Office of Defense Mobilization
Encyclopedia
The Office of Defense Mobilization (ODM) was an independent agency
of the United States
government whose function was to plan, coordinate, direct and control all wartime mobilization
activities of the federal government, including manpower, economic stabilization, and transport operations. It was established in 1950, and for three years was one of the most powerful agencies in the federal government. It merged with other agencies in 1958 to become the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization (1958–1961).
, it found itself woefully unprepared to fight a war. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
's pre-war mobilization efforts had been resisted by Congress, and lacked coordination. One of the most important lessons the federal government drew from World War II was that the nation needed a permanent, rationalized mobilization apparatus. The nature of nuclear war, in which mobilization would occur in weeks rather than months, made the establishment of a mobilization structure even more imperative.
The National Security Act of 1947
established this new mobilization structure. It authorized the creation of the National Security Council
(NSC) and the Central Intelligence Agency
, merged the Departments of War (Army and Air Force) and Navy into the Department of Defense
(DOD), and established the nation's first mobilization agency, the National Security Resources Board
(NSRB). The Act restricted DOD to the employment of military power and placed mobilization responsibilities with the NSRB.
By 1950, however, the NSRB was dormant and DOD had recaptured authority over military procurement
. When North Korea
invaded South Korea
on June 25, 1950, President Harry S. Truman
attempted to use the NSRB as the nation's mobilization agency. Truman quadrupled the defense budget to $50 billion, and the NSRB placed controls on prices, wages and raw materials. Inflation
soared and shortages in food, consumer goods and housing appeared. By October 1950, inflation had abated and shortages were easing. The intervention of China
in the Korean War unraveled the administration's mobilization effort. A panicked public began hoarding and the administration accelerated its rearmament plans. Inflation jumped 600 percent—from 1.3 percent to 7.9 percent. By December, public support for the war had fallen significantly, both Truman and his intelligence experts expected World War III to break out by spring, and Senator
Joseph McCarthy
was using the military setbacks in Korea to attack the administration and push his own political agenda.
Confronted with the failure of the NSRB, an economy on the verge of collapse, and a mobilization effort which was faltering and unable to meet the needs of accelerated production plans, President Truman declared a national emergency on December 16, 1950. Using the powers granted to him by the Defense Production Act
(which had been enacted only in September 1950), Truman created the Office of Defense Mobilization.
and who was a member of the NSC.
ODM was part of the Executive Office of the President
. ODM consisted of two main organizational components: The Defense Production Administration
, which established production goals and supervised production operations; and the Economic Stabilization Agency
, which coordinated and supervised wage and price controls. In all, 19 mobilization agencies were eventually created within ODM to control every aspect of the American economy.
, president of General Electric
and a government mobilization chief in World War II, to head the ODM. Wilson became one of the most powerful people in the federal government, and the press began calling him "co-president".
Wilson quickly took control of the economy. All raw materials were under the control of ODM, which rationed them to the civilian economy. Production quotas were set, and businesses ordered to supply the government with goods and services. Companies which failed to meet their production quotas were threatened with seizure by ODM. Companies found to be secretly diverting raw materials to civilian uses were severely punished through the withdrawal of lucrative government contracts, fines, and the imposition of government supervisors on-site at the workplace. Defense plants, concentrated at the time near existing manufacturing centers and where electrical power was plentiful, were dispersed across the Southeast
and Deep South
. The government restricted investment in new plant equipment so that only investments meeting national security needs were made. Additionally, ODM invested millions of dollars in new plant and equipment to rapidly expand production capacity. Strict price controls were placed on all goods and services, and wages were subject to federal government approval and control. Black marketeers were severely punished with fines and jail sentences. Wilson's austerity program worked: By 1951, inflation had fallen back to 1.9 percent, and the economy was no longer threatened with recession.
Nevertheless, national production capacity continued to lag. In August 1951, additional controls were placed on the economy. Any manufacturer seeking raw materials had to first obtain a permit from ODM before purchasing such materials. ODM also began to control the use of steel for building and automobile production, even significantly restricting the building of public schools to divert additional steel to national defense needs.
sets by CBS
. CBS had developed a color system which was partly mechanical and partly electronic in nature. RCA
had already developed a purely electronic color television system
, and was engaged in a long and bitter legal battle with CBS before the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) over which system would be adopted. Although ODM had determined that research on color TV occupied the time of critically needed scientists and technicians, the research also had defense applications and could therefore proceed. However, production of the CBS color TV sets was not essential, and was banned. The ban on mass production of the CBS color television set led the FCC to choose the RCA system by default in 1953. That system was used in the US until June 12, 2009, when it was succeeded by the ATSC set of standards.
which led to a landmark ruling by the United States Supreme Court.
In October 1951, the United Steel Workers of America
(USWA) began negotiating with U.S. Steel
and five other major steelmakers for a wage increase. ODM had announced earlier in the year that there would be no increase in the price of steel. The steelmakers refused to engage in good-faith collective bargaining
until ODM guaranteed that they would receive an increase in the price of steel, and their bargaining tactics were designed to force ODM to change its policy. The union
authorized a strike to begin on January 1, 1952. But after President Truman pleaded with the union for a delay, USWA president Philip Murray
agreed to postpone the strike for 60 days.
President Truman referred the wage dispute to ODM's Wage Stabilization Board
(WSB). In March 1952, the WSB recommended a 16.5-cent-an-hour wage increase. The steelmakers lobbied Congress, DOD and defense manufacturers, opposing any wage increase unless there was an accompanying price increase. The pressure led Congress to threaten to overturn any WSB wage increase. Republicans
demanded that the president invoke the Taft-Hartley Act
and force the steelworkers back to work. But Truman, needing labor's support in the 1952 presidential campaign, refused to do so.
Wilson resigned as director of ODM on March 31, 1952, in protest against Truman's support of the union. Presidential aide
John R. Steelman
became Acting Director of ODM. Truman was unwilling to order Steelman to implement the wage increase for fear it would ruin his wage policies, but he was also unwilling to rein in the union.
With no wage increase forthcoming, the union gave notice on April 4, 1952, that it would strike at 12:01 a.m. on April 9.
A few hours before the strike was to begin, Truman issued Executive Order 10340, which directed Secretary of Commerce
Charles W. Sawyer
to take possession of and operate steel mills throughout the country. Truman sent messages to Congress on April 9 and again on April 21 announcing his action.
The steel companies, led by Youngstown Sheet and Tube
, filed suit in federal district court
seeking a preliminary injunction
preventing Sawyer from seizing the steel mills. The District Court for the District of Columbia
refused to grant a preliminary injunction, and scheduled a trial to be held on April 25. Despite this initial setback, the steelmakers were successful: The district court granted a permanent injunction on April 25. The government appealed to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
. The Court of Appeals, sitting en banc
, stayed
the permanent injunction on May 2 pending resolution of the case by the U.S. Supreme Court.
A meeting between USWA and the steelmakers on May 3 nearly led to a tentative agreement on the union's terms. But during the meeting, word arrived that the Supreme Court had granted certiorari
and accepted the case. The steelmakers backed out of the agreement, hoping that the court would rule in their favor.
The Supreme Court heard oral argument for two days, May 12 and May 13. Arguing the case for the government was Solicitor General Philip B. Perlman, and representing the union was Arthur Goldberg
, general counsel for the USWA and the Congress of Industrial Organizations
(and a future Supreme Court justice). Former Solicitor General John W. Davis
argued the case for the steelmakers.
On June 2, 1952, the Supreme Court handed down its decision. In Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer
, 343 U.S. 579
(1952)—a landmark case on the scope of presidential powers—the Court ruled that the president lacked the authority to seize the steel mills. The Court said the President had no authority under the Constitution to seize private property during national emergency. Absent a declaration of war, the President required Congressional authorization to seize the steel mills, and this the chief executive lacked.
The government returned the mills to their owners hours later.
The USWA struck on June 4. The strike lasted 51 days. The supply of steel shrank to almost nothing, armament deliveries dropped by 25 percent, and ammunition and airplane assembly plants shut down. Truman began preparations to draft the steelworkers into the military under Section 18 of the Selective Service Act of 1948, and public opinion began to turn against the union. These factors led Murray to agree to negotiations with the steelmakers.
The strike ended on July 24, 1952. The USWA achieved a 16-cent-an-hour wage increase, and an increase in fringe benefits of about 6-cents-an-hour. The union also achieved a form of the closed shop
.
Because of perceived favoritism toward the union, Congress stripped the Wage Stabilization Board of most of its powers in late 1952.
was sworn in as director of ODM on September 8, 1952. Fowler led both ODM and its sub-agency, the National Production Authority
, during his tenure as director of ODM.
The Korean War ended less than a year later, on July 27, 1953. Although ODM relaxed most production, wage and price controls by the fall, many restrictions continued as the Cold War
worsened.
After the election of Dwight D. Eisenhower
as president in November 1952, Fowler resigned from ODM in early 1953.
Eisenhower appointed Arthur Flemming
ODM director. Flemming served for most of the Eisenhower administration, overseeing the conversion of the defense industry to civilian uses. Flemming resigned on February 6, 1957.
Eisenhower appointed Gordon Gray director of ODM on March 14, 1957.
Gray's tenure was short-lived, however. In early 1958, pursuant to the authority granted the chief executive under the "Reorganization Act of 1949" (5 U.S.C. 901), President Eisenhower issued Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1958. The Plan, to take effect on July 1, 1958, consolidated ODM with the Federal Civil Defense Administration
. The successor agency was titled the Office of Defense and Civilian Mobilization (ODCM) and then renamed the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization.
ODM also made long-lasting economic changes to America's industrial base, changes which led to unintended political consequences. ODM shifted most of the nation's defense plants away from the West Coast
, Northeast
and Midwest
to the Deep South and Southeast. This contributed to a 50-year industrial decline in these three regions from which they have not yet recovered. Meanwhile, large numbers of workers moved South to seek employment with defense firms. This contributed to realignment
in the nation's political power structure. ODM initiated the dispersal of defense plants to protect the nation against enemy attack. But these economic changes had unintended consequence
s which helped lead to the ascendancy of the Republican Party and rise of the "solid South
."
Independent agencies of the United States government
Independent agencies of the United States federal government are those agencies that exist outside of the federal executive departments...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
government whose function was to plan, coordinate, direct and control all wartime mobilization
Mobilization
Mobilization is the act of assembling and making both troops and supplies ready for war. The word mobilization was first used, in a military context, in order to describe the preparation of the Prussian army during the 1850s and 1860s. Mobilization theories and techniques have continuously changed...
activities of the federal government, including manpower, economic stabilization, and transport operations. It was established in 1950, and for three years was one of the most powerful agencies in the federal government. It merged with other agencies in 1958 to become the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization (1958–1961).
Background
When the United States entered World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, it found itself woefully unprepared to fight a war. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
's pre-war mobilization efforts had been resisted by Congress, and lacked coordination. One of the most important lessons the federal government drew from World War II was that the nation needed a permanent, rationalized mobilization apparatus. The nature of nuclear war, in which mobilization would occur in weeks rather than months, made the establishment of a mobilization structure even more imperative.
The National Security Act of 1947
National Security Act of 1947
The National Security Act of 1947 was signed by United States President Harry S. Truman on July 26, 1947, and realigned and reorganized the U.S. Armed Forces, foreign policy, and Intelligence Community apparatus in the aftermath of World War II...
established this new mobilization structure. It authorized the creation of the National Security Council
United States National Security Council
The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...
(NSC) and the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
, merged the Departments of War (Army and Air Force) and Navy into the Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
(DOD), and established the nation's first mobilization agency, the National Security Resources Board
National Security Resources Board
The National Security Resources Board was a United States board created by the National Security Act of 1947. It was a part of Cold War Civil defense, and obviously United States Civil Defense in particular...
(NSRB). The Act restricted DOD to the employment of military power and placed mobilization responsibilities with the NSRB.
By 1950, however, the NSRB was dormant and DOD had recaptured authority over military procurement
Procurement
Procurement is the acquisition of goods or services. It is favourable that the goods/services are appropriate and that they are procured at the best possible cost to meet the needs of the purchaser in terms of quality and quantity, time, and location...
. When North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
invaded South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
on June 25, 1950, President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
attempted to use the NSRB as the nation's mobilization agency. Truman quadrupled the defense budget to $50 billion, and the NSRB placed controls on prices, wages and raw materials. Inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
soared and shortages in food, consumer goods and housing appeared. By October 1950, inflation had abated and shortages were easing. The intervention of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
in the Korean War unraveled the administration's mobilization effort. A panicked public began hoarding and the administration accelerated its rearmament plans. Inflation jumped 600 percent—from 1.3 percent to 7.9 percent. By December, public support for the war had fallen significantly, both Truman and his intelligence experts expected World War III to break out by spring, and Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
was using the military setbacks in Korea to attack the administration and push his own political agenda.
Confronted with the failure of the NSRB, an economy on the verge of collapse, and a mobilization effort which was faltering and unable to meet the needs of accelerated production plans, President Truman declared a national emergency on December 16, 1950. Using the powers granted to him by the Defense Production Act
Defense Production Act
The Defense Production Act is a United States law enacted on September 8, 1950, in response to the start of the Korean War. It was part of a broad civil defense and war mobilization effort in the context of the Cold War. Its implementing regulations, the Defense Priorities and Allocation System ,...
(which had been enacted only in September 1950), Truman created the Office of Defense Mobilization.
Structure
The Office of Defense Mobilization was established by Executive Order 10193 on December 16, 1950. The agency was led by a presidentially-appointed director, who was subject to confirmation by the SenateUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
and who was a member of the NSC.
ODM was part of the Executive Office of the President
Executive Office of the President of the United States
The Executive Office of the President consists of the immediate staff of the President of the United States, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting to the President. The EOP is headed by the White House Chief of Staff, currently William M. Daley...
. ODM consisted of two main organizational components: The Defense Production Administration
Defense Production Administration
The Defense Production Administration was an independent agency of the United States government whose function was to oversee and control defense production programs of the United States during wartime mobilization....
, which established production goals and supervised production operations; and the Economic Stabilization Agency
Economic Stabilization Agency
The Economic Stabilization Agency was an agency of the United States Government that existed from 1950 to 1953.The creation of the ESA was authorized by the Defense Production Act , which was signed into law by President of the United States Harry S. Truman on September 8, 1950...
, which coordinated and supervised wage and price controls. In all, 19 mobilization agencies were eventually created within ODM to control every aspect of the American economy.
History
Truman named Charles E. WilsonCharles E. Wilson (executive)
Charles Edward Wilson was a CEO of General Electric. He left school at age 12 to work as a stock boy at Sprague Electrical Works, which was acquired by General Electric, taking night classes and working up to president in 1939.During World War II he served on the War Production Board as executive...
, president of General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
and a government mobilization chief in World War II, to head the ODM. Wilson became one of the most powerful people in the federal government, and the press began calling him "co-president".
Wilson quickly took control of the economy. All raw materials were under the control of ODM, which rationed them to the civilian economy. Production quotas were set, and businesses ordered to supply the government with goods and services. Companies which failed to meet their production quotas were threatened with seizure by ODM. Companies found to be secretly diverting raw materials to civilian uses were severely punished through the withdrawal of lucrative government contracts, fines, and the imposition of government supervisors on-site at the workplace. Defense plants, concentrated at the time near existing manufacturing centers and where electrical power was plentiful, were dispersed across the Southeast
Southeastern United States
The Southeastern United States, colloquially referred to as the Southeast, is the eastern portion of the Southern United States. It is one of the most populous regions in the United States of America....
and Deep South
Deep South
The Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the pre-Civil War period...
. The government restricted investment in new plant equipment so that only investments meeting national security needs were made. Additionally, ODM invested millions of dollars in new plant and equipment to rapidly expand production capacity. Strict price controls were placed on all goods and services, and wages were subject to federal government approval and control. Black marketeers were severely punished with fines and jail sentences. Wilson's austerity program worked: By 1951, inflation had fallen back to 1.9 percent, and the economy was no longer threatened with recession.
Nevertheless, national production capacity continued to lag. In August 1951, additional controls were placed on the economy. Any manufacturer seeking raw materials had to first obtain a permit from ODM before purchasing such materials. ODM also began to control the use of steel for building and automobile production, even significantly restricting the building of public schools to divert additional steel to national defense needs.
Ban on color TV
On October 25, 1951, ODM even ordered a halt to the mass production of color televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
sets by CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. CBS had developed a color system which was partly mechanical and partly electronic in nature. RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
had already developed a purely electronic color television system
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
, and was engaged in a long and bitter legal battle with CBS before the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) over which system would be adopted. Although ODM had determined that research on color TV occupied the time of critically needed scientists and technicians, the research also had defense applications and could therefore proceed. However, production of the CBS color TV sets was not essential, and was banned. The ban on mass production of the CBS color television set led the FCC to choose the RCA system by default in 1953. That system was used in the US until June 12, 2009, when it was succeeded by the ATSC set of standards.
1952 steel strike
In 1951 and 1952, ODM became embroiled in a steel strike1952 steel strike
The 1952 steel strike was a strike by the United Steelworkers of America against U.S. Steel and nine other steelmakers. The strike was scheduled to begin on April 9, 1952, but President Harry S. Truman nationalized the American steel industry hours before the workers walked out. The steel companies...
which led to a landmark ruling by the United States Supreme Court.
In October 1951, the United Steel Workers of America
United Steelworkers
The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union is the largest industrial labor union in North America, with 705,000 members. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, U.S., the United Steelworkers represents workers in the United...
(USWA) began negotiating with U.S. Steel
U.S. Steel
The United States Steel Corporation , more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an integrated steel producer with major production operations in the United States, Canada, and Central Europe. The company is the world's tenth largest steel producer ranked by sales...
and five other major steelmakers for a wage increase. ODM had announced earlier in the year that there would be no increase in the price of steel. The steelmakers refused to engage in good-faith collective bargaining
Collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiations between employers and the representatives of a unit of employees aimed at reaching agreements that regulate working conditions...
until ODM guaranteed that they would receive an increase in the price of steel, and their bargaining tactics were designed to force ODM to change its policy. The union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
authorized a strike to begin on January 1, 1952. But after President Truman pleaded with the union for a delay, USWA president Philip Murray
Philip Murray
Philip Murray was a Scottish born steelworker and an American labor leader. He was the first president of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee , the first president of the United Steelworkers of America , and the longest-serving president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations .-Early...
agreed to postpone the strike for 60 days.
President Truman referred the wage dispute to ODM's Wage Stabilization Board
Wage Stabilization Board
The Wage Stabilization Board was set up by President Harry Truman within the United States Department of Labor, in December 1945, to take over the work of the National War Labor Board...
(WSB). In March 1952, the WSB recommended a 16.5-cent-an-hour wage increase. The steelmakers lobbied Congress, DOD and defense manufacturers, opposing any wage increase unless there was an accompanying price increase. The pressure led Congress to threaten to overturn any WSB wage increase. Republicans
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
demanded that the president invoke the Taft-Hartley Act
Taft-Hartley Act
The Labor–Management Relations Act is a United States federal law that monitors the activities and power of labor unions. The act, still effective, was sponsored by Senator Robert Taft and Representative Fred A. Hartley, Jr. and became law by overriding U.S. President Harry S...
and force the steelworkers back to work. But Truman, needing labor's support in the 1952 presidential campaign, refused to do so.
Wilson resigned as director of ODM on March 31, 1952, in protest against Truman's support of the union. Presidential aide
White House Chief of Staff
The White House Chief of Staff is the highest ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President.The current White House Chief of Staff is Bill Daley.-History:...
John R. Steelman
John R. Steelman
John Roy Steelman was the first Assistant to the President of the United States, serving President Harry S. Truman from 1946 to 1953. The office later became the White House Chief of Staff....
became Acting Director of ODM. Truman was unwilling to order Steelman to implement the wage increase for fear it would ruin his wage policies, but he was also unwilling to rein in the union.
With no wage increase forthcoming, the union gave notice on April 4, 1952, that it would strike at 12:01 a.m. on April 9.
A few hours before the strike was to begin, Truman issued Executive Order 10340, which directed Secretary of Commerce
United States Secretary of Commerce
The United States Secretary of Commerce is the head of the United States Department of Commerce concerned with business and industry; the Department states its mission to be "to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce"...
Charles W. Sawyer
Charles W. Sawyer
Charles W. Sawyer was United States Secretary of Commerce from May 6, 1948 to January 20, 1953 in the administration of Harry Truman....
to take possession of and operate steel mills throughout the country. Truman sent messages to Congress on April 9 and again on April 21 announcing his action.
The steel companies, led by Youngstown Sheet and Tube
Youngstown Sheet and Tube
The Youngstown Iron Sheet and Tube Company, based in Youngstown, Ohio, was one of the largest steel manufacturers in the world. Officially, the company was created on November 23, 1900, when Articles of Incorporation of the Youngstown Iron Sheet and Tube Company were filed with the Ohio Secretary...
, filed suit in federal district court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
seeking a preliminary injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
preventing Sawyer from seizing the steel mills. The District Court for the District of Columbia
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia is a federal district court. Appeals from the District are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a...
refused to grant a preliminary injunction, and scheduled a trial to be held on April 25. Despite this initial setback, the steelmakers were successful: The district court granted a permanent injunction on April 25. The government appealed to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit known informally as the D.C. Circuit, is the federal appellate court for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Appeals from the D.C. Circuit, as with all the U.S. Courts of Appeals, are heard on a...
. The Court of Appeals, sitting en banc
En banc
En banc, in banc, in banco or in bank is a French term used to refer to the hearing of a legal case where all judges of a court will hear the case , rather than a panel of them. It is often used for unusually complex cases or cases considered to be of greater importance...
, stayed
Court order
A court order is an official proclamation by a judge that defines the legal relationships between the parties to a hearing, a trial, an appeal or other court proceedings. Such ruling requires or authorizes the carrying out of certain steps by one or more parties to a case...
the permanent injunction on May 2 pending resolution of the case by the U.S. Supreme Court.
A meeting between USWA and the steelmakers on May 3 nearly led to a tentative agreement on the union's terms. But during the meeting, word arrived that the Supreme Court had granted certiorari
Certiorari
Certiorari is a type of writ seeking judicial review, recognized in U.S., Roman, English, Philippine, and other law. Certiorari is the present passive infinitive of the Latin certiorare...
and accepted the case. The steelmakers backed out of the agreement, hoping that the court would rule in their favor.
The Supreme Court heard oral argument for two days, May 12 and May 13. Arguing the case for the government was Solicitor General Philip B. Perlman, and representing the union was Arthur Goldberg
Arthur Goldberg
Arthur Joseph Goldberg was an American statesman and jurist who served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor, Supreme Court Justice and Ambassador to the United Nations.-Early life:...
, general counsel for the USWA and the Congress of Industrial Organizations
Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations, or CIO, proposed by John L. Lewis in 1932, was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 required union leaders to swear that they were not...
(and a future Supreme Court justice). Former Solicitor General John W. Davis
John W. Davis
John William Davis was an American politician, diplomat and lawyer. He served as a United States Representative from West Virginia , then as Solicitor General of the United States and US Ambassador to the UK under President Woodrow Wilson...
argued the case for the steelmakers.
On June 2, 1952, the Supreme Court handed down its decision. In Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, , also commonly referred to as The Steel Seizure Case, was a United States Supreme Court decision that limited the power of the President of the United States to seize private property in the absence of either specifically enumerated authority under Article...
, 343 U.S. 579
Case citation
Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
(1952)—a landmark case on the scope of presidential powers—the Court ruled that the president lacked the authority to seize the steel mills. The Court said the President had no authority under the Constitution to seize private property during national emergency. Absent a declaration of war, the President required Congressional authorization to seize the steel mills, and this the chief executive lacked.
The government returned the mills to their owners hours later.
The USWA struck on June 4. The strike lasted 51 days. The supply of steel shrank to almost nothing, armament deliveries dropped by 25 percent, and ammunition and airplane assembly plants shut down. Truman began preparations to draft the steelworkers into the military under Section 18 of the Selective Service Act of 1948, and public opinion began to turn against the union. These factors led Murray to agree to negotiations with the steelmakers.
The strike ended on July 24, 1952. The USWA achieved a 16-cent-an-hour wage increase, and an increase in fringe benefits of about 6-cents-an-hour. The union also achieved a form of the closed shop
Closed shop
A closed shop is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to hire union members only, and employees must remain members of the union at all times in order to remain employed....
.
Because of perceived favoritism toward the union, Congress stripped the Wage Stabilization Board of most of its powers in late 1952.
End of the Korean War
Henry H. FowlerHenry H. Fowler
Henry Hammill Fowler was an American lawyer and politician.Born in Roanoke, Virginia, he graduated from Roanoke College in 1929 and received his law degree from Yale Law School in 1932....
was sworn in as director of ODM on September 8, 1952. Fowler led both ODM and its sub-agency, the National Production Authority
National Production Authority
The National Production Authority was an agency of the United States government which developed and promoted the production and supply of materials and facilities necessary for defense mobilization...
, during his tenure as director of ODM.
The Korean War ended less than a year later, on July 27, 1953. Although ODM relaxed most production, wage and price controls by the fall, many restrictions continued as the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
worsened.
After the election of Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
as president in November 1952, Fowler resigned from ODM in early 1953.
Eisenhower appointed Arthur Flemming
Arthur Flemming
Arthur Sherwood Flemming was United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare between 1958 to 1961 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Flemming was an important force in the shaping of Social Security policy for more than four decades. He also served as president of the University of...
ODM director. Flemming served for most of the Eisenhower administration, overseeing the conversion of the defense industry to civilian uses. Flemming resigned on February 6, 1957.
Eisenhower appointed Gordon Gray director of ODM on March 14, 1957.
Gray's tenure was short-lived, however. In early 1958, pursuant to the authority granted the chief executive under the "Reorganization Act of 1949" (5 U.S.C. 901), President Eisenhower issued Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1958. The Plan, to take effect on July 1, 1958, consolidated ODM with the Federal Civil Defense Administration
Federal Civil Defense Administration
The Federal Civil Defense Administration was organized by Democratic president Harry S. Truman on December 1, 1950, and became an official government agency on January 12, 1951...
. The successor agency was titled the Office of Defense and Civilian Mobilization (ODCM) and then renamed the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization.
Assessment
ODM radically changed the way the federal government approached defense procurement and mobilization. Much of the subsequent Cold War defense procurement apparatus was created by ODM, and still exists to this day.ODM also made long-lasting economic changes to America's industrial base, changes which led to unintended political consequences. ODM shifted most of the nation's defense plants away from the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
, Northeast
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
and Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
to the Deep South and Southeast. This contributed to a 50-year industrial decline in these three regions from which they have not yet recovered. Meanwhile, large numbers of workers moved South to seek employment with defense firms. This contributed to realignment
Realigning election
Realigning election are terms from political science and political history describing a dramatic change in the political system. Scholars frequently apply the term to American elections and occasionally to other countries...
in the nation's political power structure. ODM initiated the dispersal of defense plants to protect the nation against enemy attack. But these economic changes had unintended consequence
Unintended consequence
In the social sciences, unintended consequences are outcomes that are not the outcomes intended by a purposeful action. The concept has long existed but was named and popularised in the 20th century by American sociologist Robert K. Merton...
s which helped lead to the ascendancy of the Republican Party and rise of the "solid South
Solid South
Solid South is the electoral support of the Southern United States for the Democratic Party candidates for nearly a century from 1877, the end of Reconstruction, to 1964, during the middle of the Civil Rights era....
."
External links
- Records of the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization. Record Group 304, 1947-62. National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed May 14, 2007. The Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization was the successor agency to ODM.