The Joint Chiefs of Staff authorize Operation Paperclip on September 3, 1945, establishing a secret program to recruit German scientists, engineers, and technicians for American military and intelligence agencies. The program ultimately brings over 1,600 German scientists and their families to the …
Joint Intelligence Objectives AgencyWar DepartmentWernher von BraunState DepartmentOffice of Strategic Services+1 moreintelligence-apparatusnational-security-stateinstitutional-corruptionwar-crimescold-war+1 more
Congress passes the Renegotiation Act on April 28, 1942, establishing a process to recapture “excessive profits” from war contractors. While presented as a check on war profiteering, the act’s weak enforcement mechanisms and industry-friendly implementation allow most excessive …
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, authorizing the Secretary of War and military commanders to designate “military areas” from which “any or all persons may be excluded.” Though the order never mentions Japanese Americans by name, …
Franklin D. RooseveltWar Relocation AuthorityU.S. Army Western Defense CommandJohn L. DeWittMilton Eisenhower+1 morecivil-libertiesracial-discriminationexecutive-overreachconstitutional-violationproperty-seizure+1 more
Ford Motor Company breaks ground on the Willow Run bomber plant near Ypsilanti, Michigan, on April 17, 1941. The facility, the largest factory under one roof in the world at over 3.5 million square feet, is built entirely with government funds through the Defense Plant Corporation but operated by …
Ford Motor CompanyHenry FordCharles SorensenWar DepartmentDefense Plant Corporationwar-profiteeringcorporate-subsidiesdefense-industrypublic-private-partnershipsmilitary-industrial-complex
The United States government established the War Industries Board (WIB) to coordinate the purchase of war supplies between the War Department and Navy Department during World War I. The WIB existed from July 1917 to December 1918 to coordinate and channel production by setting priorities, fixing …
Bernard BaruchPresident Woodrow WilsonWar DepartmentNavy Departmentworld-war-icorporate-powergovernment-industryrevolving-doorinstitutional-capture
The U.S. Army’s 7th Cavalry surrounds a band of Lakota Sioux Ghost Dancers under Chief Big Foot near Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and massacres over 250 Lakota people, primarily unarmed women, children, and elders. The 7th Cavalry—the same unit …
U.S. 7th CavalryBig Foot (Lakota Chief)Sitting BullLakota SiouxWar Departmentindigenous-genocidemilitary-atrocitiesghost-dancereligious-persecutionwar-crimes
Lieutenant Richard Henry Pratt opens the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania under U.S. government authorization, establishing the blueprint for more than 400 federal Indian boarding schools nationwide designed to forcibly assimilate Native American children through cultural …
Lieutenant Richard Henry PrattU.S. GovernmentWar DepartmentBureau of Indian Affairsindigenous-genocidecultural-genocideforced-assimilationinstitutional-abuseboarding-schools
Throughout the Civil War, military suppliers systematically defraud the government and endanger Union soldiers by selling defective equipment and supplies in what becomes known as the “shoddy” scandal. Contractors sell boots made from cardboard that dissolve in rain, clothing made from …
War DepartmentUnion ArmyWar contractorsShoddy millionaireswar-profiteeringcontract-fraudcorruptiongovernment-contractsaccountability-failure