Louis H. Bean | |
|---|---|
 Bean in 1943 | |
| Born | Louis Hyman Bean April 15, 1896 Lithuania, Russian Empire |
| Died | August 5, 1994 (aged 98) |
| Occupation(s) | Economic and political analyst |
| Children | 2 |
Louis Hyman Bean (April 15, 1896 – August 5, 1994) was an American economic and political analyst who predicted Harry S. Truman's victory in the 1948 presidential election.
Bean was born in Lithuania, which was then part of the Russian Empire. He immigrated to the United States as a child with his family and settled in Laconia, New Hampshire. After receiving his preliminary education and graduating from college with a Bachelor of Arts degree, he entered Harvard Business School in Massachusetts, and, in 1922, he received his Master of Business Administration degree. In 1923, Bean became a member of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics at the United States Department of Agriculture; he worked on estimates of farm income and price indices. Bean's charts were used in Congress in discussions about the McNary–Haugen Farm Relief Bill. Bean was closely associated with Henry A. Wallace; he served as his economic advisor and also worked on several of Wallace's books. He wrote articles for the journal, The Review of Economics and Statistics.
During the late 1930s, Bean began developing an interest in political analysis and predicted the results of many elections. After his successful projection in the 1948 presidential election, Life magazine referred to him as the "Lone Prophet" of Truman's victory.[1] Bean wrote many books, including Ballot Behavior and How to Predict Elections. He continued making electoral analyses and projections in the 1950s and 1960s, most of which were accurate. He died in 1994 at his home in Arlington, Virginia.
- ^ Rosenof 1999, p. 72.