Everytime I read a book on WW2, I keep asking myself how the US was able to convert factories, train workers, garner resources, and build new weapons with such effectiveness and quantity.
Who were these directors of the War Department (?) that were so successful at preparing the US for fighting a war on two fronts?
Perhaps someone could recommend a book on this subject?
The Roosevelt Administration and Congress created a plethora of bureaus and offices designed to coordinate and liaise with already existing departments and bureaus of the government. The important ones were the Office for Emergency Management, the Office of Economic Stabilization, the Office of Price Administration, and the War Labor Board. The War, Navy, and Treasury Departments also had their own procurement divisions, such as the Army Quartermaster and the Navy Bureau of Ships, which would have been responsible for awarding contracts and delivering the necessary specifications to the contractors. The private sector itself would have responded to the incentive of massive federal war contracts and retooled for war production, though there were grants and loans given out through government programs such as the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, which targeted specific fields in need of development (such as synthetic rubber). The most well known oversight body was the Truman Committee, otherwise known as the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program; it was run by Senator Harry S. Truman (yes, that Harry Truman) in order to prevent war profiteering.