Brannan, Charles F. 

Brannan, Charles F(ranklin) (b. Aug. 23, 1903, Denver, Colo. - d. July 2, 1992, Denver), U.S. secretary of agriculture (1948-53). In 1935 he became assistant regional attorney of the Resettlement Administration, and later regional attorney in the Department of Agriculture’s office of the solicitor. From November 1941 to April 1944 he was regional director of the Farm Security Administration for Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. He was named assistant secretary of agriculture in June 1944 and secretary of agriculture in June 1948. In 1949 Brannan put forward the “Brannan plan” for farm price supports to be based on a minimum farm purchasing power, which would be subsidized by government payments. This legislative proposal was not enacted by Congress, although Brannan and other administration leaders continued to press for it during 1950. He charged that failure to enact his plan was the cause of such occurrences as dumping millions of dollars of surplus agricultural products which had been purchased by the government. On Aug. 22, 1950, Brannan declared that the government had huge surpluses of dairy foods and dried eggs, in danger of spoiling if not given away. Under Pres. Harry S. Truman’s defense mobilization plan announced Sept. 9, 1950, Brannan was given cognizance over food, farm equipment, and commercial fertilizer. (www.rulers.org).