Editing Henry A. Wallace (section)

==Early political involvement==

During [[World War I]], Wallace and his father helped the [[United States Food Administration]] (USFA) develop policies to increase hog production.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 46–48</ref> After USFA director [[Herbert Hoover]] abandoned the hog production policies the Wallaces favored, the elder Wallace joined an effort to deny Hoover the presidential nomination at the [[1920 Republican National Convention]]. Partly in response to Hoover, the younger Wallace published ''Agricultural Prices'', in which he advocated government policies to control agricultural prices.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 50–52</ref> He also warned farmers of an imminent price collapse after the war. Wallace's prediction proved accurate: a farm crisis extended into the 1920s. Reflecting a broader decrease in agricultural prices, corn prices fell from $1.68 per bushel in 1918 to $0.42 per bushel in 1921.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 52–53</ref> Wallace proposed various remedies to combat the farm crisis, which he believed stemmed primarily from overproduction. Among his proposed policies was the "[[ever-normal granary]]": the government buys and stores agricultural surpluses when agricultural prices are low and sells them when they are high.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 56–59</ref>

Both Wallaces backed the [[McNary–Haugen Farm Relief Bill]], which would have required the federal government to market and export agricultural surpluses in foreign markets. The bill was defeated in large part because of the opposition of President [[Calvin Coolidge]] and Commerce Secretary Hoover. When Coolidge became president after Harding died in 1923,<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 62–63</ref> the elder Wallace stayed on as Agriculture Secretary but died at age 58 in October 1924. His son, Henry, always blamed his father's premature death on Hoover, because of the stress of the titanic policy battles they had over matters like the McNary-Haugen bill, with Hoover insisting on a hands-off "laissez-faire" attitude toward business and Wallace pushing more active government interventions to help farmers. In the November [[1924 United States presidential election|1924 presidential election]], Wallace voted for the [[Progressive Party (United States, 1924)|Progressive]] nominee, [[Robert La Follette]].<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 64–65, 71</ref> Due in part to Wallace's continued lobbying, and despite fervent opposition from Hoover, Congress passed the McNary–Haugen bill in 1927 and 1928, but Coolidge vetoed the bill both times.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 84–85</ref> Dissatisfied with both major party candidates in the [[1928 United States presidential election|1928 presidential election]], Wallace advocated for the creation of a new party to unite the interests of the Western and Southern branches of the Democratic Party against its Eastern wing, but did not advance the idea beyond the conceptual stage.<ref>{{cite book |last=Steil |first=Benn |author-link=Benn Steil |date=January 9, 2024 |title=The World That Wasn't|publisher=Avid Reader Press |page=20}}</ref> In the lead-up to the fall presidential election, Wallace attempted to persuade Illinois Governor [[Frank Lowden]] to run for president. He ultimately supported Democratic nominee [[Al Smith]], but Hoover won a landslide victory.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chiles |first1=Robert |title=Courting the Farm Vote on the Northern Plains: Presidential Candidate Al Smith, Governor Walter Maddock, and the Ambivalent Politics of 1928 |journal=North Dakota History |date=Spring 2016 |volume=81 |issue=1 |page=23 |url=https://www.history.nd.gov/publications/ndrecent.html}}</ref><ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 86–87</ref> The onset of the Great Depression during [[Presidency of Herbert Hoover|Hoover's administration]] devastated Iowa farmers, as farm income fell by two-thirds from 1929 to 1932.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 99–100</ref> In the [[1932 United States presidential election|1932 presidential election]], Wallace campaigned for Democratic nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt, who favored the agricultural policies of Wallace and economist [[M. L. Wilson]]. Although his family was traditionally Republican, Wallace gradually came to support the Democratic Party, and became a registered Democrat in 1936.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 102–104, 164.</ref>