R. Alton Lee was professor emeritus of history at the University of South Dakota. An acknowledged expert on American political history, Lee wrote widely about the Midwest and the Great Plains. His books include Harry S. Truman: Where Did the Buck Stop? (1991), Eisenhower and Landrum-Griffin: A Study in Labor-Management Politics (1990), and South Dakota Historical Society Press books Principle over Party: The Farmers' Alliance and Populism in South Dakota, 1880-1900 (2011) and A New Deal for South Dakota: Drought, Depression, and Relief, 1920–1941.