Rural electrification policy

Rural electrification policy was part of the New Deal legislative program that Harry S. Truman supported during his early years in the Senate. The need was stark in Missouri: in 1935, nine out of ten farms there had no electricity. The book presents rural electrification as a measure with the potential to change everyday life on a scale unmatched by any other single initiative of the Roosevelt years.

Legislative Context

Truman entered national public life during the New Deal’s “Second Hundred Days,” when the administration’s emphasis had broadened from economic recovery to reform. He repeatedly voted with the Democratic majority for major measures, including rural electrification, but did not speak in their favor or participate in debate. His contribution on this measure was therefore legislative rather than public advocacy.

Significance in Missouri

The figure from Missouri gives the policy’s stakes a concrete setting: in 1935, most farms in Truman’s home state remained without electricity. Against that background, rural electrification represented more than another item in a broad reform program; it held the prospect of changing how people lived. The account singles it out as potentially the most consequential individual measure of the Roosevelt years in that respect.