The Office of Price Administration effectively ends on November 9, 1946, when President Truman removes controls on most consumer goods following intense corporate lobbying and deliberate business disruption. The premature decontrol triggers an immediate inflationary spike that harms consumers while …
Office of Price AdministrationHarry TrumanNational Association of ManufacturersU.S. Chamber of CommerceCongress+1 morederegulationcorporate-influenceinflationprice-controlsconsumer-exploitation
President Harry Truman signs the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 on August 1, establishing the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to control the development and production of nuclear weapons and to develop nuclear power. The act creates unprecedented peacetime secrecy powers and establishes the framework for …
CongressHarry TrumanBrien McMahonAtomic Energy CommissionDavid Lilienthal+2 morenational-security-stateregulatory-capturesecrecynuclear-industrymilitary-industrial-complex+1 more
Congress passes the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) on June 11, 1946, establishing uniform procedures for federal agency rulemaking and adjudication. While ostensibly designed to ensure fairness and public participation, the APA creates structural opportunities for well-resourced interests to …
CongressHarry TrumanAmerican Bar AssociationBusiness interestsFederal agenciesregulatory-captureadministrative-lawcorporate-influencederegulation-frameworkinstitutional-design
The Congress of Industrial Organizations launches Operation Dixie in spring 1946, the most ambitious post-World War II campaign to unionize industry in the Southern United States, particularly targeting the textile industry across 12 Southern states. A permanent Southern Organizing Committee is …
Congress of Industrial OrganizationsVan BittnerGeorge BaldanziUnited Auto WorkersUnited Electrical Workers+4 morelabor-organizingoperation-dixieciocorporate-violenceracial-politics+2 more
President Truman signs the Employment Act of 1946 on February 20, a dramatically weakened version of the Full Employment Bill of 1945. The original bill would have guaranteed a federal job to every American seeking work and required the government to maintain full employment. After intensive …
CongressHarry TrumanNational Association of ManufacturersU.S. Chamber of CommerceCouncil of Economic Advisers+1 morecorporate-influencelabor-policyeconomic-policylegislative-capturederegulation
The National Association of Manufacturers launches a massive multi-faceted propaganda campaign in response to the unprecedented 1946 strike wave, when nearly 10 percent of the US workforce goes on strike including major actions by the United Auto Workers against General Motors, United Steel Workers …
National Association of ManufacturersNational Industrial Information CouncilGeneral MotorsU.S. SteelGeneral Electric+3 morepropagandalabor-suppressioncorporate-lobbyingnamunion-busting+1 more
Over five million American workers engage in strikes in the year after V-J Day - the largest strike wave in U.S. history and the closest thing to a national general strike of the 20th century. Workers demand wages to match 16% inflation while their pay rises only 7%. Major strikes include 750,000 …
United Auto WorkersUnited Mine WorkersUnited Steel WorkersWalter ReutherJohn L. Lewis+1 morelabor-organizingstrikescorporate-powerpostwar-economyunion-rights
President Harry S. Truman becomes the first sitting president to propose a comprehensive national health insurance program, sending a special message to Congress calling for federal health insurance that would cover all Americans regardless of employment status. Truman declares healthcare …
Harry S. TrumanAmerican Medical AssociationMorris FishbeinRobert TaftWhitaker and Baxterhealthcareinstitutional-capturelobbyingpropagandaama+1 more
President Harry Truman delivers a special message to Congress on September 6, 1945, presenting an ambitious 21-point program for postwar America that includes full employment legislation, minimum wage increases, national health insurance, expanded Social Security, and permanent Fair Employment …
Harry TrumanCongressNational Association of ManufacturersU.S. Chamber of CommerceConservative Coalition+1 morenew-deal-rollbackcorporate-influencelegislative-capturelabor-policypostwar-politics
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
Following Japan’s surrender ending World War II, major defense contractors including Boeing, Lockheed, General Dynamics, and converted automotive manufacturers face the challenge of transitioning from massive wartime production to peacetime economy. The War Production Board, which directed …
BoeingLockheedGeneral DynamicsWar Production BoardCivilian Production Administrationmilitary-industrial-complexdefense-contractscorporate-subsidyeconomic-manipulationworld-war-ii
On January 3, 1945, the House of Representatives votes to make the Dies Committee a permanent standing committee, renamed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Mississippi Representative John Rankin, a virulent segregationist and antisemite, engineers the transformation through a …
House of RepresentativesJohn RankinMartin DiesHouse Un-American Activities Committeered-scarepolitical-persecutioncivil-libertiesinstitutional-capturelegislative-overreach
The Supreme Court rules 6-3 in Korematsu v. United States on December 18, 1944, upholding the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066 and the exclusion of Japanese Americans from the West Coast. Justice Hugo Black writes for the majority that military necessity during wartime justifies the mass …
Supreme CourtFred KorematsuHugo BlackRobert JacksonFrank Murphy+2 morecivil-libertiesracial-discriminationsupreme-courtconstitutional-violationjudicial-capture+1 more
Arkansas and Florida become the first two states to enact “right-to-work” laws on November 7, 1944, following campaigns led by Vance Muse and the Christian American Association that explicitly frame anti-union legislation as essential for maintaining racial segregation and Jim Crow labor …
Vance MuseChristian American AssociationArkansas Farm Bureau FederationSouthern oil companiesWilliam Ruggles+1 moreright-to-worklabor-suppressionstructural-racismanti-semitismjim-crow+1 more
The Democratic National Convention in Chicago replaces Vice President Henry Wallace with Senator Harry Truman on July 21, 1944, in a backroom deal orchestrated by conservative party bosses and corporate interests despite Wallace’s overwhelming popularity with convention delegates. The …
Henry WallaceHarry TrumanFranklin D. RooseveltRobert HanneganEdwin Pauley+2 moreparty-capturecorporate-influencelabor-politicselite-networkspolitical-manipulation
On July 17, 1944, two transport ships loading ammunition at Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California explode, killing 320 men instantly, including 202 African American enlisted men who comprised the entire loading workforce. Three weeks later, 258 surviving Black sailors refuse to return to loading …
U.S. NavyThurgood MarshallNAACPPort Chicago 50Eleanor Rooseveltracial-discriminationmilitary-justicecivil-rightslabor-exploitationinstitutional-racism
Delegates from 44 allied nations convene at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire to design the postwar international monetary system. The conference establishes the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, fixing global currencies to the dollar and the dollar to gold at $35/ounce. This institutionalizes …
U.S. TreasuryHarry Dexter WhiteJohn Maynard KeynesInternational Monetary FundWorld Bankinternational-financedollar-hegemonystructural-adjustmentcorporate-globalizationfinancial-institutions
President Roosevelt signs the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (GI Bill) on June 22, 1944, creating transformative benefits for veterans including education, housing, and unemployment assistance. However, Southern Democrats, led by Mississippi Representative John Rankin, ensure the bill’s …
Franklin D. RooseveltCongressJohn RankinVeterans AdministrationAmerican Legionracial-discriminationwealth-inequalityhousing-policyeducation-policyfederalism-exploitation
The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in Smith v. Allwright that Texas’s white primary system violated the Fifteenth Amendment, striking down one of the South’s most effective tools for excluding Black voters from meaningful political participation. The decision, argued by Thurgood Marshall for …
Supreme CourtStanley ReedThurgood MarshallNAACP Legal Defense FundLonnie Smith+1 morevoting-rightssupreme-courtwhite-primarycivil-rightsnaacp+1 more
The Truman Committee reveals that Curtiss-Wright’s Lockland, Ohio plant supplied defective aircraft engines to the Army Air Force through falsified tests, forged inspection reports, and collusion with military inspectors. Despite holding more defense contracts than any company except General …
Curtiss-Wright CorporationTruman CommitteeHarry S. TrumanArmy Air Forcewar-profiteeringdefense-industrycorporate-impunitycongressional-oversightinspector-general-failure
Congress overrides President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s veto to pass the Smith-Connally Act (War Labor Disputes Act), which prohibits unions from making contributions in federal elections and empowers the federal government to seize industries threatened by strikes. The legislation is hurriedly …
Howard W. SmithTom ConnallyFranklin D. RooseveltCongress of Industrial OrganizationsUnited Mine Workers+1 morelabor-suppressioncampaign-financepolitical-action-committeesunion-bustingcongressional-action+1 more
The Detroit race riot erupts on June 20, 1943, killing 34 people, injuring over 400, and causing $2 million in property damage. The violence exposes how federal housing policy enforces residential segregation while demanding integrated war production, creating explosive tensions that government …
Detroit Police DepartmentFederal troopsDetroit housing authorityWar production workersNAACPracial-violencehousing-segregationwar-productioncivil-rightsinstitutional-racism
President Roosevelt issues Executive Order 9328, the “Hold the Line Order,” on April 8, 1943, directing the National War Labor Board to prohibit any further wage increases except to correct substandard conditions or inequities. The order freezes wages for most workers while corporate …
Franklin D. RooseveltNational War Labor BoardOffice of Price AdministrationAFLCIO+1 morewage-suppressionlabor-policywartime-controlsclass-warfareeconomic-inequality
The American Enterprise Association (AEA) moves its main offices from New York City to Washington, D.C. in 1943 to more effectively oppose the New Deal and capitalize on Congress’s need for help making sense of its vastly increased wartime portfolio. AEA was founded in 1938 by a group of New …
American Enterprise AssociationLewis H. BrownJohns-Manville CorporationHenry HazlittBristol-Myers+5 moreamerican-enterprise-instituteaeithink-tanksnew-deal-oppositioncorporate-funding+1 more
The Justice Department indicts Anaconda Wire and Cable Company and five employees for conspiracy to defraud the United States by supplying defective wire and cable for combat use. Lend-Lease shipments to the Soviet Union were 50% defective, prompting an official Soviet protest. Despite pleading …
Anaconda Wire and Cable CompanyDepartment of JusticeTruman CommitteeFrancis Biddlewar-profiteeringdefense-industrycorporate-impunityinstitutional-capture
The Office of Alien Property Custodian seizes the assets of Union Banking Corporation (UBC) in New York on October 20, 1942, under the Trading with the Enemy Act. Among the bank’s directors is Prescott Bush, father and grandfather of two future presidents, whose firm Brown Brothers Harriman …
The Committee for Economic Development (CED) is founded in September 1942 as a nonprofit policy organization bringing together corporate executives, economists, and government officials to coordinate economic policy. The organization originates within the Commerce Department under FDR’s …
Committee for Economic DevelopmentPaul G. HoffmanWilliam BentonMarion B. FolsomJesse Jones+1 morecorporate-lobbyingpolicy-coordinationcedbusiness-roundtable-precursorinstitutional-capture
The United States and Mexico sign the Mexican Farm Labor Program agreement, launching the Bracero Program to import temporary agricultural workers during World War II labor shortages. The program, which operates from 1942 to 1964, becomes the largest guest worker program in U.S. history with 4.6 …
U.S. Department of LaborMexican governmentAgricultural employersRailroad companiesimmigration-policylabor-exploitationwage-suppressioncorporate-capturehuman-rights
President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues a military order on June 13, 1942, establishing the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) under William “Wild Bill” Donovan, a Wall Street lawyer, Medal of Honor recipient, and well-connected Republican. The OSS becomes America’s first …
William DonovanFranklin D. RooseveltAllen DullesOffice of Strategic ServicesWall Street+1 moreintelligence-apparatusnational-security-stateelite-networkscovert-operationswall-street-government-revolving-door
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 …
Senate hearings expose Standard Oil of New Jersey’s secret cartel agreements with IG Farben, the German chemical conglomerate that produces Zyklon B for Nazi concentration camps and uses slave labor from Auschwitz. Senator Harry Truman’s investigative committee reveals that Standard Oil …
Standard Oil of New JerseyIG FarbenHarry TrumanThurman ArnoldWalter Teagle+1 morecorporate-treasonwar-profiteeringcartelregulatory-captureantitrust-evasion+1 more
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
President Franklin D. Roosevelt creates the War Production Board (WPB) to coordinate wartime production, staffing it with corporate executives as ‘dollar-a-year men.’ This establishes a precedent for corporate-government partnership where business leaders shape government policy while …
Franklin D. RooseveltDonald NelsonWar Production BoardDefense contractorsWilliam Knudsencorporate-government-fusionwar-profiteeringrevolving-doordefense-industryinstitutional-capture
President Roosevelt establishes the National War Labor Board (NWLB) by executive order on January 12, 1942, creating a tripartite body of labor, industry, and public representatives to arbitrate wartime labor disputes. In exchange for labor’s “no-strike pledge” for the duration of …
Franklin D. RooseveltNational War Labor BoardAFLCIOWilliam Davis+1 morelabor-policywartime-controlsunion-powerwage-suppressioncorporate-influence
Between 1942 and 1949, U.S. employers withhold 10% of bracero workers’ wages—totaling at least $32 million—depositing the funds with Wells Fargo Bank and Union Trust Company of San Francisco for transfer to Mexican savings accounts through the Bank of Mexico and Banco de Credito Agricola. The …
Wells Fargo BankBank of MexicoBanco de Credito AgricolaMexican governmentU.S. agricultural employerswage-theftfinancial-fraudlabor-exploitationcorporate-complicityinstitutional-corruption
The Federal Communications Commission imposes the first national ownership restrictions for television stations at the dawn of the television industry, limiting any single entity from owning, operating, or controlling more than three television stations nationwide. The rule implements the …
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)media-regulationownership-limitsfcctelevisionantitrust+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
Senator Harry S. Truman establishes the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program (Truman Committee) after witnessing widespread waste and profiteering in war production. Over the next four years, the committee will save an estimated $10-15 billion by uncovering fraud and …
Harry S. TrumanU.S. SenateDefense contractorswar-profiteeringcongressional-oversightdefense-industryinstitutional-accountability
Congress passes the Excess Profits Tax Act on October 8, 1940, establishing graduated taxes on corporate profits exceeding pre-war averages. While ostensibly designed to prevent war profiteering and ensure shared sacrifice, the legislation contains numerous loopholes secured through corporate …
CongressFranklin D. RooseveltTreasury DepartmentNational Association of ManufacturersU.S. Chamber of Commercewar-profiteeringtax-policycorporate-influenceregulatory-captureloopholes
Congress passes the Alien Registration Act, commonly known as the Smith Act after its sponsor Representative Howard W. Smith of Virginia, on June 28, 1940. The law makes it a criminal offense to “knowingly or willfully advocate, abet, advise, or teach the duty, necessity, desirability, or …
Howard W. SmithCongressDepartment of JusticeFranklin D. Rooseveltcivil-libertiesfirst-amendmentpolitical-persecutionred-scarelabor-suppression+1 more
Corporate profits explode during WWII mobilization, with the largest 200 corporations more than doubling annual profits from $576 million (1936-39) to $1.225 billion (1940-44) - a 113% increase. Cost-plus contracting allows companies to inflate costs with lavish executive salaries while earning …
U.S. corporationsGeneral MotorsSteel industryWar Industries BoardCharles E. Wilsonwar-profiteeringcorporate-powerdefense-industryexecutive-compensationcost-plus-contracts
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Neutrality Act of 1939 on November 4, repealing the arms embargo provisions of earlier Neutrality Acts and allowing arms sales to belligerent nations on a “cash-and-carry” basis, effectively ending the policy designed to prevent American business …
Franklin D. RooseveltU.S. Congressarms manufacturersisolationistsBritain+1 morewar-profiteeringneutrality-actsworld-war-iicorporate-profitsmilitary-industrial-complex
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Hatch Act on August 2, 1939, after Senator Carl Hatch (D-NM) introduces legislation prohibiting federal civil service employees from engaging in partisan political activities, following widespread allegations that local Democratic politicians used Works …
Carl HatchFranklin D. RooseveltU.S. CongressWorks Progress Administrationfederal employeespolitical-activitynew-dealcivil-serviceconservative-sabotagewpa
On February 27, 1939, the Supreme Court rules 6-2 in NLRB v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corporation that workers who engage in sit-down strikes—occupying employer property—lose the protections of the National Labor Relations Act and can be lawfully discharged even when the employer has committed unfair …
Supreme Court of the United StatesNational Labor Relations BoardFansteel Metallurgical Corporationorganized laborcorporate employerslabor-rightssupreme-courtsit-down-strikeswagner-actunion-rights
On Henry Ford’s 75th birthday, July 30, 1938, the automobile magnate receives the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the Nazi regime’s highest honor for foreign nationals, awarded by Adolf Hitler for Ford’s “services to the Third Reich.” The award represents the first …
Henry FordAdolf HitlerFord Motor CompanyNazi Germanycorporate-collaborationnazismfascismantisemitismford
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) on June 25, 1938, establishing a federal minimum wage of 25 cents per hour, a maximum 44-hour workweek, and banning oppressive child labor—but only after more than a year of fierce congressional opposition from business …
Franklin D. RooseveltFrances PerkinsHugo BlackU.S. CongressSouthern Democrats+1 morelabor-rightsminimum-wagechild-labornew-dealcorporate-resistance
Congress authorizes the Temporary National Economic Committee (TNEC) on June 16, 1938, launching the most comprehensive investigation of monopoly power and economic concentration in American history. Chaired by Senator Joseph O’Mahoney of Wyoming, the committee conducts three years of hearings …
Franklin D. RooseveltJoseph O'MahoneyThurman ArnoldU.S. Congressmajor corporationsantitrustmonopolycorporate-concentrationnew-dealcongressional-investigation
The House of Representatives establishes the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), commonly known as the Dies Committee after its chairman Representative Martin Dies Jr. (D-TX), on May 26, 1938, as a special investigating committee to probe alleged disloyalty and subversive activities by …
Martin Dies Jr.John GarnerHouse of RepresentativesFranklin D. Rooseveltanti-communismnew-dealcongressional-investigationspolitical-weaponizationred-scare
On April 29, 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sends a special message to Congress warning that concentrated corporate power poses an existential threat to American democracy, using language that explicitly links economic monopoly with the rise of fascism. Roosevelt declares that “the …
Franklin D. RooseveltU.S. Congressconcentrated corporate interestscorporate-powerfascismantitrustnew-dealdemocracy+1 more
The Federal Housing Administration publishes its Underwriting Manual, which establishes formal mortgage lending requirements that institutionalize racism and segregation within the housing industry. The manual emphasizes the negative impact of “infiltration of inharmonious racial groups” …
Federal Housing AdministrationU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developmentinstitutional-captureracial-oppressionhousing-policysystematic-corruption