Researching George Aiken

As governor, Aiken battled the New Deal over its programs for hydroelectric power and flood control in Vermont. As a Northeastern Republican in the Senate, he was one of four Republican cosponsors of the Full Employment Act of 1946. Aiken sponsored the food allotment bill of 1945, which was a forerunner of the food stamp program. He promoted federal aid to education, and sought to establish a minimum wage of 65 cents in 1947. Aiken was an isolationist in 1941 but supported the Truman Doctrine in 1947 and the Marshall Plan in 1948.

In the 1960s and 1970s, he steered a middle course on the Vietnam War, opposing Lyndon Johnson's escalation and supporting Richard Nixon's slow withdrawal policies. Aiken was a strong supporter of the small farmer. As acting chairman of the Senate agriculture committee in 1947, he opposed high rigid price supports. He had to compromise, however, and the Hope-Aiken act of 1948 introduced a sliding scale of price supports. In 1950, Aiken was one of seven Republican senators who denounced in writing the tactics of Senator Joseph McCarthy, warning against those who sought "victory through the selfish political exploitation of fear, bigotry, ignorance and intolerance."

Aiken was a writer of dime novels before he turned to theatre. He became an actor in the troupe of his cousin George C. Howard. In 1852, shortly after the publication of Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, Aiken wrote his stage adaptation. It was performed by Howard's company, with Aiken playing the hero George Harris. The play became a spectacular success. His other works include a dramatization of Ann S. Stephens' novel The Old Homestead. He retired from the stage in 1867.

Aiken's original manuscripts for Uncle Tom's Cabin were passed through the family along with other memorabilia from Howard's company. The family placed the collection at the Harry Ransom Center in 1963.