“ARE YOU DOING ALL YOU CAN?” “We can do it!” During the Second World War, Americans at home were reminded to do their part by distributing propaganda posters that emphasized rapprochement for the national good. The industry also did its part thanks to the laws of war which gave priority to military production. Apparently overnight, the car factories produced war planes. Lipstick manufacturers have instead made bomb cases. Even nylon, the new synthetic fabric that covered the legs of women at the start of the war, was recruited for military applications.
Thanks to Defense Production Act of 1950, a law rooted in the mobilization of all of society during World War II, the United States still has the power to stimulate the industry in a national emergency.
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Defense Production Act Takes Root in WWII
Workers at a Chrysler factory assembling tanks during World War II.
Bettmann Archives / Getty Images
The country was anything but ready for a major conflict in 1941. Because of the Great Depression and a national reluctance to get involved in a conflict abroad, the United States was unprepared. But with the attack on Pearl Harbor and the coming to war of the United States, the nation had to contend with its lack of preparation.
The country’s industrial sector was still in shock from the economic crisis and the owners were not happy with the idea of investing in defense production. “Many American commodity producers were reluctant to expand their facilities, and many manufacturers reluctantly converted peacetime product assembly lines into essential weaponry,” writes historian Barton J. Bernstein.
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Truman warns of communist aggression
The War Powers Acts represented unprecedented presidential power, but most of those powers contracted with the end of the Second World War. As the Cold War heated, President Harry Truman and his advisers viewed Korea as a pivotal front. When Soviet-backed North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950, surprising the United States by surprise, Western powers feared this would be the first foray into a larger takeover of the world Communist and prepared for military intervention.
Once again, the United States was unprepared for war. Defense production has declined and industries are again meeting the needs of civilians. Even the types of tools that would be needed to produce more military equipment were rare, and experts agreed that the nation was not ready for another war. If the Communists tried to fight their Western adversaries on another front too, the United States could not respond.
In July 1950, Truman warned Congress that the seemingly inevitable war in Korea would cause shortages of supply and inflation in his country, and asked them and the nation to increase defense spending in the country. country.
“The things we need to do to strengthen our military defense will require a major adjustment to our national economy,” he said in a statement. address. “Our job now is to divert more [our economy’s] huge production capacity – more steel, more aluminum, more and more. ”
Truman had been involved in defense production during the previous war, chairing a special committee that exposed abuse and waste in war production. Now, faced with the prospect of a massive and well-organized enemy, he has asked the government to oversee another economic mobilization. In September 1950, Congress passed the Defense Production Act.
“Although not as radical as the executive powers granted during the Second World War,” writes historian Paul G. Pierpaoli, “the Defense Production Act was nevertheless an unprecedented foray into planning and government control at a time when no formal war had been declared. “
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The scope of the Defense Production Act extends
Over the years, the definition of “national defense” in the law has broadened and now includes internal security and assistance for infrastructure in foreign countries. Generally, the law allows the president to force industries to make public procurement a priority.
It has been used to do everything from funding research on biofuels to prioritizing public procurement in the wake of hurricanes. It has also been used to increase the production of things like batteries for military use and specialized circuits and materials deemed important for national security.
