Organizing for Victory

The task of fighting on a global scale dramatically increased the power of the federal government. Shifting from civilian to military production, raising an army, and assembling the necessary workforce required a massive expansion in government authority. When Congress passed the War Powers Act in December 1941, it gave President Roosevelt unprecedented control over all aspects of the war effort. This act marked the beginning of what some historians call the imperial presidency: the far-reaching use (and sometimes abuse) of executive authority during the latter part of the twentieth century.