Wallace, Henry A.

From New World Encyclopedia
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{{Infobox_Vice_President | name=Henry A. Wallace
 
{{Infobox_Vice_President | name=Henry A. Wallace
 
| nationality=American
 
| nationality=American
 
| image=Henry A. Wallace.jpg|200px|none|Henry A. Wallace
 
| image=Henry A. Wallace.jpg|200px|none|Henry A. Wallace
 
| order=33<sup>rd</sup> [[Vice President of the United States]]
 
| order=33<sup>rd</sup> [[Vice President of the United States]]
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| term_start=[[January 20]], [[1941]]
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| term_start=January 20, 1941
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| term_end=[[January 20]], [[1945]]
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| term_end=January 20, 1945
 
| predecessor=[[John N. Garner]]
 
| predecessor=[[John N. Garner]]
 
| successor=[[Harry S. Truman]]
 
| successor=[[Harry S. Truman]]
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| president=[[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
 
| president=[[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
 
| order2=11<sup>th</sup> [[United States Secretary of Agriculture]]
 
| order2=11<sup>th</sup> [[United States Secretary of Agriculture]]
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| term_start2=[[March 4]], [[1933]]
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| term_start2=March 4, 1933
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| term_end2=[[September 4]], [[1940]]
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| term_end2=September 4, 1940
 
| president2=[[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
 
| president2=[[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
 
| predecessor2=[[Arthur M. Hyde]]
 
| predecessor2=[[Arthur M. Hyde]]
 
| successor2=[[Claude R. Wickard]]
 
| successor2=[[Claude R. Wickard]]
 
| order3=10<sup>th</sup> [[United States Secretary of Commerce]]
 
| order3=10<sup>th</sup> [[United States Secretary of Commerce]]
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| term_start3=[[March 2]], [[1945]]
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| term_start3=March 2, 1945
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| term_end3=[[September 20]], [[1946]]
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| term_end3=September 20, 1946
 
| president3=[[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], [[Harry S. Truman]]
 
| president3=[[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], [[Harry S. Truman]]
 
| predecessor3=[[Jesse Holman Jones]]
 
| predecessor3=[[Jesse Holman Jones]]
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}}
 
}}
  
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'''Henry Agard Wallace''' ([[October 7]], [[1888]] &ndash; [[November 18]], [[1965]]) was the thirty-third [[Vice President of the United States]] (1941&ndash;45), the eleventh [[United States Secretary of Agriculture|Secretary of Agriculture]] (1933&ndash;40), and the tenth [[United States Secretary of Commerce|Secretary of Commerce]] (1945&ndash;46). In [[U.S. presidential election, 1948|the 1948 presidential election]], Wallace was the nominee of the [[Progressive Party 1948 (United States)|Progressive Party]].
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'''Henry Agard Wallace''' (October 7, 1888 – November 18, 1965) was the thirty-third [[Vice President of the United States]] (1941–45), the eleventh [[United States Secretary of Agriculture|Secretary of Agriculture]] (1933–40), and the tenth [[United States Secretary of Commerce|Secretary of Commerce]] (1945–46). In [[U.S. presidential election, 1948|the 1948 presidential election]], Wallace was the nominee of the [[Progressive Party 1948 (United States)|Progressive Party]].
  
 
==Early life==
 
==Early life==
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Wallace was born on a farm near [[Orient, Iowa|Orient]], [[Adair County, Iowa]], and graduated from [[Iowa State University| Iowa State College]] at [[Ames, Iowa|Ames]] in [[1910]], where he was a brother in the [[Delta Tau Delta]] fraternity. His father was  [[Henry Cantwell Wallace]]. He worked on the editorial staff of ''Wallace's Farmer'' in [[Des Moines, Iowa]], from [[1910]] to [[1924]] and edited the publication from 1924 to [[1929]]. He experimented with breeding high-yielding strains of [[maize|corn]] (maize), and authored many publications on agriculture. In [[1915]] he devised the first corn-[[Hog (swine)|hog]] ratio charts indicating the probable course of markets. With a small inheritance that had been left to his wife, the former [[Ilo Wallace|Ilo Browne]], whom he married in 1914, Wallace founded Hi-Bred Corn, which later became [[Pioneer Hi-Bred]], a major agriculture corporation.
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Wallace was born on a farm near [[Orient, Iowa|Orient]], [[Adair County, Iowa]], and graduated from [[Iowa State University| Iowa State College]] at [[Ames, Iowa|Ames]] in 1910, where he was a brother in the [[Delta Tau Delta]] fraternity. His father was  [[Henry Cantwell Wallace]]. He worked on the editorial staff of ''Wallace's Farmer'' in [[Des Moines, Iowa]], from 1910 to 1924 and edited the publication from 1924 to 1929. He experimented with breeding high-yielding strains of [[maize|corn]] (maize), and authored many publications on agriculture. In 1915 he devised the first corn-[[Hog (swine)|hog]] ratio charts indicating the probable course of markets. With a small inheritance that had been left to his wife, the former [[Ilo Wallace|Ilo Browne]], whom he married in 1914, Wallace founded Hi-Bred Corn, which later became [[Pioneer Hi-Bred]], a major agriculture corporation.
  
 
Wallace was raised as a [[Presbyterian]], but left that denomination early in life. He spent most of his early life exploring other religious faiths and traditions. For many years, he had been closely associated with the Russian [[theosophism|theosophist]] [[Nicholas Roerich]]. Accordding to [[Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.]], "Wallace's search for inner light took him to strange prophets. ... It was in this search that he encountered Nicholas Roerich, a Russian emigre, painter, theosophist and con man. Wallace did Roerich a number of favors, including sending him on an expedition to Central Asia presumably to collect drought-resistant grasses. In due course, H.A. [Wallace] became disillusioned with Roerich and turned almost viciously against him." <ref name="Schles">http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/schlesinger_wallace_bio.html</ref> Wallace eventually settled on [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopalianism]].
 
Wallace was raised as a [[Presbyterian]], but left that denomination early in life. He spent most of his early life exploring other religious faiths and traditions. For many years, he had been closely associated with the Russian [[theosophism|theosophist]] [[Nicholas Roerich]]. Accordding to [[Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.]], "Wallace's search for inner light took him to strange prophets. ... It was in this search that he encountered Nicholas Roerich, a Russian emigre, painter, theosophist and con man. Wallace did Roerich a number of favors, including sending him on an expedition to Central Asia presumably to collect drought-resistant grasses. In due course, H.A. [Wallace] became disillusioned with Roerich and turned almost viciously against him." <ref name="Schles">http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/schlesinger_wallace_bio.html</ref> Wallace eventually settled on [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopalianism]].
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===Secretary of Agriculture===
 
===Secretary of Agriculture===
  
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In [[1933]], [[President of the United States|President]] [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] appointed Wallace [[United States Secretary of Agriculture]] in his [[United States Cabinet|Cabinet]], a post his father, [[Henry Cantwell Wallace]], had occupied from [[1921]] to [[1924]]. Wallace had been a [[liberal]] [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]], but he supported Roosevelt's [[New Deal]] and soon switched to the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. Wallace served as Secretary of Agriculture until September [[1940]], when he resigned, having been nominated for [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] as Roosevelt's running mate in the 1940 presidential election.
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In 1933, [[President of the United States|President]] [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] appointed Wallace [[United States Secretary of Agriculture]] in his [[United States Cabinet|Cabinet]], a post his father, [[Henry Cantwell Wallace]], had occupied from 1921 to 1924. Wallace had been a [[liberal]] [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]], but he supported Roosevelt's [[New Deal]] and soon switched to the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. Wallace served as Secretary of Agriculture until September 1940, when he resigned, having been nominated for [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] as Roosevelt's running mate in the 1940 presidential election.
  
 
===Vice President===
 
===Vice President===
 
During the [[U.S. presidential election, 1940|1940 presidential election]], a series of letters that Wallace had written in the 1930s to Russian mystic Nicholas Roerich was uncovered by the Republicans. Wallace addressed Roerich as "Dear [[Guru]]" and signed all of the letters as "G" for Galahad, the name Roerich had assigned him. Wallace assured Roerich that he awaited "the breaking of the New Day" when the people of "Northern Shambhalla" - a Buddhist term roughly equivalent to the kingdom of heaven - would create an era of peace and plenty. When asked about the letters, Wallace lied and dismissed them as forgeries. When the Republicans threatened to reveal his beliefs, the Democrats threatened to release information about Republican candidate [[Wendell Willkie]]'s [[adultery|extramarital]] affair.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/people/pw/Henry_Wallace.html</ref><ref name="Schles"/>  
 
During the [[U.S. presidential election, 1940|1940 presidential election]], a series of letters that Wallace had written in the 1930s to Russian mystic Nicholas Roerich was uncovered by the Republicans. Wallace addressed Roerich as "Dear [[Guru]]" and signed all of the letters as "G" for Galahad, the name Roerich had assigned him. Wallace assured Roerich that he awaited "the breaking of the New Day" when the people of "Northern Shambhalla" - a Buddhist term roughly equivalent to the kingdom of heaven - would create an era of peace and plenty. When asked about the letters, Wallace lied and dismissed them as forgeries. When the Republicans threatened to reveal his beliefs, the Democrats threatened to release information about Republican candidate [[Wendell Willkie]]'s [[adultery|extramarital]] affair.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/people/pw/Henry_Wallace.html</ref><ref name="Schles"/>  
  
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Wallace was elected in November 1940 as Vice President on the Democratic Party ticket with President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]. His inauguration took place on [[January 20]], [[1941]], for the term ending [[January 20]] [[1945]].  
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Wallace was elected in November 1940 as Vice President on the Democratic Party ticket with President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]. His inauguration took place on January 20, 1941, for the term ending January 20 1945.  
  
 
Roosevelt named Wallace chairman of the [[Board of Economic Warfare]] (BEW) and of the [[Supply Priorities and Allocations Board]] (SPAB) in 1941. Both positions became important with the U.S. entry into [[World War II]]. As he began to flex his newfound political muscle in his position with SPAB, Wallace came up against the conservative wing of the Democratic party in the form of [[Jesse H. Jones]], [[Secretary of Commerce]], as the two differed on how to handle wartime supplies.
 
Roosevelt named Wallace chairman of the [[Board of Economic Warfare]] (BEW) and of the [[Supply Priorities and Allocations Board]] (SPAB) in 1941. Both positions became important with the U.S. entry into [[World War II]]. As he began to flex his newfound political muscle in his position with SPAB, Wallace came up against the conservative wing of the Democratic party in the form of [[Jesse H. Jones]], [[Secretary of Commerce]], as the two differed on how to handle wartime supplies.
  
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On [[May 8]], [[1942]], Wallace delivered his most famous speech, which became known by the phrase "Century of the Common Man", to the [[Free World Association]] in [[New York City]]. This speech, grounded in Christian references, laid out a positive vision for the war beyond the simple defeat of the [[Nazis]]. The speech, and the book of the same name which appeared the following year, proved quite popular, but it earned him enemies among the Democratic leadership, among important allied leaders like [[Winston Churchill]], and among business leaders and conservatives.
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On May 8, 1942, Wallace delivered his most famous speech, which became known by the phrase "Century of the Common Man," to the [[Free World Association]] in [[New York City]]. This speech, grounded in Christian references, laid out a positive vision for the war beyond the simple defeat of the [[Nazis]]. The speech, and the book of the same name which appeared the following year, proved quite popular, but it earned him enemies among the Democratic leadership, among important allied leaders like [[Winston Churchill]], and among business leaders and conservatives.
  
 
Wallace spoke out during race riots in Detroit in 1943, declaring that the nation could not "fight to crush Nazi brutality abroad and condone race riots at home."
 
Wallace spoke out during race riots in Detroit in 1943, declaring that the nation could not "fight to crush Nazi brutality abroad and condone race riots at home."
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Wallace resumed his farming interests, and resided in [[South Salem, New York]]. During his later years he made a number of advances in the field of [[agricultural science]]. His many accomplishments included a breed of [[chicken]] that at one point accounted for the overwhelming majority of all egg-laying chickens sold across the globe. The [[Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center]], the largest agricultural research complex in the world, is named for him.
 
Wallace resumed his farming interests, and resided in [[South Salem, New York]]. During his later years he made a number of advances in the field of [[agricultural science]]. His many accomplishments included a breed of [[chicken]] that at one point accounted for the overwhelming majority of all egg-laying chickens sold across the globe. The [[Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center]], the largest agricultural research complex in the world, is named for him.
  
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In [[1950]], when North Korea invaded South Korea, Wallace broke with the Progressives and backed the U.S. led war effort in the [[Korean War]].<ref name="Schles"/> In [[1952]], Wallace published ''Where I Was Wrong'', in which he explained that his seemingly-trusting stance toward the Soviet Union and [[Stalin]] stemmed from inadequate information about Stalin's excesses and that he, too, now considered himself an [[anti-Communist]]. He wrote various letters to "people who he thought had traduced him" and advocated the re-election of President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in [[1956]].<ref name="Schles"/>  
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In 1950, when North Korea invaded South Korea, Wallace broke with the Progressives and backed the U.S. led war effort in the [[Korean War]].<ref name="Schles"/> In 1952, Wallace published ''Where I Was Wrong'', in which he explained that his seemingly-trusting stance toward the Soviet Union and [[Stalin]] stemmed from inadequate information about Stalin's excesses and that he, too, now considered himself an [[anti-Communist]]. He wrote various letters to "people who he thought had traduced him" and advocated the re-election of President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in 1956.<ref name="Schles"/>  
  
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In [[1961]], President elect [[John F. Kennedy]] invited him to his inauguration ceremony, though he had supported Kennedy's opponent [[Richard Nixon]]. A touched Wallace wrote to Kennedy: "At no time in our history".<ref name="Schles"/>  
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In 1961, President elect [[John F. Kennedy]] invited him to his inauguration ceremony, though he had supported Kennedy's opponent [[Richard Nixon]]. A touched Wallace wrote to Kennedy: "At no time in our history".<ref name="Schles"/>  
  
 
He died in [[Danbury, Connecticut]], in 1965, of [[Lou Gehrig's disease]].<ref name="Schles"/> His remains were cremated at Grace Cemetery in [[Bridgeport, Connecticut]], and the ashes interred in Glendale Cemetery, [[Des Moines, Iowa]].
 
He died in [[Danbury, Connecticut]], in 1965, of [[Lou Gehrig's disease]].<ref name="Schles"/> His remains were cremated at Grace Cemetery in [[Bridgeport, Connecticut]], and the ashes interred in Glendale Cemetery, [[Des Moines, Iowa]].
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==References==
 
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===Secondary sources===
 
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* "The Prince of Wallace's: Chickens, Communists and Henry Wallace," Times Literary Supplement, [[24 November]], 2000.
 
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* Culver, John C. and John Hyde. ''American Dreamer: The Life and Times of Henry A. Wallace'' (2002)
 
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* [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=95265575 Markowitz, Norman D. ''The Rise and Fall of the People's Century: Henry A. Wallace and American Liberalism, 1941-1948'' (1973)]
 
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* John Maze and Graham White,  ''Henry A. Wallace: His Search for a New World Order''. University of North Carolina Press. 1995
 
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* [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=33720554 Schapsmeier, Frederick H. ''Henry A. Wallace of Iowa: the Agrarian Years, 1910-1940'' (1968)]
 
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* [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=12006463 Schapsmeier, Edward L. and Frederick H. Schapsmeier. ''Prophet in Politics: Henry A. Wallace and the War Years, 1940-1965'' (1970)]
 
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* [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=9488659 Schmidt, Karl M. ''Henry A. Wallace, Quixotic Crusade 1948'' (1960)]
 
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* [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=105107998 White, Graham, and John Maze. ''Henry A. Wallace: His Search for a New World Order'' (1995)]
 
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* [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=28019558 Walker, J. Samuel Walker. ''Henry A. Wallace and American Foreign Policy'' (1976)]
 
  
 
===Writings===
 
===Writings===
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* ''Sixty Million Jobs '' (1945)
 
* ''Sixty Million Jobs '' (1945)
 
* ''Toward World Peace '' (1948)
 
* ''Toward World Peace '' (1948)
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* ''The Price of Vision - The Diary of Henry A. Wallace 1942-1946'' (1973), edited by John Morton Blum  
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* ''The Price of Vision - The Diary of Henry A. Wallace 1942-1946'' (1973), edited by John Morton Blum
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==References==
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===Secondary sources===
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* "The Prince of Wallace's: Chickens, Communists and Henry Wallace," Times Literary Supplement, 24 November, 2000.
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* Culver, John C. and John Hyde. ''American Dreamer: The Life and Times of Henry A. Wallace'' (2002)
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* [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=95265575 Markowitz, Norman D. ''The Rise and Fall of the People's Century: Henry A. Wallace and American Liberalism, 1941-1948'' (1973)]
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* John Maze and Graham White,  ''Henry A. Wallace: His Search for a New World Order''. University of North Carolina Press. 1995
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* [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=33720554 Schapsmeier, Frederick H. ''Henry A. Wallace of Iowa: the Agrarian Years, 1910-1940'' (1968)]
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* [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=12006463 Schapsmeier, Edward L. and Frederick H. Schapsmeier. ''Prophet in Politics: Henry A. Wallace and the War Years, 1940-1965'' (1970)]
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* [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=9488659 Schmidt, Karl M. ''Henry A. Wallace, Quixotic Crusade 1948'' (1960)]
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* [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=105107998 White, Graham, and John Maze. ''Henry A. Wallace: His Search for a New World Order'' (1995)]
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* [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=28019558 Walker, J. Samuel Walker. ''Henry A. Wallace and American Foreign Policy'' (1976)]
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
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All links Retrieved December 19, 2007.
  
 
* [http://newdeal.feri.org/wallace/docs.htm Selected Works of Henry A. Wallace]
 
* [http://newdeal.feri.org/wallace/docs.htm Selected Works of Henry A. Wallace]
 
* [http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/henry_a_wallace.html Quotes by Henry A. Wallace]
 
* [http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/henry_a_wallace.html Quotes by Henry A. Wallace]
 
* [http://www.winrock.org/wallace/wallacecenter/wallace/CCM.htm "The Century of the Common Man"] - the text of Wallace's 1942 speech.
 
* [http://www.winrock.org/wallace/wallacecenter/wallace/CCM.htm "The Century of the Common Man"] - the text of Wallace's 1942 speech.
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* [http://www.winrock.org/what/wallace_center.cfm Henry A. Wallace Center for Agricultural & Environmental Policy]
 
 
* [http://sweetpeareview.blogspot.com/2007/07/empires-dont-care-what-people-want.html Henry A. Wallace was right about the Cold War] article at ''Explorations Deep Into the Quagmire Known'' blog.
 
* [http://sweetpeareview.blogspot.com/2007/07/empires-dont-care-what-people-want.html Henry A. Wallace was right about the Cold War] article at ''Explorations Deep Into the Quagmire Known'' blog.
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* [http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?pt=m2g1OkLsg5TrkOFXtVxLYB%3D%3D An Argument for a New Liberalism] by [[Peter Beinart]], [[The New Republic]], [[December 2]] [[2004]] - argues that [[Harry S. Truman]]'s defeat of Wallace in [[1948]] helped make the Democrats an anti-totalitarian party and sees present-day Democrats as "Wallacite", a term it coins to mean soft on totalitarianism and external threats.
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* [http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?pt=m2g1OkLsg5TrkOFXtVxLYB%3D%3D An Argument for a New Liberalism] by [[Peter Beinart]], [[The New Republic]], December 2 2004 - argues that [[Harry S. Truman]]'s defeat of Wallace in 1948 helped make the Democrats an anti-totalitarian party and sees present-day Democrats as "Wallacite," a term it coins to mean soft on totalitarianism and external threats.
  
 
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{{succession box|title=[[United States Secretary of Agriculture]]|before=[[Arthur Mastick Hyde|Arthur M. Hyde]]|after=[[Claude Raymond Wickard|Claude R. Wickard]]|years=[[March 4]], [[1933]] &ndash; [[September 4]], [[1940]]}}
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{{succession box|title=[[United States Secretary of Agriculture]]|before=[[Arthur Mastick Hyde|Arthur M. Hyde]]|after=[[Claude Raymond Wickard|Claude R. Wickard]]|years=March 4, 1933 – September 4, 1940}}
 
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|title1=[[United States Democratic Party|Democratic Party]] [[Vice President of the United States|Vice Presidential]] [[:Category:Democratic Party (United States) vice presidential nominees|candidate]]
 
|title1=[[United States Democratic Party|Democratic Party]] [[Vice President of the United States|Vice Presidential]] [[:Category:Democratic Party (United States) vice presidential nominees|candidate]]
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|years1=[[U.S. presidential election, 1940|1940]] (won)
 
|years1=[[U.S. presidential election, 1940|1940]] (won)
 
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|years2=January 20, 1941 – January 20, 1945}}
 
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| before= [[Jesse Holman Jones]]
 
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Revision as of 01:52, 19 December 2007



Henry A. Wallace
Henry A. Wallace

33rd Vice President of the United States
In office
January 20, 1941 – January 20, 1945
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by John N. Garner
Succeeded by Harry S. Truman
11th United States Secretary of Agriculture
In office
March 4, 1933 – September 4, 1940
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by Arthur M. Hyde
Succeeded by Claude R. Wickard
10th United States Secretary of Commerce
In office
March 2, 1945 – September 20, 1946
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman
Preceded by Jesse Holman Jones
Succeeded by W. Averell Harriman
Born October 7 1888(1888-10-07)
Orient, Iowa
Died November 18 1965 (aged 77)
Danbury, Connecticut
Political party Democratic
Spouse Ilo Browne
Religion Episcopalian

Henry Agard Wallace (October 7, 1888 – November 18, 1965) was the thirty-third Vice President of the United States (1941–45), the eleventh Secretary of Agriculture (1933–40), and the tenth Secretary of Commerce (1945–46). In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace was the nominee of the Progressive Party.

Early life

Wallace was born on a farm near Orient, Adair County, Iowa, and graduated from Iowa State College at Ames in 1910, where he was a brother in the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. His father was Henry Cantwell Wallace. He worked on the editorial staff of Wallace's Farmer in Des Moines, Iowa, from 1910 to 1924 and edited the publication from 1924 to 1929. He experimented with breeding high-yielding strains of corn (maize), and authored many publications on agriculture. In 1915 he devised the first corn-hog ratio charts indicating the probable course of markets. With a small inheritance that had been left to his wife, the former Ilo Browne, whom he married in 1914, Wallace founded Hi-Bred Corn, which later became Pioneer Hi-Bred, a major agriculture corporation.

Wallace was raised as a Presbyterian, but left that denomination early in life. He spent most of his early life exploring other religious faiths and traditions. For many years, he had been closely associated with the Russian theosophist Nicholas Roerich. Accordding to Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., "Wallace's search for inner light took him to strange prophets. ... It was in this search that he encountered Nicholas Roerich, a Russian emigre, painter, theosophist and con man. Wallace did Roerich a number of favors, including sending him on an expedition to Central Asia presumably to collect drought-resistant grasses. In due course, H.A. [Wallace] became disillusioned with Roerich and turned almost viciously against him." [1] Wallace eventually settled on Episcopalianism.

Political career

Secretary of Agriculture

In 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed Wallace United States Secretary of Agriculture in his Cabinet, a post his father, Henry Cantwell Wallace, had occupied from 1921 to 1924. Wallace had been a liberal Republican, but he supported Roosevelt's New Deal and soon switched to the Democratic Party. Wallace served as Secretary of Agriculture until September 1940, when he resigned, having been nominated for Vice President as Roosevelt's running mate in the 1940 presidential election.

Vice President

During the 1940 presidential election, a series of letters that Wallace had written in the 1930s to Russian mystic Nicholas Roerich was uncovered by the Republicans. Wallace addressed Roerich as "Dear Guru" and signed all of the letters as "G" for Galahad, the name Roerich had assigned him. Wallace assured Roerich that he awaited "the breaking of the New Day" when the people of "Northern Shambhalla" - a Buddhist term roughly equivalent to the kingdom of heaven - would create an era of peace and plenty. When asked about the letters, Wallace lied and dismissed them as forgeries. When the Republicans threatened to reveal his beliefs, the Democrats threatened to release information about Republican candidate Wendell Willkie's extramarital affair.[2][1]

Wallace was elected in November 1940 as Vice President on the Democratic Party ticket with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. His inauguration took place on January 20, 1941, for the term ending January 20 1945.

Roosevelt named Wallace chairman of the Board of Economic Warfare (BEW) and of the Supply Priorities and Allocations Board (SPAB) in 1941. Both positions became important with the U.S. entry into World War II. As he began to flex his newfound political muscle in his position with SPAB, Wallace came up against the conservative wing of the Democratic party in the form of Jesse H. Jones, Secretary of Commerce, as the two differed on how to handle wartime supplies.

On May 8, 1942, Wallace delivered his most famous speech, which became known by the phrase "Century of the Common Man," to the Free World Association in New York City. This speech, grounded in Christian references, laid out a positive vision for the war beyond the simple defeat of the Nazis. The speech, and the book of the same name which appeared the following year, proved quite popular, but it earned him enemies among the Democratic leadership, among important allied leaders like Winston Churchill, and among business leaders and conservatives.

Wallace spoke out during race riots in Detroit in 1943, declaring that the nation could not "fight to crush Nazi brutality abroad and condone race riots at home."

In 1943, Wallace made a goodwill tour of Latin America, shoring up support among important allies. His trip proved a success and helped persuade twelve countries to declare war on Germany. Regarding trade relationships with Latin America, he convinced the BEW to add "labor clauses" to contracts with Latin American producers. These clauses required producers to pay fair wages and provide safe working conditions for their employees and committed the United States to paying for up to half of the required improvements. This met opposition from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

After Wallace feuded publicly with Jesse Jones and other high officials, Roosevelt stripped him of all responsibilities and made it clear Wallace would not be on the ticket again. The Democratic Party, with concern being expressed privately about FDR being able to make it through another term, chose Harry S. Truman as FDR's running mate at the convention, after New Deal partisans failed to promote William O. Douglas.

Secretary of Commerce

Portrait of Henry Wallace

Roosevelt placated Wallace by appointing him Secretary of Commerce. Wallace served in this post from March 1945 to September 1946, when he was fired by President Harry S. Truman because of disagreements about the policy towards the Soviet Union.

The New Republic

Following his term as Secretary of Commerce, Wallace became the editor of The New Republic magazine, using his position to criticize vociferously Truman's foreign policy. On the declaration of the Truman Doctrine in 1947, he predicted it would mark the beginning of "a century of fear."

The 1948 Presidential Race

Wallace left his editorship position in 1948 to make an unsuccessful run as a Progressive Party candidate in the 1948 U.S. presidential election. His platform advocated an end to segregation, full voting rights for blacks, and universal government health insurance. His campaign was unusual for his time in that it included African American candidates campaigning alongside white candidates in the American South, and that during the campaign he refused to appear before segregated audiences or eat or stay in segregated establishments. The "Dear Guru" letters reappeared now and were published, seriously hampering his campaign.[1]

Wallace suffered a decisive defeat to the victorious president Truman. Gaining 2.4% of the popular vote, he ended up third runner-up behind Republican Thomas Edmund Dewey and Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond.

Later career

Wallace resumed his farming interests, and resided in South Salem, New York. During his later years he made a number of advances in the field of agricultural science. His many accomplishments included a breed of chicken that at one point accounted for the overwhelming majority of all egg-laying chickens sold across the globe. The Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, the largest agricultural research complex in the world, is named for him.

In 1950, when North Korea invaded South Korea, Wallace broke with the Progressives and backed the U.S. led war effort in the Korean War.[1] In 1952, Wallace published Where I Was Wrong, in which he explained that his seemingly-trusting stance toward the Soviet Union and Stalin stemmed from inadequate information about Stalin's excesses and that he, too, now considered himself an anti-Communist. He wrote various letters to "people who he thought had traduced him" and advocated the re-election of President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956.[1]

In 1961, President elect John F. Kennedy invited him to his inauguration ceremony, though he had supported Kennedy's opponent Richard Nixon. A touched Wallace wrote to Kennedy: "At no time in our history".[1]

He died in Danbury, Connecticut, in 1965, of Lou Gehrig's disease.[1] His remains were cremated at Grace Cemetery in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and the ashes interred in Glendale Cemetery, Des Moines, Iowa.

Writings

  • Agricultural Prices (1920)
  • New Frontiers (1934)
  • America Must Choose (1934)
  • Statesmanship and Religion (1934)
  • Technology, Corporations, and the General Welfare (1937)
  • The Century of the Common Man (1943)
  • Democracy Reborn (1944)
  • Sixty Million Jobs (1945)
  • Toward World Peace (1948)
  • The Price of Vision - The Diary of Henry A. Wallace 1942-1946 (1973), edited by John Morton Blum

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Secondary sources

External links

All links Retrieved December 19, 2007.

Preceded by:
Arthur M. Hyde 		United States Secretary of Agriculture
March 4, 1933 – September 4, 1940 		Succeeded by:
Claude R. Wickard
Preceded by:
John Nance Garner 		Democratic Party Vice Presidential candidate
1940 (won) 		Succeeded by: Harry S. Truman
Vice President of the United States
January 20, 1941 – January 20, 1945
Preceded by:
Jesse Holman Jones 		United States Secretary of Commerce
Served under: Franklin D. Roosevelt
March 2, 1945 – present 		Succeeded by: W. Averell Harriman
Preceded by:
None 		Progressive Party Presidential Candidate
1948 (lost) 		Succeeded by:
Vincent Hallinan

Template:US Vice Presidents

Template:US Sec Commerce


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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/schlesinger_wallace_bio.html
  2. ↑ http://www.adherents.com/people/pw/Henry_Wallace.html
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