Anna M. Rosenberg - Biography

Anna Marie Rosenberg, (June 19, 1902 – May 9, 1983), later Anna Rosenberg Hoffman, was a public official and businesswoman.

Born in Budapest, Anna Lederer immigrated with her family to the US in 1912. In 1919 she married Julius Rosenberg, a Jewish American member of the upper class (not to be confused with nuclear spy Julius Rosenberg). During World War II, she served in numerous government positions including regional director of the War Manpower Commission from 1942 to 1945. She ran a consulting business, with customers that included large businesses and public figures. She was awarded the Medal of Freedom in 1945, and was the first woman recipient of the Medal for Merit in 1947. In late 1950, she was nominated for assistant Secretary of Defense. Joseph McCarthy and his staff launched an all-out campaign to discredit her, but it later fell apart, and she was recommended by the Senate Armed Services Committee. In spite of all opposition, in November 1950 she was named assistant Secretary of Defense, a post she held until January 1953.

In 1962 the Rosenbergs divorced and she married Paul G. Hoffman, the first administrator of the Marshall Plan and a top United Nations official.