Louis H. Bean
Louis H. Bean (15 April 1896 – 5 August 1994) was an American agricultural economist and election analyst.[1][2] His forecast favouring Harry S. Truman in the 1948 presidential election became a prominent example in the history of political prediction.[3]
Education and public service
Bean came to the United States with his family in 1906 and grew up in New Hampshire. He graduated from the University of Rochester in 1919 and received a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard in 1922. He joined the United States Department of Agriculture in 1923, working on agricultural statistics and economic analysis.[2]
From 1933 he advised the Agricultural Adjustment Administration. His later work included providing economic information to Henry Wallace and serving in other federal analytical posts. He returned to the Agriculture Department in 1947 and retired from government service on 30 June 1953.[2]
Election analysis
Bean wrote Ballot Behavior, first issued in 1936 and revised in 1940, and How to Predict Elections in 1948.[2] His Truman forecast proved correct, while his later prediction that Robert Taft would lose his 1950 Senate contest proved wrong.[3]
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library holds papers documenting Bean’s work. Its finding aid describes correspondence, memoranda and other material concerning agricultural economics and his government career.[2]
References
- ↑ Richard Pearson. Louis H. Bean dies at 98. The Washington Post, 6 August 1994; correction 7 August 1994.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library. Papers of Louis H. Bean: finding aid, biographical sketch.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 How elections forecasters became political “prophets”. Associated Press, 8 October 2024.
Attribution
Prepared with reference to the structure and linked topics of the English Wikipedia article, revision 1371845089. Rewritten and checked against the sources cited above; changes have been made. Wikipedia contributors’ material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.