The Control of War Preparations in the United States

A devastating war crisis is forcing government officials and political scientists to re-examine the efforts of the United States in 1917 and 1918 to adjust a peace-time democratic governmental establishment to the efficient conduct of war activities. That experience, until recently deemed an aberration in American history, is immediately relevant to the current program of national defense. Certain of the vital political problems of the war years are discussed in the following pages for the light which they shed on the present crisis. The discussion centers around the creation and control of emergency agencies for the performance of war functions. A prominent characteristic of governmental behavior was competition for power between the President and Congress, with victory usually in the hands of the President. Closely allied characteristics were the steady growth in the centralization of power as experience in the handling of war preparations was developed, and a progressive decline in the unwillingness of Congress to permit drastic interference with rights of liberty and property. The records show a tremendous amount of initial chaos. Superficially, at least, it seems that the experience of the war years has not yet been absorbed by those now responsible for the conduct of the government and that, whether or not it is necessary, much of the fumbling of 1917 and 1918 is now in process of repetition.