Julius Albert Krug (November 23, 1907March 26, 1970) was a politician who served as the United States Secretary of the Interior for the administration of President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

from 1946 until 1949.

Early life and education

Krug was born November 23, 1907, in Madison, Wisconsin, to son of Julius J. Krug (1877–1971) and the former Emma M. Korfmacher (1877–1949). Krug graduated from what is now the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1929.

Career

His first notable jobs were with the Tennessee Valley Authority, where he started working as chief power engineer in 1938, and then manager of power in 1940. In 1941, Krug was promoted to chief of the power branch of the Office of Production Management. After the beginning of World War II, this office became the War Production Board. Krug was promoted to director of the

Office of War Utilities An office is a space where an Organization, organization's employees perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize objects and Goals, plans, action theory, goals of the organizati ...

in 1943. In April 1944, Krug enlisted in the United States Navy. He was recalled that August to serve as chairman of the War Production Board, where he served until the board's dissolution in November 1945.

Secretary of the Interior

President Truman nominated Krug for the position of Secretary of the Interior on February 26, and he assumed office on March 18, 1946. As Secretary, Krug opposed lumber companies' efforts to gain logging rights to huge forests in Washington state, and opposed the building of unnecessary dams. As the administrator of coal mines in the United States, he led failed negotiations between

John L. Lewis John Llewellyn Lewis (February 12, 1880 – June 11, 1969) was an American leader of organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) from 1920 to 1960. A major player in the history of coal mining, he was the d ...

and mine owners in an attempt to end a nationwide strike by the

United Mine Workers of America The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American Labor history of the United States, labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing worke ...

. In 1948, Krug signed a contract whereby the tribe living at the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota was forced to sell 155,000 acres of its land for the Garrison Dam and reservoir project in New Town, North Dakota. The reservoir flooded one-quarter of the reservation, destroying the tribal headquarters, the hospital, and 154,000 acres of fertile farm land. George Gillette, chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, commented in 1948: In August 1949, Krug chaired the 19-member United States Citizens Committee that participated in the United Nations Scientific Conference on Conservation and Utilization of Resources, held at Lake Success, New York. Other members of the committee included Herbert Hoover, Thomas Watson,

Howard E. Babcock Howard Edward Babcock (February 23, 1889 – July 12, 1950) was the chairman of Cornell Board of Trustees from 1940 to 1947. He served on the Federal Farm Board as well as on the board of the Central Bank for Cooperatives. He was co-president of th ...

, and

Randolph Greene Pack Randolph Greene Pack (1890 in Cleveland, Ohio – December 25, 1956 in Greenwich, Connecticut), was an American philanthropist. Early life and education Randolph Greene Pack, son of Charles Lathrop Pack, grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, at the tur ...

Later career

Krug resigned from the cabinet effective on December 1, 1949, and he moved on to the private industry as a utilities consultant in Washington. He also served as the chairman of the board of

Brookside Mills Brookside Mills was a textile manufacturing company that operated in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The company's Second Creek factory was the city's largest employer in the early 1900s.East Tennes ...

, and a cofounded the

Volunteer Asphalt Company Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others se ...

in the Knoxville, Tennessee.

Personal life

Krug died in Knoxville, Tennessee on March 26, 1970, at the age of 62, and is interred at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. He and his wife, Margaret Catherine Dean, had two children; a daughter, Marilyn Krug Grether, and a son, James Allen Krug.

Popular culture

Krug's affair with Edith Bouvier Beale of Grey Gardens fame is portrayed in the HBO original film Grey Gardens (2009).

Gallery

Photograph of Secretary of the Interior Julius Krug delivering an address at the dedication of Franklin D.... - NARA - 199357.jpg, Krug at the dedication of Franklin D. Roosevelt's home as a national shrine, 1946 Photograph of President Truman with his Cabinet and other top advisors, in the Cabinet Room at the White House... - NARA - 200084.jpg, Krug (right) with Truman's cabinet, 1949 Harry Truman at Everglades National Park.jpg, With Truman at the dedication of Everglades National Park, 1947 1400 29th Street NW.jpg, Krug's former house in Washington, D.C.

Media

Krug is portrayed by actor Daniel Baldwin in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

original film '' Grey Gardens'' (2009).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Krug, Julius A. 1907 births 1970 deaths Politicians from Madison, Wisconsin Military personnel from Wisconsin United States Navy personnel of World War II Burials at Arlington National Cemetery United States Secretaries of the Interior University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Truman administration cabinet members 20th-century American politicians