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OverviewHarry Truman's 'Fair Deal' domestic policy agenda promised to continue Roosevelt's New Deal and, with some modification for postwar realities, to guide America into a new age of peace and prosperity. Agricultural policy was a cornerstone of this program, as it attempted to transform the farm program from the parity price foundation crafted by FDR to one based on income support through direct payment to farmers. Virgil W. Dean takes a new look at the much-heralded 'Brannan Plan' to examine in detail the farm policy dilemma and Truman's quest for a long-range agricultural program that would confront the problems of an industry in the midst of a technological revolution - one in which regional and commodity-based differences only served to complicate any solution. He assesses Truman's relationships with the farming community and with politicians of both parties and analyzes the complex problems facing those concerned about the welfare of the American farm, focusing on their search for a workable peacetime program - especially as it related to price supports - and their failure to come to terms with the issues. Dean describes how supporters of the Brannan Plan recognized its promise of social and economic equity while opponents feared excessive government spending, creeping socialism, and the regimentation of agriculture. He also tells how agriculture secretary Charles Brannan interjected partisan politics to an unprecedented degree in policy making - and how Truman used agricultural policy against the Republicans in the 1948 election by creating an issue with little basis in fact. As Dean shows, the failure of Truman's efforts meant that the nation lost an opportunity to effect a much-needed change in agricultural policy, yet the issues raised remained at the heart of the farm policy debate for decades to come - with 'direct income' morphing into 'deficiency payments' to satisfy farmers not wanting to appear to be on welfare. An Opportunity Lost makes a major contribution to our understanding of the Truman administration's political activities at a time when the agricultural community had a strong voice in the formulation of domestic policy, and it casts new light on the overall fate of the Fair Deal. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Virgil DeanPublisher: University of Missouri Press Imprint: University of Missouri Press Dimensions: Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.70cm , Length: 22.90cm Weight: 0.580kg ISBN: 9780826216502ISBN 10: 0826216501 Pages: 296 Publication Date: 01 April 2006 Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate , Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: Awaiting stock  The supplier is currently out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out for you. Table of ContentsReviewsAn Opportunity Lost is well-written, solidly researched, and cogently argued. . . . Dean has given astute, perceptive analysis to an often tangled and always difficult aspect of domestic policy, the farm program. <br>--R. Douglas Hurt Author InformationVirgil W. Dean is editor of Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains and of Territorial Kansas Reader. He is Director for Publications at the Kansas State Historical Society and lives in Lawrence, Kansas. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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