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Rexford Guy Tugwell

レックスフォード・ガイ・タグウェル

Rekkusufōdo Gai Taguwēru

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1891-07-10 （Sinclairville, New York, United States）
Died
1979-07-21 （Santa Barbara, California, United States） age 88
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Sinclairville, New York (birthplace) → New York City (Columbia University, etc.) → Greenbelt, Maryland (Resettlement Administration project) → Chicago (University of Chicago) → Santa Barbara, California (later-life residence) → San Juan, Puerto Rico (during governorship)

Career

Occupations
economist, academic, public administrator, author
Active Years
1915-1979
Affiliations
Columbia University, University of Washington (junior faculty), American University in Paris, University of Chicago, University of California, Santa Barbara, United States Department of Agriculture (senior positions), Resettlement Administration (founder/administrator), New York City Planning Commission (chair)
Influenced By
Upton Sinclair, John Dewey, Scott Nearing, Simon Patten, Frederick Winslow Taylor, Charles Richard van Hise
Influenced
New Deal policymakers and urban planners, Planners and politicians in Puerto Rico and Latin America (e.g., Luis Muñoz Marín), Scholars and practitioners advocating public economic planning

Education

The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Country: United States
Undergraduate/early graduate study in economics (details unclear)
Columbia University
Graduate studies in economics
Degree: Ph.D. (博士号、取得年不明)
Country: United States
Completed doctoral work at Columbia and taught there in the 1920s–1930s

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Stricken Land: The Story of Puerto Rico

1947 memoir / political commentary

A memoir recounting his governorship of Puerto Rico, policies implemented there, and issues of planning and administration.

colonial administrationurban and regional planningpublic policy

FDR: An Architect of an Era

1967 biography / political history

A biography analyzing Franklin D. Roosevelt's political role and the policies of the New Deal era.

presidential politicsthe New Dealpolicy analysis

The Brains Trust

1968 memoir / political commentary

Memoirs of his experience in Roosevelt's 'Brain Trust' and reflections on policy formation.

administrative advisingpolicy formationrole of intellectuals

The Light of Other Days

1962 autobiographical essays

A collection of essays reflecting on his life and public service.

remembrancepoliticsplanning ideas

Bibliography

  • The Economic Basis of Public Interest (1922)
  • Industry's Coming of Age (1927)
  • Mr. Hoover's Economic Policy (1932)
  • The Industrial Discipline and the Governmental Arts (1933)
  • The Battle for Democracy (1935)
  • The Stricken Land (1947)
  • A Chronicle of Jeopardy (1955)
  • The Democratic Roosevelt (1957)
  • The Light of Other Days (1962)
  • FDR: An Architect of an Era (1967)
  • The Brains Trust (1968)
  • Grover Cleveland (1968)
  • In Search of Roosevelt (1972)
  • The Emerging Constitution (1974)

Adaptations

  • Portrayed briefly in the film 'Mank' (2020)
  • Mentioned/fictionalized in Philip K. Dick's 'The Man in the High Castle'

Style & Themes

Literary Style
policy-oriented, empirical proseclear, explanatory memoir-style writing
Recurring Motifs
planning (economic and urban)experimental public policyagricultural issues and soil conservation

Legacy

Tugwell was a key New Deal policymaker who advocated strong public planning in agriculture and urban development. Controversial in his time, he pushed the debate on government-led planning forward.

Museums

  • Tugwell Room, Greenbelt Library Greenbelt, Maryland, United States

Academic Societies

  • American Economic Association (associated)

Archives

  • Papers and related materials held in Greenbelt Library special collections and other archives

In Popular Culture

  • Appears in the film 'Mank'
  • Referenced as an alternate-history political figure in Philip K. Dick's novel

Quotes

  • "My idea is to go just outside centers of population, pick up cheap land, build a whole community and entice people into it. Then go back into the cities and tear down whole slums and make parks of them."
    Source: Quoted in Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (as a quotation attributed to Tugwell) (1961)

Trivia

  • Served as Governor of Puerto Rico from 1941 to 1946 (the last U.S.-appointed non-Puerto Rican governor).
  • Known as a member of Roosevelt's 'Brain Trust' during the New Deal.
  • Was derided as "Rex the Red" and faced strong criticism for his planning-oriented policies.