George McGovern

McGovern, the liberal South Dakota Democrat, and Bob Dole, the Kansas Republican, chaired and served on the Senate's nutrition committee together and in 1977 reformed the food stamp programme, removing the requirement that recipients pay cash for their stamps, which greatly expanded participation. They later co-founded an international school meals programme. The coalition rested on farm-state interests as much as compassion: food aid also supported agricultural markets, a pairing that has held the 'farm bill' coalition together since.