt owed this success meeting a man whose name was Harry Lloyd Hopkins. He was born on August 17, 1890 in Sioux City, Iowa, in a very poor family. Having successfully completed school and college, Harry achieved remarkable success in business, but in 1917, after the United States entered the First World War, he gave up everything and voluntarily came to the recruiting station. He was not accepted into the army due to health reasons, but in return he was offered to work for the Red Cross organization. Hopkins happily agreed and a year later he was head of all Red Cross organizations in the southeastern states of America. Later he headed the association to improve the living conditions of the poor and became Managing Director New York Tuberculosis Association. He was distinguished not only by his deep intelligence and phenomenal performance, but also by something more important - innate sense of justice, which forced him to help others, those who need help. At the same time, he was a very cheerful and witty person, an inveterate theatergoer and sports fan.

In August 1931, Governor Roosevelt created a temporary emergency relief administration. Similar commissions were created in other states, but it so happened that the funds allocated to assist the poor were almost entirely spent on the maintenance of these commissions themselves. The unemployed received no more than $3 a month. But in New York State, Harry Hopkins was appointed head of the relief administration, who directed all the funds to organize public works. "People,- he instructed his employees, “They want to eat every day!” Everyone who participated in public works received $23 a month (at modern exchange rates more than $500), which helped hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers get through difficult times. By the way, Hopkins himself refused the salary due to him. In the first, most difficult years of the Great Depression for Americans, the state of New York, thanks to the efforts of Harry Hopkins, found itself the most prosperous state of America. Naturally, in the 1933 presidential election, the governor of this state, Franklin Roosevelt won with an overwhelming advantage, becoming the 32nd President of the United States. The Emergency Federal Relief Commission (later transformed into the Civil Works Administration) was headed, of course, by Harry Hopkins. The number of unemployed throughout the country by that time had reached 17 million people, and 2.5 million were left homeless. Hopkins Commission for six years of work achieved fantastic success. A total of 122,000 were built public buildings, 664,000 miles of new roads, 77,000 bridges and 285 airports. TO public works managed to attract over 8.5 million people. The most amazing thing is that the staff of this federal service consisted of only 121 employees, and, as a rule, retired military personnel. Only they could work at the frantic pace at which Hopkins worked, and only they were as incorruptible and selfless, like him. As for Roosevelt, he won the dubious reputation of an incompetent administrator by increasing the army of government employees from 600 thousand to 1.8 million people. It is now believed that, following the recommendations of highbrow experts from Harvard University, Roosevelt brought the US economy out of crisis. Nothing of the kind. It has long been noted that Experts with advanced degrees know nothing about the real economy. In the spring of 1938, during Roosevelt's second presidential term, the US economy began to tank again. Accordingly, his election for a third term became more than problematic. Decisive role in Roosevelt's victory Hopkins' support played a role, whose popularity throughout the country was then fantastic. By the way, Hopkins himself invariably refused offers to occupy a chair in the Oval Office of the White House. He openly despised politics. It is Hopkins who owns the famous aphorism: “Don’t go into politics if you have skin thinner than a rhinoceros.”

In 1938, Harry Hopkins was appointed Minister of Commerce. People who knew him assumed that he had some promising project in mind, and they were right. This was the Lend-Lease program (from lend - to lend, lease - to rent), which subsequently brought the US economy out of a permanent crisis. It seems that Hopkins already knew then that a big war would soon break out. On September 1, 1939, the telephone rang in Roosevelt's office.

Only in March 1941 did Hopkins manage to convince the President and Congress help Great Britain. This was preceded by lengthy negotiations that he conducted with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. During these negotiations, such a trusting relationship developed between them that Hopkins was given the right to contact Churchill by name. In addition to family members and several close friends of the English Prime Minister, Only the queen had this right. Later in his memoirs, Churchill wrote about Harry Hopkins: “In his fragile and sickly body a passionate soul burned. I always enjoyed his company, especially when things got tough. Sometimes he could be very unpleasant and say harsh and bitter words. My life’s experience has taught me to do the same if necessary.” But if it was so difficult to organize supplies military equipment and materials to Great Britain, it was almost impossible to open a Lend-Lease program in relation to the USSR. Future President USA Truman stated on June 24, 1941: “If we see that Germany is winning, we must help Russia, and if Russia wins, we must help Germany, and let them kill each other as much as possible in this way.” As for the capabilities of the USSR to resist the aggressor, they clearly underestimated. The Secretary of War prepared a report for Roosevelt in which he convincingly proved that “Germany will be thoroughly occupied for at least a month, and at most three months, with the task of defeating Russia.” And US Navy Secretary Knox even made a bet, claiming that by September 1941 the Germans would take Leningrad and Moscow. In other words, the Americans believed that the USSR was doomed and could no longer be helped.

Who decided to check this on the spot? Harry Hopkins, who had just undergone surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in his stomach and had to follow a strict diet and take medication every hour. Hopkins arrived in Moscow on July 1941. He spent most of the day's flight in the tail compartment of the plane in the machine gunner's iron chair. After negotiations with Stalin, Hopkins reported to Roosevelt: “I'm very confident on that front. There is a strong determination to win in Russia.” He also brought to the USA list of weapons and materials, necessary for the USSR in the first place. But Hopkins did not stop there. Being the administrator of the Lend-Lease program, he, through Churchill sent the first convoy to Arkhangelsk already at the end of August, although the agreement on the supply of weapons and materials to the USSR was signed only in November.

Now there is an opinion that the Americans have warmed their hands well with the Lend-Lease program. This is true. After the war, the Soviet Union was exposed account for $900 million, however, with payment in installments. It is also true that this program, even before Pearl Harbor, gave powerful push development of the US economy. Already by 1942, this country, increasing the pace and volume of production, not only overcame unemployment, but even faced the problem shortage of labor. What happened was exactly what Hopkins had planned back in 1938, when he volunteered to head the Department of Commerce. But during the implementation of this program he gained many influential enemies. Hopkins could easily make a decent fortune by quietly placing Lend-Lease orders through trusted companies and receiving millions in kickbacks for it. Many people did this, but not him. Lend-Lease orders were placed exclusively on open competitions, and Hopkins was not interested in anything except the price, quality and delivery time of goods. In retaliation he was even dubbed "Jumping Harry"(Harry the Hop), hinting not only at his temperament, but also at his career "from rags to riches."

But Lend-Lease was, of course, a great help for the USSR. Suffice it to say that it was American every seventh Red Army aircraft, every third ton of aviation gasoline, every second car. They also played a significant role food supplies. In any case, at the Yalta Conference Stalin announced that “Lend-Lease made an extraordinary contribution to the victory” and what without it “victory would have been different.” Later it turned out that Stalin was not exaggerating at all. There is information that Hopkins passed on production secrets atomic bomb and the materials necessary for this not only in Great Britain, but also in the USSR, complaining in a letter to Mikoyan: "It was damn hard to get it all from Groves(Director of American nuclear project)". If this is true, then World War III was prevented by none other than Harry Hopkins.

He also owns project for the post-war structure of Europe. Hopkins participated in the preparation of all international conferences with the participation of leaders of the anti-Hitler coalition. Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill treated each other with poorly concealed mistrust, but they completely trusted Harry Hopkins. By the way, before the Yalta Conference he had to persuade not so much the leaders of the USSR and Great Britain, but the US President, who was building Napoleonic plans for the repartition of Europe, including the creation of a state that never existed Wallonia. Maybe Roosevelt was not as great as he is now portrayed? No, this was a truly great president. As is known, Smart managers select subordinates who are even smarter, and stupid managers select those who are even dumber. Franklin Roosevelt not only recruited a clumsy man with the funny surname Hopkins, but also gave him freedom of action, invariably protecting him from attacks from numerous enemies. After Roosevelt's death in April 1945, these people unleashed open persecution of Harry Hopkins and drove him to his grave within six months.

Biography:

Hopkins Harry Lloyd (17.8.1890, Sioux City, Iowa - 29.1.1946, New York), US statesman. In 1938-40 Minister of Trade. During World War II 1939-45, advisor and special assistant to President F. Roosevelt. In the summer of 1941 he conducted negotiations in Moscow on issues of coordination of actions in the war with Nazi Germany, who contributed to the convening of the Moscow Conference of 1941 (September 29 – October 1). He was a member of the US delegation at the Tehran Conference of 1943 and the Crimean Conference of 1945, and also accompanied F. Roosevelt to the Quebec and Cairo Conferences of 1943. In May - June 1945, he negotiated in Moscow with the government of the USSR, in particular on the preparation of the Potsdam Conference of 1945. From July In 1945 he retired from political activity.