Changes

==Confusion in Washington==

==Confusion in Washington==

In 1940, Roosevelt named a planning board called the National Defense Commission with three heads. [[Edward Stettinius]], CEO of United States Steel, managed one section on industrial materials; union boss [[Sidney Hillman]] headed one on labor and [[Leon Henderson]] a third on price stabilization.  It floundered. In January, 1941, it became the ill-fated Office of Production Management (OPM) under [[William S. Knudsen]] of general Motors and Sidney Hillman. By August it was snarled.  Roosevelt named a super bureau over it called the Supply Priorities and Allocation Board (SPAB) with Vice President [[Henry Wallace]] at its head. After the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] the [[War Production Board]] (WPB) under Donald Nelson took over.  In April 1941 [[Leon Henderson]] and his Price Stabilization Division were made a separate bureau and called the Office of Price Administration with Henderson at its head. As one observer commented, “The odor it created still lingers amongst us and it will remain for all time a classic for students in what not to do and how not to do it.” <ref>''The Roosevelt Myth''], John T. Flynn, Fox and Wilkes, 1948, Book 3, Ch. 7, [http://www.rooseveltmyth.com/cgi-bin/framed/2767/book/fdrmyth_Chapter_Seven___The_Happiest_Yea.htm ''The Happiest Years of Their Lives''].</ref>

In 1940, Roosevelt named a planning board called the National Defense Commission with three heads. [[Edward Stettinius]], CEO of United States Steel, managed one section on industrial materials; union boss [[Sidney Hillman]] headed one on labor and [[Leon Henderson]] a third on price stabilization.  It floundered. In January, 1941, it became the ill-fated Office of Production Management (OPM) under [[William S. Knudsen]] of general Motors and Sidney Hillman. By August it was snarled.  Roosevelt named a super bureau over it called the Supply Priorities and Allocation Board (SPAB) with Vice President [[Henry Wallace]] at its head. After the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] the [[War Production Board]] (WPB) under Donald Nelson took over.  In April 1941 [[Leon Henderson]] and his Price Stabilization Division were made a separate bureau and called the Office of Price Administration with Henderson at its head. As one observer commented, “The odor it created still lingers amongst us and it will remain for all time a classic for students in what not to do and how not to do it.” <ref>''The Roosevelt Myth'', John T. Flynn, Fox and Wilkes, 1948, Book 3, Ch. 7, [http://www.rooseveltmyth.com/cgi-bin/framed/2767/book/fdrmyth_Chapter_Seven___The_Happiest_Yea.htm ''The Happiest Years of Their Lives''].</ref>

At first OPA began with Henderson and a staff of only 84. In May, 1942  OPA asked for $110 million dollars and a staff of 90,000. In 1943 it cost $153 million and in 1944 it had a staff of 53,500 paid workers and 204,000 volunteers, mostly housewives who helped their neighbors and storekeepers figure out the system and  watched out for black markets.

At first OPA began with Henderson and a staff of only 84. In May, 1942  OPA asked for $110 million dollars and a staff of 90,000. In 1943 it cost $153 million and in 1944 it had a staff of 53,500 paid workers and 204,000 volunteers, mostly housewives who helped their neighbors and storekeepers figure out the system and  watched out for black markets.