Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer

Context

President Truman was surrounded by controversies and difficulties when he issued the order to seize the steel mills. His approval ratings had plummeted to all-time lows, which deprived him of deference and political stock; indeed, he had little cachet on the eve of the directive. The public's low regard for Truman stemmed from several factors, including anxiety about the Korean War, the considerable economic problems convulsing the nation, the accusations and charges of corruption and incompetence that were hurled at the Truman administration, and the assertions that the administration was soft on communism. In some ways, Truman could not have been more vulnerable to the ill effects of a nationwide strike by steelworkers.

The pressures arising from the Korean War engulfed Truman. The war was one of his own making; on June 27, 1950, Truman ordered land and sea forces to Korea, where they quickly became embroiled in what was increasingly viewed as an unwinnable war. By the time Truman issued the seizure order, the United States had already sustained 128,000 casualties. In addition, there appeared to be no progress in the conflict and no prospect for progress. Negotiations with North Korea were stalled, and Americans were becoming increasingly embittered by the war.

The characterization of the conflict as “Mr. Truman's War” reflected the fact that he had taken the nation to war without any official declaration of war or authorization from Congress. Critics rightly pointed out that Truman was the first president in U.S. history to claim the unilateral constitutional authority to initiate war. Senator Robert Taft (R-Ohio), for one, furthermore justly asserted that Truman's action was unconstitutional, since the Constitution granted to Congress the sole and exclusive authority to initiate or commence war. The Korean War was also unpopular because Americans had made so many sacrifices during World War II (which had ended only five years earlier) that they were exhausted and not equipped for another conflict. The nation's citizens had willingly shouldered the burdens of World War II because the causes, threats, and goals were so clear. Truman recognized this, and he in fact sought to downplay the range and significance of the Korean War by labeling it a police action. The public relations effort was undercut, however, by the high casualties and the seemingly indefinite nature of the war.

Moreover, the great economic sacrifices that Americans had borne in World War II were starting to seem fruitless, since the nation's economy was in distress at the time of the seizure order. Citizens were chafing under the many controls that had been imposed on the economy—the country was fettered with wage controls, price controls, production controls, and rent controls—and they blamed Truman. Inflationary pressures further rocked the economy, and the toll exacted exacerbated political difficulties for the president.

Truman's political problems stemmed from other sources as well. His administration was racked with charges of corruption, and while Truman himself was never accused of dishonesty, it was said that he was aware of the corruption but chose to ignore it. In addition, he was charged with being soft on Communism, a politically deadly assertion at a time when McCarthyism dominated the political landscape. With low public standing, he had little ammunition to defend himself when Americans decried his seizure of the steel industry. Newspaper editorials accused him of dictatorship, and members of Congress called for his impeachment. President Truman thus found himself being politically bashed from all directions.