Factories in the Fallows: The Political Economy of America’s Rural Heartland, 1945-1980 Keith Orejel Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2015 © 2015 Keith Orejel All rights reserved ABSTRACT Factories in the Fallows: The Political Economy of America’s Rural Heartland Keith Orejel This dissertation analyzes the economic and political transformation of America’s rural heartland after World War II. Examining the predominantly white, Protestant communities of southern Iowa and northern Arkansas, this dissertation shows how a prolonged economic crisis in the countryside gave rise to a grassroots pro-capitalist movement that came to dominate rural politics. Between 1920 and 1970, mechanization and scientific advancements pushed productivity in agriculture to remarkable levels. With capital investments replacing demand for labor, fewer workers were needed in farming. As job opportunities in agriculture disappeared, millions of people left rural areas. Country schools, churches, and businesses struggled to survive as populations dwindled. Many who stayed in rural communities suffered from widespread unemployment and poverty. Starting in the 1940s, small-town businessmen and state development experts proposed to solve this crisis by industrializing the countryside. Local boosters argued that newly acquired factories would stabilize rural areas by providing jobs for unemployed farmers and attracting new residents to small communities. Manufacturing payrolls were also expected to help local businesses by increasing consumer spending. In order to attract industrial plants, small-town business leaders modernized rural infrastructure—such as roads, sewers, and electrical systems—and improved civic institutions—including schools and hospitals. In the mid 1950s, these efforts began to pay off, as corporations started locating branch plants in rural areas. During the 1960s and 70s, rural America experienced an industrial boom, as many corporations left urban industrial centers in search of cheaper labor, lower taxes, and weaker unions. In the crucible of this campaign, small-town business leaders forged a unique political ideology that revolved around the imperatives of industrial development. To finance community and infrastructural upgrades, boosters argued for robust state and federal spending on vital improvements. Likewise, local elites favored economic planning over the free market, believing in rationally directed development. In order to lure capital investment, small-town business leaders manipulated the tax code to benefit corporate interests, while supporting legislation, such as anti-union right-to-work laws, that hampered organized labor. Local boosters also championed various governmental reforms meant to maximize efficiency and eliminate waste, concluding that this would produce enough revenue to fund necessary community improvements without raising taxes. In total, small-town business leaders believed that the central role of the American government was to spur capitalist development and private business growth. During the 1950s and 60s, small-town business leaders in southern Iowa and northern Arkansas campaigned to bring manufacturers to their communities, while also promoting their political vision within the countryside. As many depressed rural communities gained industrial plants during the 1960s, small-town business politics gained widespread popularity. In the late 1960s, the rural and small-town electorate united behind business backed “middle of the road” Republican politicians. Led by presidential candidate Richard Nixon, the GOP achieved a decisive political victory in 1968, winning electoral contests throughout America’s rural heartland. Since then, rural Americans have remained solidly Republican. However, GOP domination has been far from total. Starting in the mid 1970s, centrist Democrats competed for the rural electorate by embracing an economic agenda similar to their GOP rivals. After 1975, rural voters helped foster a bipartisan pro-business consensus, as both parties appealed to the countryside electorate by promising to spur economic growth with corporate friendly policies. Table of Contents Introduction 1 Chapter 1 The Crisis of America’s Rural Heartland 21 Chapter 2 World War II and the Origins of Rural Industrial Development in Arkansas and Iowa 56 Chapter 3 “Private Enterprise Was on Trial”: Industrial Development, Business Mobilization, and One-Party Politics 87 Chapter 4 ‘It Is the Dream and Ambition of Every Small Town To Become an Industrial Center:’ Small-Town Business Politics in the American Heartland 131 Chapter 5 The Rise of Business Republicanism in Arkansas and Iowa, 1955-1964 187 Chapter 6 The Rural Industrial Boom 234 Chapter 7 The Triumph of Business Politics in America’s Rural Heartland 279 Epilogue The Nonmetropolitan Turnaround and Post-Agricultural Rural America 334 Bibliography 346 i Acknowledgments This dissertation would not have been possible without the help of many people. While an undergraduate at the University of California, Berkeley, I had the privilege of learning from some of the most talented people that our profession has to offer. Waldo Martin and Mark Brilliant encouraged me to pursue a graduate degree in history, while also serving as exemplary mentors and teachers. William Wagner, a graduate student at Berkeley when I first met him and now a professor in his own right, helped guide me through every stage of my early academic career and set a standard for teaching that I still aspire to. While in graduate school, I was blessed to have friends and colleagues who sustained me intellectually, academically, and psychologically. Samuel Biagetti, Alex Cummings, Justin Jackson, Nick Juravich, Charles Halvorson, Suzanne Khan, Jessica Lee, Oliver Murphey, Timothy Shenk, Jude Webre, Stephen Wertheim, and Mason Williams all read portions of this dissertation, offering insightful criticisms and feedback that sharpened my analysis. Seth Anziska, Andre Deckrow, Eric Frith, Anna Danziger Halperin, Romeo Guzman, Simon Stevens, and Jeffrey Wayno served as eager intellectual sounding boards and supportive colleagues throughout the course of my graduate career. I owe a great deal of gratitude to Carolyn Arena, a brilliant scholar and wonderful friend, who spent countless hours with me studying, writing, and chatting in every nook and cranny Columbia University had to offer. My greatest intellectual and personal debt is owed to Michael Christopher Low, who offered intellectual praise when I doubted my own abilities, professional guidance as I navigated my way through academia, and, most importantly, a patient ear at the times I needed it most. I received a great deal of support from archivists, librarians, and faculty while undertaking research for my dissertation. I would like to thank all the various staff members at the Special Collections Department of the Iowa State University Library, the Special Collections Department at the University of Iowa Library, and the State Historical Society of Iowa (in both Des Moines and Iowa City). I would also like to thank Wayne Panitini for allowing me access to the Union County Development Association’s records, and Brian Zachary for helping me navigate the Union County Historical Association’s archival holdings. While living in Fayetteville, Arkansas, I received incredible support and warmth from the faculty and library staff at the University of Arkansas. I would especially like to thank Michael Pierce and Patrick Williams for their kindness and intellectual encouragement, as well as their willingness to share their vast knowledge of Arkansas’s political culture. In the Special Collection’s Department of the University of Arkansas Library, I am very appreciative for all the help I received from Thomas Dillard, Geoffrey Stark, and Tim Nutt. Special thanks goes as well to Joshua Youngblood, who shared his limitless archival knowledge with me, schooling me on Arkansas history as well as billiards and darts. I would also like to thank the various members of the Baxter County Historical and Genealogical Society and the Boone County Historical and Railroad Society for their help while I examined their impressive collections. I would like to express my deep appreciation to the University of Arkansas Library and the State Historical Society of Iowa for providing generous financial support for my research. The Doris G. Quinn Foundation Dissertation Completion Fellowship allowed me to dedicate an entire year to writing this dissertation, a luxury that I will be forever grateful. While researching and writing this dissertation, I found a welcoming intellectual home in the Business History Conference. I am grateful to the myriad of BHC participants who commented on the project at several of the organization’s annual conference, with special thanks ii to Joseph Arena, Louis Hyman, Elizabeth Tandy Shermer, and Sean Vanetta. I owe a special intellectual debt to Shane Hamilton, a leading figure in the field of postwar rural history whose scholarship greatly inspired my own. From day one, Shane was an enthusiastic supporter of this project, offering incisive feedback that strengthened my work immeasurably. Over the past seven years, the Department of History at Columbia University has provided an engaging and rigorous intellectual environment. I would like to thank Christopher Brown, Matthew Connelly, Eric Foner, and Evan Haefeli for their