Description: Public versus Private Power during the Truman Administration offers the first thorough historical analysis of one of the most contentious aspects of the Fair Deal - President Harry S. Truman's electric power policies. In 1948, Truman championed as part of his liberal program a major expansion of public power. De Luna shows how these plans were adulterated by a powerful combination of forces: the opposition of private power, discord among agencies and individuals in the executive branch, and a split in the Democratic Party. Forced to compromise on this important issue, the last Truman administration unwittingly helped usher in a more conservative period in American political life.
Review Quotes: «This volume is an interesting account of presidential leadership, public policy, and the conflicts that are the stuff of partisan politics.» (Michael P. Riccards, The Historian)
«This study explores two historically significant, yet unaccountably neglected matters in twentieth-century America: the development and impact of public power and the maturation of modern American liberalism. Dr. de Luna supports her work with a truly impressive array of primary source materials.» (Roland L. De Lorme, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of History, Western Washington University)
«Phyllis de Luna has produced a masterful historical analysis of the highly divisive issue of federal electric power policy during the last Truman administration. Dr. de Luna provides an angle of vision to the public power debate that until now had remained unexplained. This is history as it should be written.» (Burton M. Smith, Professor of History University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada)
«This work is recommended to anyone interested in the history of power policy in the twentieth century.» (Craig Wollner, H-Net Reviews in the Humanities and Social Sciences)