Fair Deal
Template:Progressivism In United States history, the Fair Deal was U.S. President Harry S. Truman's policy of social improvement, outlined in his 1949 State of the Union Address to Congress on January 5, 1949. Truman stated that "Every segment of our population, and every individual, has a right to expect from his government a fair deal." He was unable to pass any major part through Congress. Only one of his Fair Deal bills, an initiative to expand unemployment benefits, was ever enacted. Despite this lack of contemporary legislative success, though, the Fair Deal remains significant in establishing a call for universal health care as a rallying cry for the Democratic Party. Lyndon Johnson credited Truman's unfulfilled program as influencing Great Society measures such as Medicare that Johnson successfully enacted during the 1960s. [1]
Civil Rights Movement
Truman as Senator had not supported the nascent Civil Rights Movement. As President, however, he integrated the armed forces and appointed the first federal civil rights committee responsible for investigating discrimination based on race or religion. Its report clearly showed African-Americans' second-rate legal status, and Truman used it to push for his reforms. In a 1947 speech to the NAACP, which marked the first time a sitting President had ever addressed the group, Truman said "Every man should have the right to a decent home, the right to an education, the right to adequate medical care, the right to a worthwhile job, the right to an equal share in the making of public decisions through the ballot, and the right to a fair trial in a fair court."[2]
National reform
The range and breadth of Truman's "Fair Deal" proposals stretched from increased welfare to slum clearance. However, he was able to pass almost none of the proposed plans. Truman supported increasing Social Security benefits, unemployment relief, a minimum wage increase of over 50%, and a national healthcare plan.[3]
References
- Hamby, Alonzo L. Man of the People: A Life of Harry S. Truman (1995)