An Opportunity Lost: The Truman Administration And the Farm Policy Debate.

Harry 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.