The Boondoggles Were Always Somewhere Else

(Harry Hopkins, head of the WPA. Image courtesy of the Social Security Administration and the National Archives.)

Critics of job programs like the CWA and WPA often complained (whined) about the projects being too expensive, poorly done, or unneeded. Addressing these types of complaints, Harry Hopkins wrote:

"There is a curious thing about these operations which have been dotting the landscape of the United States for the past three years. Although they are attacked constantly in the newspapers, people who visit them report that workers, public officials and citizens alike exhibit strong pride in them. Derision is reserved for projects elsewhere that they have never seen."  

--From the book Spending to Save: The Complete Story of Relief, 1936. 

Indeed, New Deal work & construction projects have been vindicated by their continued usage over the past three quarters of a century. Visit the Living New Deal map to see thousands of New Deal creations that we are still utilizing and enjoying today.