⇒ PDF Free Peter Norbeck Prairie Statesman Gilbert Courtland Fite R Alton Lee 9780974919508 Books

Peter Norbeck Prairie Statesman Gilbert Courtland Fite R Alton Lee 9780974919508 Books

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Peter Norbeck Prairie Statesman Gilbert Courtland Fite R Alton Lee 9780974919508 Books

Was thrilled to find it available. Historical Society will use it as one of the raffle drawing prizes. Museum has one but wanted one for the raffle.


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Peter Norbeck Prairie Statesman Gilbert Courtland Fite R Alton Lee 9780974919508 Books Reviews

The good news is that this 1948 book has just been republished by the South Dakota State Historical Press and my signed copy, that arrived today, from author Gilbert Fite now accompanies the 1948 original that this fine historian also sent me two years ago.

This publication on Senator Norbeck has been virtually unobtainable which is why I tracked the author down after reading his excellent 1952 book 'Mount Rushmore' - still the best on the politics and history of the great memorial and fortunately still available via 's used book service.

Norbeck was a most unusual Republican, supporting state enterprises, but one who suited the times and Fite shows how he successfully prevented the Nonpartisan League enjoying the same success in South Dakota that they had enjoyed in North Dakota by capturing their political ground.

While attacking them as radical socialists and disloyal to the Great War effort, the then state governor denied he was a socialist and that entrance by the state into certain lines of business was not socialism, particularly when it prevented exorbitant profits being made by monopolists. Shades of Teddy Roosevelt.

Whether it was progressivism or socialism Norbeck certainly promoted things like rural credit programs, a state coal mine and cement plant (the latter lasting for three-quarters of a century) while his sponsorship of good roads, railways free text book schemes, assistance to war veterans, grain-marketing acts are all detailed.

Given all this it is perhaps not surprising that Norbeck was one of the few GOP survivors in the era of FDR and the New Deal. Fite describes vividly the tensions in Republican ranks in SD between the prairie populist and conservatives in the leadup to the 1932 watershed election that obviously pointed to the end of Republican rule, under the impact of the Great Depression.

After an easy primary win Norbeck was returned for a third term when he beat his Democratic rival by 26,000 votes, despite the fact that in the presidential contest FDR carried the state by 84,000 votes. By the 1936 election the ailing SD Republican senator was positively endorsing FDR against GOP challenger Alf Landon!

Like the earlier Roosevelt (TR), Norbeck was also a great conservationist and as Fite points out Mt Rusmore, Custer State Park, the Badlands National Park, the Migratory Bird Act are all testimonials to his efforts as both a state and federal legislator. Norbeck's wish, "I would rather be remembered as an artist than as US senator," would certainly earn favour with all those, (including this Australian reviewer), who have travelled along the aesthetically pleasing Needles Highway in the Black Hills,as part of the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway, artistic proof of his insistence for the road to blend in with the environment rather than disturb the beauty of this wonderful area.

Norbeck's capacity to understand the importance of harmonising roads and tourism with the environment has helped make the Mount Rushmore and Black Hills area such an enduring attraction.

As an agricultural historian and a native of South Dakota, Professor Fite, is clearly at home with his subject and his works have continually survived the test of time. The re-publication of this fine biography is long overdue and hopefully it will be well received by American readers and, like his 'Mount Rushmore,' is well worth reading by anyone with a passion for western or Great Plains history.

On a personal note I wish the author, now in Florida, a long and healthy retirement and thank him for his contribution to making South Dakotan and American history such a pleasurable experience to the reader.

FOOTNOTE Professor Fite passed away on 13 July 2010. He was 92. I regret not having the chance to meet him face-to-face, something he invited me to do if I made it back to the USA.
Was thrilled to find it available. Historical Society will use it as one of the raffle drawing prizes. Museum has one but wanted one for the raffle.