Calvin Benham Baldwin

Calvin Benham Baldwin, also known as Calvin B Baldwin, C.B. Baldwin, and generally as "Beanie" Baldwin (August 19, 1902 – May 12, 1975), served as assistant to US Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace and administrator of the New Deal's Farm Security Administration in the 1930s, worked for the CIO in the 1940s, and then worked with the Progressive Party from 1948 to 1955.

Background

Calvin Benham Baldwin was born on August 19, 1902, in Radford, Virginia. He attended the Virginia Polytechnic Institute from 1920 to 1923. By August 1948, the Washington Post had dubbed Baldwin along with John Abt and Lee Pressman (the latter two members of the Soviet underground Ware Group involved in the Hiss-Chambers Case) as "influential insiders" and "stage managers" in the Wallace campaign.

Baldwin remained the Progressive Party's national secretary until it closed in 1955.

He died of cancer on May 12, 1975, in Bethesda, Maryland.

W.E.B. Du Bois pledged his support to the 1948 Wallace campaign in a latter to Baldwin that reads:

New York City, July 15, 1948Dear Mr. Baldwin,As I have written you before, I am unable to take any active part in partisan politics during this campaign. This is because of the vote of the Board of Directors of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, passed in 1944. This vote forbids salaried officers of the Association from taking part in political campaigns. Had I known of this action before rejoining the Association in 1944, I would have insisted on a clearer understanding. I agree with the aim of the Association to be non-partisan, but I am certain that this action does not accomplish this, and in fact intense partisan activity on the part of closely connected with the Association is putting us very distinctly in politics.Nevertheless, my duty is clear to me. I will obey the letter of the Board's vote, and for that reason, will not attend the Philadelphia meeting or act on any of its committees.On the other hand, I will retain my right to vote, of which no organization can legally deprive me, and whenever I consider it necessary I will publicly announce my choice of Henry Wallace for president and the reasons therefore. In any such announcement, I will be careful to say that this is my personal opinion and in no way expresses or seeks to express the policy of the NAACP or any of its members.Very sincerely yours,W.E.B. Du Bois

Son Calvin Benham Baldwin Jr., recalled:

My father... was a New Dealer, and headed up Farm Security Administration during the New Deal. When he left government, he helped organize the CIO Political Action Committee. Then he helped organize the Progressive Party, and was Henry Wallace's campaign manager when he ran for President in 1948. So I grew up in a very political family. That was, I'd say, a disastrous campaign. Although the Progressives claim that they pushed Harry Truman to the left, and that's what led to that surprising victory in 1948, when he beat Dewey.

Legacy

In his obituary, the New York Times wrote:

Mr. Baldwin served from 1940 to 1943, as Administrator of the Farm Security Administration, regarded by many historians as one of the most successful, if controversial, New Deal agencies. He was accused of radicalism and of trying to "communize American agriculture." Against this opposition, Roosevelt warmly endorsed "the high standard of public service" that characterized Mr. Baldwin's career.

The University of Iowa's biography states: "A supporter of the New Deal's most radical programs, C.B. Baldwin favored national health insurance, guaranteed jobs for the poor, and expanded federal housing."