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Why Frances Perkins is so important to U.S. history

We here at The Last Word would like to remind you of the role Frances Perkins played in Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, especially in the creation of Social
Frances Perkins
American social reformer and politician Frances Perkins, the Secretary of Labour in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's cabinet, aboard US liner Washington on arrival at Plymouth, bound for a conference in Geneva.
By Nikki Egan, Nikki Egan

If you’ve been catching up with “The Roosevelts,” Ken Burns’ new documentary series about Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt, you probably spotted a Last Word “regular” in it by the name of Frances Perkins, Franklin Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor and the first woman ever to serve in a president’s cabinet.

We here at The Last Word would like to remind you of the role Frances Perkins played in Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, especially in the creation of Social Security.  Here’s a look back at Lawrence’s Rewrites on Frances Perkins.