born Oct. 7, 1888, Adair county, Iowa, U.S.
died Nov. 18, 1965, Danbury, Conn.
U.S. politician.
An agricultural expert, he succeeded his father as editor of Wallace's Farmer (192433). In 1932 he helped Franklin D. Roosevelt win Iowa. As U.S. secretary of agriculture (193340), he shaped the administration's farm policy, including the Agricultural Adjustment Administration . He served as vice president during Roosevelt's third term but was replaced in 1944 by Harry S. Truman . He was later secretary of commerce (194546). Very liberal in his views, he helped form the Progressive Party in 1948 and was its candidate against Truman in the presidential election, receiving more than one million votes. He wrote several books, including Sixty Million Jobs (1945).