War Production Board

The War Production Board was created under Donald Nelson on Jan. 16, 1942, after Churchill's visit with FDR that led to greater centralization of production. Nelson began a Production Requirements Plan that favored large corporations, allocating materials directly to producers rather than to the armed services. Senator Harry Truman would investigate the relationship between big business and the WPB. In November 1942 after the Feasibility Dispute that led to the creation of the OWM, this plan was replaced by the Controlled Materials Plan that rationed the three most important industrial materials - steel, copper, and aluminum. The WPB gave top priority to war needs. In Feb., Nelson stopped all production of civilian automobiles. In March, it issued regulations regarding clothing. It banned double-breasted suits, vest, cuffs, patch pockets; women gave up pleated skirts, long hemlines, and adopted two-piece bathing suits. A new synthetic rubber industry was created, with a huge 77-acre plant in West Virginia making 10% of the total synthetic rubber. However, the consumer economy expanded with the military economy; civilian spending rose 12% per year; started 500,000 new businesses, including 11,000 new supermarkets. Business was propserous, with $46 billion working capital and $20 billion capital reserves. In 1944, Donald Nelson was replaced by Charles Wilson who was replaced by Julius Krug, leader of the anti-reconversion business interests.

Sources:

• Catton, Bruce. The War Lords of Washington. New York: Harcourt, Brace,1948.
• Geoffrey Perrett. Days of Sadness, Years of Triumph. The American People 1939-1945. Penguin, 1973.
• Koistinen, Paul A. Arsenal of World War II: The Political Economy of American Warfare, 1940-1945. Lawrence, KA: University Press of Kansas, 2004.
• Mobilization and Women in Army History from the Center for Military History

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