The
War Production Board (
WPB) was established as a government agency on January 16, 1942 by executive order of
Franklin D. Roosevelt. The purpose of the board was to regulate the production and allocation of materials and fuel during
World War II in the
United States. It rationed such things as gasoline, heating oil, metals, rubber, paper
[1] and plastics. It was dissolved shortly after the defeat of Japan in 1945.
The first chairman of the Board was Donald M. Nelson from 1942 to 1944 followed by Julius A. Krug from 1944 until the Board was dissolved.
The WPB, along with other wartime committees which regulated spending and production, helped to reduce the potential for economic catastrophe after the close of World War II.[citation needed]
In 1943, the WPB hired Harvard Business School Professor Thomas North Whitehead to tour the nation and find out how Americans were reacting to rationing and controls. Whitehead reported that "the good temper and common sense of most people under restrictions and vexations was really impressive... My own observation is that most people are behaving like patriotic, loyal citizens."[citation needed]
