Henry Wallace in recent years has mostly been centered around his unsuccessful bid for the 1948 Presidential election and his third party controversies.

But before that, when he was Secretary of Agriculture, he was an ardent New Deal supporter and a vigorous advocate for the causes of Agriculture, Labor and the blue-collar worker.

On April 22, 1939 he delivered an address at the annual Jefferson Day Dinner in Washington. His topic was "A Progressive Democracy In A Changing World".

In case you haven't heard him in this context, here he is:

Henry Wallace: “In this job of rebuilding, an essential role must fall to businessmen. This Twentieth century is the Machine Age and the Machine Age is an age of business. American life as we know it centers largely around business. And without the constructive help of businessmen, cooperating with the constructive leadership of Agriculture, the constructive leadership of Labor and the constructive leadership of government, the general welfare cannot be adequately served.”

He is introduced by Postmaster General James Farley.

Just thought you'd like to know.