Eisenhower & Kennedy & Farm Policy

Between 1940 and 1960, American agricultural production grew dramatically while the number of farm workers declined by nearly one-third. What some historians have described as "nearly miraculous agricultural productivity" was achieved. This was accomplished as a consequence of greater crop specialization, intensive use of fertilizers, and increased mechanization of farm work itself. The decline of the family farm and the growth of what came to be called "agribusiness" changed the environment in which agricultural production in the United States took place. Larger farmers benefited from mechanization and from various federal government policies and programs while smaller producers suffered due to a lack of capital needed to invest in the machinery that was required to compete. Consequently, although the average farm size doubled between 1940 and 1964, the farm population declined from 30 million to 13 million and the number of farms decreased by about 40 percent.

It was in this general climate that President Dwight D. Eisenhower and, later, President John F. Kennedy developed and implemented specific policies and programs targeting the farm sector. The purpose of this report is to move from a brief overview of the farm problems of the era to a focus on Kennedy's views on agriculture and the optimum farm policy that his administration developed. It will be argued that during his presidential campaign in 1960 and in various legislative submissions to Co

Related Essays

American Agricultural Production: 1940-1960 .... Kennedy's Views on Agriculture and Farm Policy President Kennedy served in the US Senate during President Eisenhower's administration and is likely to have .... (4506 18 )

Government Initiatives: Historical Overview .... AAA established subsidy farming and raised farm income, saving .... 1961, carried out by President Kennedy but planned by the Eisenhower administration, was .... (5469 22 )

Impact of the New Deal .... farm loans to stop any further farm foreclosures. .... Eisenhower's election victories thus could be classified as .... The "War on Poverty" of the Kennedy and Johnson .... (4541 18 )

Internment of Japanese Americans .... tree." Daniels said this encounter convinced Eisenhower that "close .... through the utilization of camp farm labor .... Bill Bradley, John Glenn, Ted Kennedy, Pete Wilson .... (3656 15 )

Causes & Consequences of Internment Camps .... tree." Daniels said this encounter convinced Eisenhower that "close .... through the utilization of camp farm labor .... Bill Bradley, John Glenn, Ted Kennedy, Pete Wilson .... (3656 15 )

eby reducing the price-depressing effects of surpluses. By balancing the federal budget, he would control inflation and hold farm production costs down. Nixon stated that farm problems stemmed directly from the price-fixing tendencies in rigid price-support levels mandated by Democratic-controlled Congresses. Conversely, Senator Kennedy said in the first Kennedy-Nixon debate that if the federal government "moved out of the program and withdrew its support, then I think you would have complete economic chaos." Unlike Nixon, Kennedy rejected the free market philosophy vis-a-vis agriculture and objected to Eisenhower's farm policy because of its lack of effective controls to bring supply and demand into better balance. Candidate Kennedy, speaking in another debate with Richard Nixon, linked the Eisenhower farm policy to the nation's low rate of economic growth in the previous year. He denied that his proposal for agriculture would increase grocery store prices and rejected the notion advanced by Nixon that the Democratic proposal to continue price supports would cause inflation. In this context, it is important to remember that Kennedy and Nixon were faced with the necessity of following the "party line." It must

Category: Government - E