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218 8 Sherwood and Roosevelt Robert Sherwood had to play an active role in World War II because, like some interwar pacifists, he believed that his support of selfprotective isolationism and neutrality had contributed to its cause. He blamed himself for aiding in the breakdown of what he termed “civilization” and the return to “the apes” by using his role as a playwright and screenwriter to sway public opinion. Therefore, he was guilty of “peace monomania” (a term the dramatist Paul Green coined in his 1936 antiwar play Johnny Johnson) and was culpable for the rise of fascism, tyranny, unchecked imperialism, and crimes against humanity.¹ “My attempts at that time to express my pacifism far and wide in my writings,” he revealed in 1954 to a group of schoolchildren at his alma mater, Milton Academy, “were naive and futile, as it turned out,” and directly resulted in aiding “the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany, the militaristic caste in Japan, the Fascists in Italy, and Stalin’s ruthless mobilization of the Soviet Union.” In other words, for Bob, “it turned out that all the pacifist activities had contributed materially to making a Second World War inevitable, and to reducing democracy’s chances for survival in such a war.”² Bob’s disparaging comments about the well-meaning efforts which had resulted in the creation of the League of Nations, the World Court, the Kellogg-Briand Pact, and various treaties illustrate a deep internalization of his sense of powerlessness. His own actions had not helped to stave off war; therefore, he was to blame for the war. To make up for his perceived grave error, he now had to work to undo the damage. Writing plays seemed a good way to disseminate his changing beliefs, but with his productivity curtailed by a combination of physical deterioration, emotional upheaval, and creative burnout, he had to find some other path. As one of the most respected playwrights of the day, he decided to use his reputation and the contacts he had made over the years to reach President Franklin D. Roosevelt in order to persuade him to adopt a more interventionist stance, and to offer his own assistance in this effort. In September 1938 Bob and Madeline spent a weekend at the Long Island estate of Herbert and Margaret Swope, where he was introduced to Roosevelt’s trusted adviser Harry Hopkins. Although Bob got the impression that Hopkins was “profoundly shrewd and faintly ominous,” he was attracted Sherwood and Roosevelt 219 by his close relationship to the president.³ For Roosevelt, Hopkins was an insightful, intelligent, trusted worker—a New Dealer of the highest order and a very good friend. This frail, sickly man, just six years older than Bob, had dedicated his life to public service, working for such New York City agencies as the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, the Bureau of Child Welfare, and the New York Tuberculosis Association. He had met Roosevelt in 1928 during the latter’s successful run for governor of New York State and joined his administration, heading the first state relief effort in the nation, the Temporary Emergency Relief Administration. After Roosevelt was elected president, he invited Hopkins to join him in Washington, where he supervised the work of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the Civil Works Administration (CWA), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). He also created the National Youth Administration and supported the creation of both the Federal Writers and Federal Theatre projects. Though never elected to any public office, Hopkins was indeed a key figure in U.S. domestic and then international politics. Bob came to understand and like him for their shared evolution from pacifism and isolationism to support for some type of intervention and their devotion to Roosevelt. Despite his initial reservations about Hopkins, Bob cultivated a relationship with him. When Abe Lincoln in Illinois opened in Washington, D.C., in October 1938, he invited Hopkins to a performance; in return, the president’s adviser personally escorted Bob, Madeline, Elmer Rice, and Raymond Massey around the White House, making sure to show them Lincoln’s bedroom. Over the next year or so, Bob kept up intermittent contact with Hopkins, inviting him in October 1939 to the Washington opening of Madam, Will You Walk, Sidney Howard’s posthumously produced play. In December he arranged for the film of Abe Lincoln in Illinois to be shown at the White House for...

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