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

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

's cabinet.

Early life

Brannan was born in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

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 research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

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 wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

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, 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 Brannan Plan, as part of President

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 adminis ...

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 was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. Following the election of

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

in 1953, Brannan left the government and became the general counsel for the National Farmers Union.

Senate campaign

In 1956 he was defeated in the Democratic primary by John A. Carroll for the Colorado U.S. Senate race.

Death

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 "Mary_Robinette_Kowal#Lady_Astronaut_Universe, Lady Astronaut" series a ...

'' (2018), Brannan remains secretary of agriculture even after

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 47th Governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican Party's nominee for president of the United States in 1944 and ...

wins the

1948 presidential election The following elections occurred in the year 1948. Previous: List of elections in 1947 Next:List of elections in 1949 Africa * 1948 Mauritian general election * 1948 South African general election * 1948 Southern Rhodesian general election Asia ...

. He happens to be touring farms in

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

on March 3, 1952, when a meteorite strike obliterates

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

; 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

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brannan, Charles F. 1903 births 1992 deaths American Quakers Lawyers from Denver Politicians from Denver Sturm College of Law alumni Truman administration cabinet members 20th-century United States government officials Secretaries of agriculture of the United States 20th-century Quakers