Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson on his farm [1]
Within the Baylor Collections of Political Materials, housed at the W. R. Poage Library, the Hyde H. Murray papers feature three boxes of speeches from Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson. Ranging from years 1958-1961, just over 100 speeches represent the final years of Benson as the Secretary of Agriculture and the beginning years of Murray’s service as minority counsel on the House Agriculture Committee.
As Murray recounts the beginning of his career in Washington in his memoir, “One of the first calls I received was from Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson, who cordially welcomed me to the world of Agriculture politics.” This collection of speeches offers a look into the “world of agricultural politics” in which Murray would spend the next thirty-one years. [2] In a period deeply influenced by a post-World War II economy and politics as well as the rise of the Cold War, Benson’s speeches demonstrate an ecumenical religious turn within the White House as well as the rise of the politics of the Christian Right deeply influencing policy towards agriculture.
This blog post will address Ezra Taft Benson, the final years of his speeches as Secretary of Agriculture, and religious, political, and key policies of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Ezra Taft Benson, Secretary of Agriculture: Biography
For Ezra Taft Benson, both his faith and his farm experience were central themes within his life. Born in 1899 in Whitney, Idaho, his early life centered around time on his family’s farm. In 1921, Benson went on mission to Great Britain through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and married Flora Smith Amussen in 1926. After receiving his master’s degree in 1927, Benson held several local leadership positions both within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and agricultural politics, twice serving as president of his local stakes within The Church, and serving as county agricultural agent, executive secretary of the Idaho Cooperative Council, and executive secretary of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives. [3]
Beginning in the 1940s, however, Benson’s roles became larger and more national in scope. In 1943, Benson was ordained as a member of the church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Almost ten years later in November 1952, President Dwight D. Eisenhower tapped Ezra Taft Benson as his Secretary of Agriculture. Though the offer stood as the first time a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would hold a position in a president’s cabinet, Benson was hesitant to accept the position. Holding reservations due to the state of the American economy and the farm economy of the nation, as well as religious concerns over the military past of the president and conversations about his role in the relationship between church and state, Benson was nonetheless compelled to accept the position by Eisenhower’s statement, “you can’t refuse to serve America.” [4]
Benson ultimately served as Secretary of Agriculture from 1953-1961. He was a controversial Secretary of Agriculture. Believing that the New Deal was deeply problematic for its similarities to socialism, Benson stood against growing farm subsidies and government spending. His position of reducing farm subsidies led to getting egged and heckled during his speeches, and to the public perception that Benson “had done…more to destroy the small farmer than anyone else had done.” [5] Benson strongly believed that his position to remove federal funding would in the long term bring greater benefit to the farmer, declaring, “I pledge to you that I will never do things in the name of helping farmers that actually would work to their disadvantage, and be a disservice to them,” and arguing that “One of my greatest problems as Secretary of Agriculture has been in being misrepresented. There are those who consciously try to do this!… They have tried to force me out of office. They have distorted my actions – sought to create a false image of the Secretary of Agriculture.” [6] Benson remained in his position throughout the conflict, however, which some historians argue was due to his larger calling he had found within his government service. [7]
Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson [8]
[2] Hyde H. Murray, Memoirs of an Ogdensburg Kid, p. 28.
[3] https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/timeline/ezra-taft-benson-timeline?lang=eng
[4] Matthew L. Harris, Watchman on the Tower: Ezra Taft Benson and the Making of the Mormon Right, The University of Utah Press, (Salt Lake City, 2020). P. 31
Baylor Collection of Political Materials W.R. Poage Legislative Library, Waco, Texas. (Hyde H. Murray: Speeches, Box 180, Folder 17). Michigan State Grange, Talk Highlights, Oct. 19, 1960 p.2
Baylor Collection of Political Materials W.R. Poage Legislative Library, Waco, Texas. (Hyde H. Murray: Speeches, Box 180, Folder 46). Rotary Club of Washington D.C., Talk Highlights, Dec. 14, 1960.
[5] Harris, Watchman on the Tower, p.40.
[6] Baylor Collection of Political Materials W.R. Poage Legislative Library, Waco, Texas. (Hyde H. Murray: Speeches, Box 179, Folder 46). Farmer-Businessman Dinner, Annual, Talk Highlights – March 1, 1960, P. 12.
[7] Harris, Watchman on the Tower, p. 42.