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Public Power in the Eisenhower Administration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2009

Wyatt Wells
Wyatt Wells
Affiliation:
Auburn University Montgomery
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Extract

In 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower entered the White House determined to reverse twenty years of federal policy toward electric utilities. His predecessors, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, had aggressively expanded public power, but Eisenhower considered this “creeping socialism,” and he intended to restrict it.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Policy History , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , April 2008 , pp. 227 - 262
Copyright
Copyright © The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA. 2008

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References

Notes

1. New Republic, 20 April 1953, 16.

2. Private utilities generally wrote off the cost of construction over fifty years under the heading of “depreciation.” This is one of the few areas where accounting for public and private utilities was roughly comparable.

3. Eisenhower, Dwight D., Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1954 (Washington, D.C., 1955), 859.Google Scholar

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5. New York Times, 12 April 1953, 1.

6. Eisenhower to Frank Clement, 30 October 1954; Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Whitman Files, DDE Library Series, box 8.

7. Quoted in Wildavsky, Aaron, “tva and Power Politics,” American Political Science Review 55 (1961): 586–587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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10. Eisenhower, , Public Papers of the Presidents, 1954, 644.Google Scholar

11. Gordon Clapp to Joseph Dodge, 23 March 1954, Lewis Strauss Papers, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, aec Files, box 24.

12. The account of the Dixon-Yates agreement draws heavily on Wildavsky, Aaron, Dixon-Yates: A Study in Power Politics (New Haven, 1962), 29–96.Google Scholar

13. Legislative Leadership Meeting, Supplementary Notes, 14 July 1954, Whitman Files, Legislative Meetings Series, box 1.

14. Statement by Lewis Strauss, 17 December 1954, Albert Gore Papers, Middle Tennessee State University, Research Files, tva, box 54.

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16. [Albert Gore to Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1955], Albert Gore papers, Research Files, tva, Executive Department 1954–56, box 55.

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18. Press Conference of Lewis Strauss, 17 December 1954, Gore Papers, A56, Department, 1955, aec—Dixon-Yates tva.

19. Eisenhower, , Public Papers of the President, 1954, 273.Google Scholar

20. Speech by Senator Lister Hill, 18 February 1955, Gore Papers, Research Files, tva, box 54.

21. Memorandum for the President on the Dixon-Yates Contract from Rowland Hughes, [1955], Whitman Files, Administrative Series, box 12.

22. Time, 27 June 1955, 15–16.

23. DDE Memo for the Files, 14 July 1955, Whitman Files, Whitman Diaries, box 6.

24. Ibid.

25. Eisenhower, Dwight D., Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1955 (Washington, D.C., 1956), 232.Google Scholar

26. Herbert Vogel to Dwight Eisenhower, 21 January 1955, Eisenhower Library, White House Central Files, OF 51, box 235.

27. Harry Curtis and Raymond Paty to Rowland Hughes, 7 March 1955, and Herbert Vogel to Rowland Hughes, 7 March 1955; Eisenhower Library, Jack Martin Papers, box 3.

28. Herbert Vogel to Dennis Chavez, 27 May 1955, Martin Papers, box 3.

29. Hard, William, “Washington's Big Brawl: Dixon-Yates,” Reader's Digest, 04 1955, 22.Google Scholar

30. Gore to Floyd Jones, 16 April 1955, Gore Papers, A57, tva—General, 1955; Gore to Thomas Allen, 6 February 1956, Gore Papers, B52, Legislation, Public Works, tva—Financing, 1956.

31. Moley, Raymond, “Senator Kerr's Trojan Horse,” Newsweek, 5 03 1956, 96.Google Scholar

32. Vogel to Eisenhower, 21 January 1955.

33. “Draft of Legislation to Authorize tva to Issue Revenue Bonds,” 17 May 1955, Eisenhower Library, Gerald Morgan Papers, box 28.

34. Vogel to Eisenhower, 21 January 1955.

35. Legislative Leadership Meeting Supplementary Notes, 28 May 1957, Whitman Files, Legislative Meetings Series, box 2. Emphasis in the original.

36. Eisenhower, , Mandate for Change (New York, 1963), 392–394Google Scholar. The supporters of this loan were persistent; they reapplied every year between 1957 and 1960, and Benson blocked it every time.

37. Benson, Ezra Taft, “An American Problem,” Vital Speeches of the Day, 1 07 1959, 555.Google Scholar

38. Quoted in Eisenhower, Dwight, Mandate for Change, 1953–1956, 392–394.Google Scholar

39. Quoted in ibid.

40. Hagerty Diary, 3 January 1955; Eisenhower Library, James Hagerty Papers, box 1a.

41. Hamilton, K. W., “Lights Out—Power Off!” New Republic, 26 04 1953, 14.Google Scholar

42. This demonstrates the difficulty in comparing the cost of government and private projects. Often water projects delivered great benefits in the form of flood control, and it was perfectly reasonable for the federal government to allocate some of the expense to this category. Private dams could not do this, even if they too controlled floods, because they could not collect money from those who benefited. Accordingly, consumers of electricity had to bear all the burden of constructing private dams.

43. Quoted in Choate, Charles, “The New School of Thought: Reclamation and the Fair Deal, 1945–1953,” Journal of the West 22 (1983): 59.Google Scholar

44. Memorandum on Power Policy from Harold Ickes, 3 January 1946, Whitman Files, Cabinet Series, box 2.

45. Western Governors' Conference, 20 August 1952, Whitman Files, Speech Series, box 3.

46. Memorandum on Power Policy, [January 1954], Eisenhower Library, WHCF, OF 140-A, box 725.

47. Address by Douglas McKay to the Commonwealth Club, 21 August 1953, WHCF, OF 140-A, box 725.

48. Department of Interior Power Policy, 31 July 1953, Whitman Files, Cabinet Series, box 2.

49. New Republic, 7 December 1953, 12–13, 23 December 1953, 4.

50. Business Week, 10 September 1955, 138–39.

51. “Diary,” 15 February 1955, in The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower: the Presidency, vol. 16, ed. Van Ee, Daun (Baltimore, 1996), document 1303.Google Scholar

52. Memorandum for Col. Goodpaster, 3 November 1955, Bragdon Records, box 12.

53. Campaign Speech on “Whole Hog Government,” [October 1952], Eisenhower Library, Stephen Benedict Papers, box 7.

54. Notes recorded while Under Secretary of Interior, June–July 1954, Eisenhower Library, Ralph Tudor Papers, box 1.

55. Mahar, Franklyn D., “The Politics of Power: The Oregon Test for Partnership,” Pacific Northwest Quarterly 65 (1974): 33.Google Scholar

56. Ibid., 31–34.

57. Ibid., 33–35.

58. Ibid., 35–36.

59. A mill is one thousandth of a dollar, or a tenth of a cent. It is the standard measure for comparing the cost of generating power.

60. Percy Rappaport to Secretary of the Interior, 29 September 1955, Bragdon Records, box 82; W. A. Dexhiemer to Secretary of the Interior, 11 February 1957, Eisenhower Library, Elmer Bennett Papers, box 28.

61. Sacramento Bee, 21 February 1957, Farmer-Labor News, 22 February 1957, clippings, Eisenhower Library, Fred Seaton Papers, Interior Department Series, Reclamation Subseries, box 2.

62. Address by Fred Seaton, 21 March 1958, Elmer Bennett Papers, box 28.

63. Interview with Elmer Bennett, 23 August 1976, Eisenhower Library Oral History Collection.

64. Dwight Eisenhower to James Murray, 4 February 1955, Bragdon Records, box 35; Minutes of Legislative Meeting, 10 July 1956, Whitman Files, Whitman Diaries, box 8.

65. An acre-foot is the amount of water needed to cover an acre to the depth of one foot.

66. Staff Paper, [1955], Bragdon Papers, box 35.

67. Speech by Senator Wayne Morse, 22 November 1958, Eisenhower Library, Fred Seaton Papers, Interior Department Series, Reclamation Subseries, box 2

68. The Nation, 16 May 1953, 3.

69. “Hell's Canyon: A National Issue,” Staff of Senate Republican Policy Committee, 13 April 1955, Eisenhower Library, WHCF, OF 115-E-8, box 838.

70. Rural Electrification, June 1957, 19.

71. Ibid.; Speech by Senator Wayne Morse, 22 November 1958.

72. Newsweek, 1 July 1957, 17.

73. The Oregonian, 22 June 1957, clipping, Seaton Papers, Reclamation Subseries, box 2. For a broader discussion of these maneuvers, see Mann, Robert, The Walls of Jericho: Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Russell, and the Struggle for Civil Rights (New York, 1996), 184–188.Google Scholar

74. Fred Seaton to President Eisenhower, 5 June 1958, Whitman Files, box 32.

75. Leuchtenburg, William E., “The Niagara Compromise,” Current History 34 (05 1958): 270–272.Google Scholar

76. Cabinet Meeting Notes, 8 May 1953, Eisenhower Library, Office of Staff Secretary Records, Cabinet Series, box 1. For comparable expressions from President Eisenhower, see Supplementary Notes on Legislative Conference, 1 May 1956, Whitman Files, DDE Diary Series, box 15; Minutes of Meetings with Congressmen and Senators, 5 June 1956, DDE Diary Series, box 16f.

77. Minutes of 8 May 1953, Cabinet Meeting, Whitman File s, Cabinet Series, box 2.

78. House of Representatives, To Authorize the Construction of Certain Works of Improvement in the Niagara River for Power and Other Purposes, 84th Cong., 2d sess., 1956, 15.

79. Ibid., 21.

80. Leuchtenburg, “The Niagara Compromise,” 273–74.

81. Olds, Leland, “Safeguarding the Future,” The Nation, 13 06 1953, 497.Google Scholar

82. Quoted in Nation's Business, 3 February 1953, 98.

83. Hewlett, Richard and Holl, Jack M., Atoms for Peace and War, 1953–1961: Eisenhower and the Atomic Energy Commission (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1989), 22–26.Google Scholar

84. Olds, “Safeguarding the Future,” 496.

85. Statement of Albert Gore, 16 February 1955, Gore Papers, Research Files, Atomic Reactors, Speeches, 1955–56, box 3.

86. Ibid.

87. Hewlett and Holl, Atoms for Peace and War, 115.

88. Ibid., 127–33.

89. Hagerty Diary, 26 June 1954, Hagerty Papers, box 1.

90. Business Week, 30 June 1956, 85.

91. Interview with John McCone, 26 July 1976, Eisenhower Library, Oral History Collection; Hagerty Diary, 19 May 1954, 9 June 1954, Hagerty Papers, box 1.

92. Vance, Harold, “Policy Aspects of Our Nuclear Program,” Vital Speeches of the Day, 15 04 1957, 409.Google Scholar

93. Hewlett and Holl, Atoms for Peace and War, 412–13.

94. Albert Gore to Henry Jackson, 14 December 1956, Gore Papers, B53, Legislation 1957, Atomic Energy Reactors, S151.

95. Press Release from Rep. Sterling Cole, 23 September 1956, Fred Seaton Papers, Eisenhower Library, Subject Series, box 4.

96. Statement of Thomas E. Murray, 23 February 1956, Strauss Papers, aec files, box 72.

97. Ibid.

98. Rural Electrification, March 1957, 25, 68.

99. Statement of Albert Gore, 26 April 1956, Strauss Papers, aec files, box 34.

100. Remarks by Albert Gore, 7 June 1956, Gore Papers, Research Files, Atomic Reactors, Speeches, 1955–56, box 3.

101. New York Times, 21 July 1956, clipping, Michael Martin's work notes, Gore Papers.

102. Excerpt from Speech by Albert Gore, 5 February 1955, Gore Papers, Martin Files, A56, Department, aec—General, 1955.

103. Eisenhower to Richardson, Sidney W., 21 08 1957, in The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower: the Presidency, vol. 18, ed. Galambos, Louis (Baltimore, 2001), document 302.Google Scholar

104. Vance, Vital Speeches, 410.

105. Memo for the Files of Lewis Strauss, 25 July 1956, Strauss Papers, aec files, box 26E.

106. Address by Willis Gale, 26 September 1956, Gore Papers, Research Files, Atomic Reactors, Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, box 3.

107. The measure required utilities to purchase $500 million insurance against nuclear accidents, but it would indemnify them for any damages above that amount.

108. New York Times, 16 August 1956, 13.

109. Remarks by Lewis Strauss, 10 October 1956, Strauss Papers, aec files, box 34.

110. Wall Street Journal, 11 July 1957, 22.

111. The consortium consisted of France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, the same countries that made up the European Coal and Steel Community and, later, the European Community.

112. Hewlett and Holl, Atoms for Peace and War, 410.

113. Ibid., 427.

114. Remarks by Lewis Strauss, 11 December 1956, Gore Papers, Research Files, aec General, box 1.

115. Hewlett and Holl, Atoms for Peace and War, 425–29; Forum Memo, June 1958, Gore Papers, Research File, aec General, 1955–56, box 1.

116. McCone Interview, Eisenhower Library.

117. “Evaluation of the Russian Threat in the Field of Electric Power,” Edwin Vennard, Edison Electric Institute, [1959], Gore Papers, Research File, aec General, box 1.

118. Hewlett and Holl, Atoms for Peace and War, 502.

119. aec Press Release, 19 August 1960, Strauss Papers, aec Files, box 86.

120. John McCone, “Eight Years of Progress in Atomic Energy,” 1 January 1961, Eisenhower Library, McCone Papers, box 1.

121. Memorandum of Discussion with Professor Emelyanov, 26 September 1959, Eisenhower Library, McCone Papers, box 1.

122. Breeder reactors use plutonium rather than uranium as fuel, producing more of this extremely toxic element than they consume—hence the term “breeder.” Unlike conventional uranium reactors, breeder reactors can, at least in theory, explode. These factors, combined with the relative paucity of experience with this sort of reactor, raised understandable doubts about building a breeder reactor in a heavily populated area.

123. Dwight Eisenhower to Edgar Eisenhower, 2 May 1956, Whitman Files, DDE Diary Series, box 15, Eisenhower Library.

124. Examples of the critical assessment of Eisenhower are Goldman, Eric, The Crucial Decade and After: America, 1945–1960 (New York, 1960)Google Scholar; Chiles, Marquis, Eisenhower: Captive Hero, A Critical Study of the General and the President (New York, 1958)Google Scholar; and White, Theodore H., The Making of the President, 1960 (New York, 1961)Google Scholar. The standard revisionist account of Eisenhower's presidency is Greenstein, Fred I., The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader (New York, 1982)Google Scholar, but Wills, Garry, Nixon Agonistes: The Crisis of the Self-Made Man (New York, 1969)Google Scholar, and Divine, Robert, Eisenhower and the Cold War (New York, 1981)Google Scholar, made important contributions as well. The most complete account of Eisenhower's presidency remains Ambrose, Stephen, Eisenhower: The President (New York, 1984).Google Scholar