Unfortunately, Wallace was not president; however, he was vice president under Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his third term. For Roosevelt’s fourth term, Wallace was dropped as vice president for the moderate Harry Truman in the 1944 election. Just six months after the election, FDR died and Truman became president.
Wallace’s ouster was a victory for forces in the Democratic Party who wanted to stall further New Deal policy advances. The division in the nation’s leadership can best be illustrated by those who embraced Henry Luce’s vision of the "American Century" and Wallace’s vision of the "Century of the Common Man."
In an editorial in Time magazine, which he published, Henry Luce urged Americans to forsake isolationism and take a leadership role in world affairs in the 20th Century. This American dominance was not just political, but also economic and cultural. In this “first great American Century,” Luce wanted the United States “to exert upon the world the full impact of our influence, for such purposes as we see fit and by such means as we see fit.”
Henry Wallace had another idea. Rather than a top-down imposition of American ideals on other nations following the conclusion of World War II, he saw the potential of a century of bottom-up expansion of freedom from common people all over the world. Based on FDR’s Four Freedoms (freedom of religion and expression and freedom from fear and want) Wallace envisioned a world system in which freedom, fairness, and opportunity would promote world peace. Wallace said,
"Some have spoken of the 'American Century.' I say that the century on which we are entering — The century which will come out of this war — can be and must be the century of the common man. Perhaps it will be America's opportunity to suggest that Freedoms and duties by which the common man must live. Everywhere the common man must learn to build his own industries with his own hands in a practical fashion. Everywhere the common man must learn to increase his productivity so that he and his children can eventually pay to the world community all that they have received. No nation will have the God-given right to exploit other nations."
The Spanish Civil War, from 1936-39, provided a clear prelude to the victory of Luce’s vision over Wallace’s. The Republic of Spain was abandoned by other democracies to a fascist military takeover. The Republic was seen as too leftist so the United States and other democratic nations adopted a policy of nonintervention in the conflict. Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy also officially endorsed nonintervention, but this did not prevent them from providing support to the Spanish fascists, as did, American big businesses like Texaco, General Motors, Ford Motors, and Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. However, when our nation refused to act, over 2,000 Americans volunteered in international brigades in an effort to save this democratic nation. In Spain, as in our nation today, the interests of big business prevailed.
The story you are about to read is told by a fictional American volunteer of the international brigades and personal aide to Henry Wallace, Eugene Abraham Lewis. He is committed to the vision of the Common Man and puts his commitment into action in both Spain and the United States.
I would not have been able to complete this project without the exceptional work done by John C. Culver and John Hyde in creating a very informative and enjoyable biography of Henry Wallace called American Dreamer: A Life of Henry A. Wallace. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys this blog. I borrow heavily from their research and thank them for their efforts.
For a glimpse into the life of an actual American volunteer during the Spanish Civil War, I am indebt to the memoir by James Neugass, War is Beautiful. The ironic title is taken from a propaganda slogan of the Spanish fascists.
Eugene’s diary begins in April 1945 and will start being posted next month.
© 2011 Ron Millar
