On January 5, 1949, President Harry S. Truman delivered his Fair Deal proposal to a Joint Session of Congress. Truman described the United States as a society that is “conservative about the values and principles we cherish; but we are forward-looking in protecting those values and principles and in extending their benefits.” Truman stressed that the U.S. “cannot maintain prosperity unless we have a fair distribution of opportunity and . . . widespread consumption of the products of our factories and farms.” After outlining the challenges that the nation faced, Truman submitted an eight-point program to Congress. The President requested action on initiatives such as an increase in the minimum wage, civil rights legislation, and national health care. Finally, he outlined a number of foreign policy initiatives
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Truman's "Fair Deal", a follow-up to FDR's New Deal, had the same effect on every Republican in office. They shat themselves. If enacted in its entirety it would have doomed Republicans' electability for two generations, from which no Party could recover. It was actually an existential threat to the GOP. So they turned to the most diabolical political mind they had available.
The Toymaker.
In his secret(a) treehouse workshop/lair (see how diabolical he was, nobody looks for a lair in a treehouse!), the Toymaker went to work. Using all of the dark arts at his disposal (there must have been some), he produced an unknown(a) number of devastating "Fair Deal Circus" pull toys to mock the very notion of fairness.
At 12" long and 3 1/2" high it has "Fair Deal Circus", and "Balky Policy Wagon", in the small windows on the back "Out of the Parade" and "Can't Make the Grade". The top window shows green, yellow and red stripes too diabolical for me to have figured out the significance of...
But the Toymaker was far from done. Pull the toy forward (get it), and voila!
The donkey turns into an elephant...
The slogan in the side windows changes to "Time for a Change, Vote Republican, Move America Forward"...
The window on top turns Red, White and Blue...
At this point the Toymaker could have rested in his treehouse lair, but that would not have been enough to cement his diabolical legacy, so he continued...
This one is about 5" long, 3" high, and has a pull string that when pulled, before the rubber drive belt deteriorated, would make the wagon back up (the balky policy part).
Having hit his stride, the Toymaker started work on his masterpiece, this behemoth:
Measuring 18" long and 6" high, this one-of-a-kind (b) piece devastated the attempt to pass the Fair Deal, and caused a 65 year (two generation) delay in anything resembling National Health Insurance.(c)
And the identity of the Toymaker? Still, after six decades, one of the Country's most closely guarded secrets(a).
a From Me
b As far as I know
c Republicans and "Dixiecrats" holding majorities in both Houses had some influence, but it was mainly the toy.