Depression and War: The Myth Of Laissez-Faire in American History, Part IV

1938. This legislation created a federally mandated minimum wage, the abolition of child labor, a maximum 40-hour work-week, and time-and-a-half overtime pay.⁵

The crisis of the Depression altered both the rhetoric and practice of the national government regarding economic affairs. By the end of the 1930s the citizens of the United States overwhelmingly understood the role of Washington to be much more than simply guardian of laissez-faire; it was also to be the guardian of its citizenry when capitalism failed to meet its needs. Indeed, Franklin Roosevelt's Third Inaugural Address in 1941 might not have been received as well in, say, 1921, when he included among the most important freedoms to be "freedom from want" and "freedom from fear." This was new paradigm in which the national discourse on freedom and rights would lie. The Great Depression made this possible, and the sentiments of social commentator Walter Lippman would seem a reality come 1940: "Laissez-faire is dead, and the modern state has become responsible for the modern economy [and] the task of insuring the continuity of the standard of life for its people."⁶

While the 1930s saw the federal government become an activist state on behalf of millions of Americans, World War II would bring a continuation of such a role and a rollback to pre-Depression policies simultaneously. It was the War that brought the United States out of economic penury. As employment was bolstered by the war economy, the perceived need for 1930s New Deal programs was diminishing. By the middle of the war, programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps, National Youth Administration and Works Progress Administration were eliminated. However, concurrent government programs to boost war production were being initiated. The President established the National War Labor Board, comprising representatives from labor, business, and government, to protect union membership while bringing labor leaders make a no-strike agreement to last through the war (thousands of strikes would occur anyway). Government contracts were issued to hundred of manufactories, helping create a wealth of employment opportunities for men and women alike.⁷

The War also did well, through government war manufacturing, to enhance real wages across the board. Likewise, it also helped business leaders and the top corporations regain their foothold in America's economy, the result being more wealth concentrated in the hands of fewer individuals and corporations. Fifty-six of the largest corporations handled three-quarters of all government military contracts. Over one billion dollars was spent on

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