Born in 1891, he was a longtime government official.
After serving as High Commissioner to the Philippines, he was appointed in 1939 as Federal Security Administrator, with administrative control over the Civilian Conservation Corps, the National Youth Administration, the Office of Education, the National Public Health Service, the Social Security Board and Employment Service.
In 1940, he was appointed coordinator of all health, medical, welfare, nutrition, recreation and related activirties affecting the national defense. When the Office of Defense, Health and Welfare Services was established in 1941, he was named its Director.
In 1942-45, he was Chairman of the War Manpower Commission, designed to insure the availability of manpower for war production. After the war, he returned to the Philippines as High Commissioner and Ambassador the the Philippines. He was often mentioned as a possible Presidential candidate, but was never nominated.
He died in New York City on March 25, 1955 and was buried in Section 2 of Arlington National Cemetery.
Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard