-- 1955
Because of the "monumental" challenges of disposing of crops long priced too expensively for world markets, Benson determined that "extraordinary" effort was required; and in 1955, he embarked on a trade mission to Latin America, Canada, and Europe. (1)
-- Feb 6, 1955
The Bensons invited Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower to join them at the Virginia ranch of J. Willard Marriott, a successful hotelier and Washington DC Stake president. The Bensons treated their guests to a Mormon-oriented evening of singing, poem recitations, and humorous skits. (2)
-- October 29, 1955
Eisenhower announced support for the farm program of Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson, opposing a return to high fixed-price supports for basic commodities. The issue of declining farm income became an increasingly important issue heading into the 1956 elections. (3)
-- Nov 12, 1955
Flora was named national "Home Maker of the Year." (4)
-- During 1955
"Apostles Delbert L. Stapley and Adam S. Bennion met with the First Presidency and recommended the appointment of a new general committee that would once again attempt "to correlate the courses of study given by the Quorums and auxiliaries of the Church." McKay told them that their suggestion was "meritorious" and asked that they make it formal so that it might come before the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve. Four years thereafter, with no explanation for the delay, McKay acted upon their recommendation and institution the modern era of correlation. (5)
-- March, 1956
When Benson was unable to address the National Republican Women's Convention, Reed, now discharged from the Air Force, substituted. Thereafter, according to Benson, the articulate, charismatic Reed "came in great demand as a speaker at Republican conclaves." Employed by the Republican National Committee, Reed acted as his father's companion on the campaign trail, helped draft Benson's political speeches, and arranged press conferences. That year, Reed traveled some 100,000 miles, visiting nearly forty states. "If he sensed a crisis," Benson proudly wrote, "he would drop everything, jeopardizing his own future career and schoolwork to help." (2)
-- 1957-58
Regarding Benson's attacks on dairy supports, the Hoover had the FBI do some spying into whether Benson would resign, talking to aides and even Benson himself in passing. Whether Benson would go voluntarily would be of interest to the White House, but censors blacked out exactly where reports of the spying were sent. (6)
-- Early 1957
As Benson began his second term as Secretary of Agriculture in early 1957, he faced the continuing, seemingly insoluble problem of mounting commodity—specifically, wheat—surpluses. The Soil Bank [a program to pay farmers to retire land from production for 10 years] required significantly large monetary appropriations but in actual practice did little to address the problem of over-production, especially by smaller farmers. Because of an "explosion" in agriculture-related technology, farmers were producing more than ever before. Not surprisingly, Benson was even more convinced that the only effective answer to surpluses was flexible-to-no federal price supports and a truly laissez-faire free-market economy where demand and supply set prices. (2)
Endnotes:
1 - Gary James Bergera, '"Rising above Principle": Ezra Taft Benson as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, 1953-61, Part 1', Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (Fall 2008, v 41)
2 - Gary James Bergera, "Weak-Kneed Republicans and Socialist Democrats": Ezra Taft Benson as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, 1953-61, Part 2, Dialogue : A Journal of Mormon Thought, (Winter 2008, vol 41)
3 - Chronology of the U.S. Presidency edited by Mathew Manweller
4 - Church News, November 12, 1955. For context and full citation, see Gary James Bergera, "Weak-Kneed Republicans and Socialist Democrats": Ezra Taft Benson as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, 1953-61, Part 2, Dialogue : A Journal of Mormon Thought, (Winter 2008, vol 41)
5 - Prince, David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism, by Greg Prince
6 - "Ike and the Birch Society," Lee Davidson, Salt Lake Tribune, November 16, 2010
LDS History Chronology: Ezra Taft Benson
Mormon History Timeline: the life of Ezra Taft Benson
http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/
