Wolf Isaac Ladejinsky (March 15, 1899 – July 3, 1975) was an American
Georgist
Georgism, also called in modern times Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that, although people should own the value they produce themselves, the economic rent derived from land—including ...
agricultural economist and researcher, serving first in the
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...
, then the
Ford Foundation and later the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
.
He was a key adviser on
land reform
Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...
to the governments of several Asian countries, including Japan from 1945 to 1954 (during the
Occupation
Occupation commonly refers to:
*Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment
*Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces
*Military occupation, th ...
) as well as
Mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
and later
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
under
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
,
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
from 1955 to 1961 under
Ngo Dinh Diem, and countries in Southeast Asia and the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
. His efforts in Japan and Taiwan were a striking success, but later efforts were frustrated. Improving the welfare of Asian farmers through
agrarian reform was his goal throughout his long career, earning him praise as "no typical bureaucrat, but an impassioned reformer" .
Biography
Born into a Jewish family in
Katerynopil
Katerynopil ( uk, Катеринопіль) is an urban-type settlement located in Zvenyhorodka Raion, Cherkasy Oblast (oblast, province) in central Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Katerynopil settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukr ...
,
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
in 1899, Ladejinsky fled
Soviet Ukraine
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
in 1921 as a refugee from the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
. He arrived in the US in 1922 and graduated from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
six years later. In 1933 one of his professors at Columbia,
Rexford Tugwell
Rexford Guy Tugwell (July 10, 1891 – July 21, 1979) was an American economist who became part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's first "Brain Trust", a group of Columbia University academics who helped develop policy recommendations leading up to R ...
, helped him obtain a post in the Department of Agriculture. Two years later he joined the department's
Foreign Agricultural Service, specializing in Asian problems. In 1945 he was assigned to
General Douglas MacArthur's
SCAP
SCAP may refer to:
* S.C.A.P., an early French manufacturer of cars and engines
* Security Content Automation Protocol
* ''The Shackled City Adventure Path'', a role-playing game
* SREBP cleavage activating protein
* Supervisory Capital Assessment ...
staff in occupied Japan , where he played a major role in developing and introducing the
land reform program that dismantled a power structure dominated by wealthy
landlord
A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the ...
s. However, Ladejinsky has stated that the real architect of reform was Socialist , former Japanese
Minister of Agriculture . His influence with
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
in Taiwan is widely credited with aiding the
Taiwan Miracle.
In December 1954, during the period of
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner.
The term origin ...
in the United States, Ladejinsky was the central figure in a highly public incident which aroused furor among
liberals in
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
and was resolved by the intervention of the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
. Ladejinsky, an
anti-Communist
Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...
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 ...
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
, was
blacklisted by several
conservative groups . While working as an agricultural attaché in Tokyo, his position was transferred from the
Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...
to the Department of Agriculture's jurisdiction. Soon thereafter, his
security clearance was revoked, and he was fired by
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 ...
Ezra Taft Benson
Ezra Taft Benson (August 4, 1899 – May 30, 1994) was an American farmer, government official, and religious leader who served as the 15th United States Secretary of Agriculture during both presidential terms of Dwight D. Eisenhower and a ...
, who considered Ladejinsky a "security risk" despite admitting a lack of hard evidence against him . A public statement charged that Ladejinsky "required clearance from the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
" to work for
Amtorg Trading Corporation, for whom he served briefly as a translator in 1930. At that time he also had three sisters living in Soviet Russia, which was cited as making him "subject to coercion". The final charge was that Ladejinsky had been a member of two
Communist front
A communist front is a political organization identified as a front organization under the effective control of a communist party, the Communist International or other communist organizations. They attracted politicized individuals who were not pa ...
organizations, including the
Washington Committee for Democratic Action
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
.
The result was a public outcry. Members of the press repeatedly questioned
President 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, ...
regarding the Ladejinsky case at a news conference held on January 12, 1955, particularly focusing on the fact that Ladejinsky was almost immediately chosen by
Harold Stassen
Harold Edward Stassen (April 13, 1907 – March 4, 2001) was an American politician who was the 25th Governor of Minnesota. He was a leading candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 1948, considered for a ti ...
at the
Foreign Operations Administration to direct the land reform program in
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
, giving him full security clearance in order to fill a position even more sensitive than his previous one (; ).
One quoted Benson as having "branded Ladejinsky flatly as a member of two Communist front organizations, and as an economist analyst, and investigator for Amtorg, the Russian trading agency" .
John Allison, the
U.S. Ambassador to Japan, protested the firing. Author
James Michener wrote a letter to the New York Times stating "It is precisely as if
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
and
Adlai Stevenson were to be charged with subversion. Mr. Ladejinsky is known throughout Asia as Communism's most implacable foe."
Notes
References
* .
* . World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition.
* .
* .
* .
*.
*.
* .
* . Gerhard Peters (database).
* . Gerhard Peters (database).
Further reading
* .
*.
*.
* .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ladejinsky, Wolf
1899 births
1975 deaths
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Georgist economists
Columbia University alumni
Ukrainian Jews
Jewish anti-communists
People from Cherkasy Oblast