The failure of Montana's Missouri Valley Authority plan

The failure of Montana's Missouri Valley Authority plan was a political defeat for a proposed regional counterpart to the Tennessee Valley Authority, and a revealing turn in Burton K. Wheeler’s postwar career. In 1944, Wheeler helped bring the plan down by portraying it as Communist-backed and aligning with private power and mining companies against liberals; the episode was followed by the loss of his remaining Democratic support in Montana.

Political Context

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Wheeler supported the American war effort, although his political positions continued to include strong opposition to Communist influence. In 1944, he claimed that Communists were behind the Missouri Valley Authority plan, linking the regional development proposal to a broader political warning. The account does not describe the plan’s specific provisions or the details of its legislative course; it identifies Wheeler’s accusation and coalition as central to its defeat.

Opposition and Defeat

Wheeler sided against liberals and with Montana Power Company and Anaconda Copper Company in helping defeat the proposed authority, described as Montana’s counterpart to the Tennessee Valley Authority. The outcome shows how the plan’s fate was shaped by political alignment: Wheeler’s anti-Communist claim helped place him alongside the companies opposing it, while liberals stood on the other side of the contest.

Political Aftermath

The account connects Wheeler’s position on the plan to a broader decline in his standing at home. He subsequently lost the last of his support among Montana Democrats and, in 1946, was defeated in the Senate primary by the young Montana liberal Leif Erickson. The sequence makes the defeat of the authority more than a policy episode: it marks a moment when Wheeler’s alliances and rhetoric coincided with the erosion of his own political base.