Career
In 1933, Weaver worked as an aide to United States Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. Near the beginning of his career, but with a reputation for knowledge about housing issues, the young Weaver was appointed to a position in the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration in 1934, becoming one of his Black Cabinet. Roosevelt appointed a total of 45 prominent blacks to positions in executive agencies, and called on them as informal advisers on issues related to African Americans, the Great Depression and the New Deal.
Weaver had numerous public policy positions, in between stints in academia. He was appointed state rent commissioner (1955–1959) under Governor W. Averell Harriman, becoming the first black State Cabinet member in New York. He was then named to New York City's Housing and Redevelopment Board. Next, he was recruited by newly elected president John F. Kennedy.
Read more about this topic: Robert C. Weaver
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