(2 of 6)
To the milder among his opponents, he is a latter-day Richelieu, moving suavely and powerfully behind the scenes, establishing his own court favorites or giving the knife to those fallen from grace. Extreme critics have pictured him as a kind of Svengali, whose sinister influence covers sinister designs on the President and the country. Others say he is a man of no principles who simply acts through (and hides behind) his idolized principal, the President.
The Inner Circle. Actually, there is not much mystery about what Hopkins does, although there is plenty about how he does it. In the broadest terms, he works on whatever happens to be uppermost in Franklin Roosevelt's mind at the time—usually the most pressing immediate problem before the Administration. The minute such a problem is superseded in importance by another, Hopkins drops it and moves on to the next.
Those who know the details of what Hopkins does form a small circle indeed—Generals Marshall and Arnold, Admirals King and Leahy, Cabinet Members Stimson, Forrestal and Stettinius, and, of course, the President—men not given to idle chatter. On many a problem, the fine line of just where the President leaves off and Hopkins takes up is a matter privy to them alone, and public knowledge of it must await their memoirs, which Hopkins—being the kind of man he is—will probably never write. Said one eminent Washingtonian who has often worked with Hopkins : "The people who dislike Hopkins are the people who like order."
Hopkins can more nearly, and possibly more fairly, be compared to Woodrow Wilson's Colonel House. Like House, Hopkins has been the eyes and ears of a war-time President, roaming the world, attending all the top conferences—Atlantic Charter, Casablanca, Cairo, Teheran and the two Quebecs. But there is a difference. William Allen White said of House: "His daily prayer was, 'Give us this day our daily compromise.'" Hopkins has more imagination, more drive, and, despite his fealty to the President, an innate stubbornness. There is another minor difference: House sought, created and finally landed his job of Presidential agent; Hopkins more or less drifted into it.
The Signals. No matter how he got there, Hopkins' authority and power in Washington stem solely from the position he holds. Said one Cabinet member: "When Tommy Corcoran was in power and would telephone someone to get something done, that person never really knew whether it was something the President wanted or something which merely interested Thomas Gardner Corcoran. When Hopkins telephones, the man on the other end knows damn well that it's something the President wants." Hopkins' 1000% loyalty to the President is deplored by many but questioned by no one. Yet there were other loyal New Dealers who fell by the wayside.
Explaining his success not long ago, Hopkins said: "You must recognize that the most important thing in dealing with the President is to understand his signal system. With ordinary people you listen to what they say, watch their lips maybe. But with the President, you've got to pay attention to his eyebrows. They're his signals. They're more important than what he says with his mouth. The reason I've stayed with the President so long is that I understand his signals."