Henry A. Wallace is a forgotten figure in American history.
He’s remembered mostly as Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s wartime vice president who was dumped from the ticket at the beginning of FDR’s fourth term in favor of Harry S Truman. But he was also the best agriculture secretary the country has ever had and a primary engineer of the New Deal who became the voice of liberalism and a champion of the common man.
He’s remembered too as a Soviet apologist and even a traitor for his independent campaign against the Cold War and racial segregation.
His bigorapher and fellow Iowan Senator John Culver has rehabilitated and revived Henry Wallace though and maybe even restored him to his rightful place in history too. John Culver says he was a visionary and his life a study in an American road not taken.
Henry Wallace the American Dreamer – in this hour.
(Hosted by Christopher Lydon)
Guests:
Senator John Culver