A staunch conservationist and avid New Dealer, Ickes was a champion of the National Park Service and a fierce opponent of corruption who earned the nickname "Honest Harold." But perhaps his greatest role assumed while Interior Secretary was as head of the Public Works Administration, a multibillion-dollar enterprise that created millions of jobs by funding construction projects ranging from bridges and highways to dams and airports. The government gene was apparently passed on Ickes' son, Harold M. Ickes, is a veteran Democratic strategist and former deputy White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton.
Top 10 Best Cabinet Members
As the President-elect and his transition team think about whom to tap for top jobs in the Obama Administration, TIME looks back on a group of 20th-century Cabinet members who distinguished their offices