Henry Wallace Was “Berned” By The DNC Too
By: Dy J Vargas
Tags: DNC, Bernie Sanders, Henry Wallace, Voting, Capitalism

While I’m nowhere near the first to suggest this comparison, rather than focusing on the corruption of the DNC or duopoly in general, first we will examine Wallace and the parallels. Then we will conjecture, what if we had President Wallace while Truman remained a junior senator? Which leads to our final purpose of advocating for a preferential plus quasi-parliamentary voting system (in some ways, no parties would be ideal, but perhaps too naive). We were warned that parties were a European import we did not need in the farewell address of George Washington. People, however, tend to find & create groups and “tribes” so we have had a duopolitic since the founding (Federalists and Anti-Federalists).

Others have already written about Wallace in 1944 warning about fascism and the parallels of Wallace’s thesis to today with trump. Others might know Wallace as the person who made a speech about the “common man [person].” Wallace repeatedly said that issues of social, economic and racial justice were of paramount importance. Some may remember Wallace as a champion of agriculture, while others may remember the pig slaughter that started Wallace’s first term as Secretary of Agriculture. However, most people are unfamiliar with even the name Wallace, let alone being one of our Vice Presidents who had served in government for quite some time in other capacities.

You can currently watch Oliver Stone’s Untold History of the United States on Netflix. In fact, that may have spurred your research leading you here. Overall, it is decent, mostly accurate, but sometimes interpretations of primary sources are based on limited context without competing sources. That said, Wallace comes up in episodes A & B which I think should be watched first (though Netflix puts them last), as well as the first couple episodes (1–4) up through to Wallace’s run as a Progressive Party candidate. It will likely give you a positive bias towards Wallace, however, as it does not detail as many of the arguments and hatred waged against Wallace’s allies by many in both parties.

Every documentary has selective bias when choosing sources, such as any piece like this. Some of it is due to flow or time considerations and not meant to be limited. So it is important to notate that, verify sources cited, and then do your own research to follow-up and consider more viewpoints than just pro & con (but the spectrum of nuance; the many different viewpoints that a wider audience will react with).

So who was Wallace really? I’ve already linked to several biographies and articles on Wallace, so let me give you my op-ed on Wallace. You can also click here for books written by Wallace.

Wallace was an accomplished agricultural scientist! Wallace’s scientific achievements have contributed to this day demonstrating forward-thinking. Wallace is not Bernie in the sense that Wallace was not as “woke.” Wallace’s Christian faith, though liberal, was still very important to Wallace & sometimes taints speeches with almost conversionary flair. Of course, not many Americans & Europeans at the time considered the colonial imperialism of conversion to Christianity (seeing it as going in step with spreading freedom and democracy). Wallace was very progressive for the time, but still not a full out Socialist like Eugene Debs. Then again, Bernie does not go so far as Debs went, although close enough.

The 1900 election was a pivotal election for continued imperialism or to return to a Jeffersonian Democratic-Republican sense of agriculturalism, non-intervention & limited national banking. McKinley defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan’s final run for the presidency, with Debs barely making a dent. Socialism was forever lambasted as “evil” within the US mindset until the rise of Bernie. Debs said things that out of context & nuance can sound disqualifying, like “…while there is a criminal element, I am of it…” These were ways that Debs was showing that even the mob or petty criminals are using a criminal system to get more even with the uneven playing ground the government gives. But to 2020 ears, hearing Debs speak can still be jarring & taken in an etic context (our own ideas; an outsider) rather than emic one (from within the context of the time & person; an insider).

Wallace was highly critical of Truman during Truman’s presidency. Wallace did run with the 3rd party Progressive Party and lost handily, especially after being accused of being a communist and Soviet sympathizer while being Secretary of Commerce under Truman. Wallace was still immensely popular, but 3rd parties don’t win presidential elections & Wallace’s campaign was both scandalized and sabotaged.

Wallace would not be considered a true socialist by emic or etic standards. Though compared to Bernie, one could look at voting patterns and platforms to make a comparison enough that they share a similar ideology as many other articles have done since Bernie took stage, and especially after the DNC killed Bernie’s chances before even CA got to vote.

More importantly, look up speeches (videos & transcripts) as they are readily available online and at the library so you can make up your own mind about who Henry Wallace really is.