The Battle for the Ballot: The Soldier Voting Act of 1942
The Soldier Voting Act of 1942 and its 1944 revision addressed the challenge of enabling millions of overseas U.S. troops to participate in elections during World War II. The legislative…
The Truman Committee: Rooting Out Waste in the Arsenal of Democracy
In 1941, Senator Harry S. Truman established a special committee to investigate waste and corruption in the United States defense industry during the buildup to World War II. The bipartisan…
The 1941 March on Washington Movement and Executive Order 8802
In 1941, labor leader A. Philip Randolph pressured President Franklin D. Roosevelt to desegregate the defense industry by threatening a massive march on Washington. This resulted in Executive Order 8802,…