Charles Franklin Brannan (August 23, 1903July 2, 1992) was the

United States Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments. The department includes several organi ...

from 1948 to 1953. He was a liberal Democrat best known for proposing the "

Brannan Plan The Brannan Plan was a failed United States farm bill from 1949. It called for "compensatory payments" to American farmers in response to the major problem of large agricultural surpluses stemming from price supports for farmers. The Brannan Plan wa ...

", which was rejected by a conservative Congress and never took effect. Brannan was the last surviving member of Truman's cabinet.

Early life

Brannan was born in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

on August 23, 1903. He came from a Quaker family; his father was an engineer. He received his law degree from the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

in 1929. In 1932, Brannan married Eda V. Seltzer. He practiced law in Denver, specializing in agricultural, mining, and irrigation issues. He was an ardent Democrat and a supporter of the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

Government lawyer

He began as a lawyer in the Resettlement Administration, where he relocated destitute tenant farmers hurt by the "dust bowl." In 1937, he became a regional attorney for the Department of Agriculture. In 1941, he moved to the

Farm Security Administration The Farm Security Administration (FSA) was a New Deal agency created in 1937 to combat rural poverty during the Great Depression in the United States. It succeeded the Resettlement Administration (1935–1937). The FSA is famous for its small but ...

, where he arranged loans for water facilities and needy farmers in the Mountain states. In 1944, he became assistant secretary of agriculture under Secretary

Clinton Anderson Clinton Presba Anderson (October 23, 1895 – November 11, 1975) was an American politician who represented New Mexico in the United States Senate from 1949 until 1973. A member of the United States Democratic Party, Democratic Party, he pr ...

, who put him in charge of long-range planning. When Anderson resigned in 1948, he recommended Brannan, as did the president of the liberal Farmers Union.

Secretary of Agriculture, 1948-1953

In 1949, he advocated the

, as part of President Truman's

Fair Deal The Fair Deal was a set of proposals put forward by U.S. President Harry S. Truman to Congress in 1945 and in his January 1949 State of the Union address. More generally. the term characterizes the entire domestic agenda of the Truman administra ...

program. Brannan wanted to guarantee farmers income, while letting free market forces determine the prices of commodities. That plan was not enacted by the Republican controlled congress, which was focusing on the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. Following the election of

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

in 1953, Brannan left the government and became the general counsel for the National Farmers Union. In 1956 he was defeated in the Democratic primary by

John A. Carroll John Albert Carroll (July 30, 1901 – August 31, 1983) was an American politician who served as a United States Democratic Party, Democratic United States Representative and United States Senator from Colorado. He also served as a special assi ...

for the Colorado U.S. Senate race. Brannan died on July 2, 1992, at age 88, in Denver. He was the last surviving member of the Truman Cabinet.

In popular culture

In Mary Robinette Kowal's alternate-history novel ''

The Calculating Stars ''The Calculating Stars'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Mary Robinette Kowal. The book was published by Tor Books on July 3, 2018. It is the first book in the " Lady Astronaut" series and is a prequel to the 2012 short story " Th ...

'' (2018), Brannan remains Secretary of Agriculture even after

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...

wins the

1948 presidential election The following elections occurred in the year 1948. Africa * 1948 Mauritian general election * 1948 South African general election * 1948 Southern Rhodesian general election Asia * 1948 North Korean parliamentary election * 1948 Republic of China ...

. He happens to be touring farms in

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

on March 3, 1952, when a meteorite strike obliterates

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

; as the only surviving member of the presidential line of succession, he becomes acting president. Brannan goes on to win both the 1952 and 1956 presidential elections, defeating

in the latter.

References

External links