President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Amendments of 1965 into law at the Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri, creating Medicare and Medicaid with former President Harry Truman at his side. The legislation provides federal health insurance for Americans over 65 …
President Lyndon B. JohnsonPresident Harry S. TrumanAmerican Medical AssociationRonald ReaganWilbur Millshealthcareinstitutional-capturecorporate-resistancelobbyingpropaganda
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in employment and public accommodations. The legislation passes only after defeating a 60-working-day filibuster led by the “Southern …
President Lyndon B. JohnsonSouthern Democratic SenatorsRichard RussellStrom ThurmondSouthern business interests+1 morecivil-rightsinstitutional-capturesouthern-strategycorporate-resistancevoting-rights
The White Citizens’ Councils reach peak membership of between 250,000 and 300,000 individuals in 1956, establishing a national body known as the Citizens’ Councils of America. The movement, led by Mississippi Circuit Court Judge Tom P. Brady and first formed on July 11, 1954 in response …
White Citizens' CouncilsTom P. BradyRoss BarnettAllen C. ThompsonM. Ney Williamssegregationwhite-supremacybusiness-elitecorporate-resistancecivil-rights-opposition+1 more
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
The “Little Steel” strike begins on May 26, 1937, when 75,000 steelworkers walk off their jobs at Republic Steel, Bethlehem Steel, Youngstown Sheet and Tube, and Inland Steel after these companies refuse to sign contracts with the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC) despite the …
Republic SteelTom GirdlerBethlehem SteelYoungstown Sheet and TubeInland Steel+3 morelabor-rightscorporate-resistancewagner-actstrikeunion-organizing+1 more
At 8:00 p.m. on December 30, 1936, UAW autoworkers occupy General Motors Fisher Body Plant Number One in Flint, Michigan, launching one of the most significant labor actions in American history—a 44-day sit-down strike that transforms the fledgling United Auto Workers from a collection of isolated …
United Auto WorkersGeneral MotorsFisher Body workersBob TravisWalter Reuther+4 morelabor-rightsstrikessit-down-strikesuawgeneral-motors+2 more
The La Follette Civil Liberties Committee exposes and names the “Mohawk Valley Formula” in 1936-1937, documenting a systematic corporate strategy for breaking strikes and defeating union organizing campaigns that James Rand Jr., president of Remington Rand, developed during the 1936 …
Remington RandJames Rand Jr.National Association of ManufacturersLa Follette Committeecorporate managementunion-bustingcorporate-resistancelabor-suppressionpropagandawagner-act+1 more
On January 25, 1936, former New York Governor and 1928 Democratic presidential candidate Al Smith delivers the keynote address at the American Liberty League dinner at Washington’s Mayflower Hotel, launching a scathing attack on President Roosevelt that accuses the New Deal of fomenting class …
Al SmithAmerican Liberty LeagueFranklin D. RooseveltJouett ShouseDu Pont familycorporate-resistancenew-dealpropagandared-baitingpolitical-realignment+1 more
On January 6, 1936, the Supreme Court decides United States v. Butler in a 6-3 ruling that invalidates the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), striking a devastating blow to Roosevelt’s New Deal farm recovery program just eight months after the Schechter Poultry “Black Monday” …
Supreme Court of the United StatesOwen J. RobertsHarlan Fiske StoneWilliam M. ButlerHoosac Mills Corporation+2 morejudicial-capturenew-dealcorporate-resistancesupreme-courtagricultural-policy+1 more
President Roosevelt signs the Banking Act of 1935 on August 23, 1935, fundamentally restructuring the Federal Reserve System to centralize monetary policy authority in a reformed Board of Governors in Washington rather than the twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks, which had been dominated by …
Franklin D. RooseveltMarriner EcclesCarter GlassU.S. CongressFederal Reserve Board+1 morefinancial-regulationnew-dealfederal-reservebanking-reformmonetary-policy+1 more
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935, establishing the first comprehensive federal system for old-age pensions, unemployment insurance, and aid to dependent children and the disabled, creating the foundation of the American social safety net. Labor …
Franklin D. RooseveltFrances PerkinsU.S. CongressAmerican Liberty LeagueNational Association of Manufacturers+1 morelabor-rightsnew-dealsocial-insurancecorporate-resistancedemocratic-reform
On May 27, 1935—a day Roosevelt administration officials dub “Black Monday”—the Supreme Court delivers three unanimous decisions against the New Deal, with the most devastating being Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, which invalidates the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), …
Supreme Court of the United StatesCharles Evans HughesBenjamin CardozoHarlan Fiske StoneFranklin D. Roosevelt+1 morejudicial-capturenew-dealcorporate-resistancesupreme-courtconstitutional-law+1 more
In 1935, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) under president Robert Lund launches what Business Week headlines as “The NAM Declares War” (December 14, 1935)—an unprecedented multi-million dollar propaganda campaign to discredit Roosevelt’s New Deal and promote …
National Association of ManufacturersRobert LundDu PontGeneral MotorsAT&T+3 morecorporate-resistancepropagandanew-dealinstitutional-capturemedia-manipulation+1 more
On November 20, 1934, the U.S. House of Representatives Special Committee on Un-American Activities (McCormack-Dickstein Committee) begins secret testimony from retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, who alleges that wealthy Wall Street financiers plotted to overthrow President Franklin …
Smedley ButlerMcCormack-Dickstein CommitteeGerald MacGuireJ.P. Morgan interestsDu Pont family+2 morecorporate-resistancenew-dealinstitutional-capturecoup-attemptmilitary-industrial-complex+1 more
On August 22, 1934, the American Liberty League is announced in Washington, D.C., as a purportedly bipartisan organization to defend the U.S. Constitution against “radical” New Deal policies, with Jouett Shouse appointed as president. The League’s formation represents the first …
Irénée du PontJohn Jacob RaskobJouett ShouseAl SmithJohn W. Davis+4 morecorporate-resistancenew-dealpropagandainstitutional-capturethink-tanks+2 more
President Roosevelt signs the Gold Reserve Act on January 30, 1934, nationalizing all gold holdings in the United States, transferring ownership of Federal Reserve gold to the U.S. Treasury, and authorizing the President to set the gold value of the dollar between 50 and 60 percent of its previous …
Franklin D. RooseveltU.S. CongressFederal ReserveWall Streetbanking industry+1 morenew-dealmonetary-policygold-standardfinancial-regulationcorporate-resistance
President Roosevelt signs the Tennessee Valley Authority Act on May 18, 1933, creating a federally-owned corporation to provide electricity, flood control, navigation improvements, and economic development across seven Southern states in the Tennessee River watershed. The TVA represents the most …
Franklin D. RooseveltGeorge NorrisU.S. CongressTennessee Valley Authorityprivate utility companies+2 morenew-dealpublic-powerutility-regulationcorporate-resistanceregional-development
President Herbert Hoover signs the Tariff Act of 1930, commonly known as the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act after its congressional sponsors Senator Reed Smoot (R-UT) and Representative Willis C. Hawley (R-OR), raising U.S. tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods to record levels. Hoover had campaigned in …
Herbert HooverReed SmootWillis C. HawleyU.S. Congressmanufacturing lobbyistscorporate-resistancetrade-policygreat-depressionlobbyingprotectionism
Around 30,000 union members—half of New Orleans’ workforce and virtually all its unionized workers—strike on November 8, 1892, after the Board of Trade refuses to negotiate with the predominantly Black Teamsters union while offering contracts to white-dominated Scalesmen and Packers unions. …
Workingmen's Amalgamated CouncilTriple AllianceNew Orleans Board of TradeAmerican Federation of Laborlabor-organizinginterracial-solidaritycorporate-resistancegilded-age
The People’s Party formally organizes in Dallas on August 18, 1891, following years of escalating frustration among Farmers’ Alliance members who conclude that traditional parties are too attached to corporate interests and political office perks to be effective agents of reform. The …
Farmers' AllianceKnights of LaborPeople's Partypopulist-movementpolitical-realignmentlabor-organizingcorporate-resistance
Three hundred Tennessee coal miners successfully besiege the Briceville stockade after midnight on July 15, 1891, the anniversary of Bastille Day, freeing forty convict laborers and their guards and putting them on a train to Knoxville. Later that day, miners march on the Knoxville Iron Company mine …
Tennessee Coal Mining CompanyKnoxville Iron CompanyTennessee MinersJohn P. BuchananThomas J. Bradylabor-organizingconvict-lease-systemcorporate-resistanceinstitutional-racism