The United States maintained its Representative Democracy

Representative democracy

Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people, as opposed to autocracy and direct democracy...

 government structure throughout World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Certain expediencies were taken within the existing structure of the Federal government, such as conscription and other violations of civil liberties, and the internment and later dispersal of Japanese-Americans. Still, elections were held as scheduled in 1944.

Overview

The United States entered World War II with the same Administration that had been at the helm of the nation since 1932, that of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This Administration had been preparing for war for a while by the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

President of the United States

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Vice President Henry A. Wallace

Henry A. Wallace

Henry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the Secretary of Agriculture , and the Secretary of Commerce . In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace was the nominee of the Progressive Party.-Early life:Henry A...

 won the election of 1940, and were at the helm of the nation as it prepared for and entered World War II. Roosevelt sought and won an unprecedented fourth term in office in 1944, but this time with Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...

 as his Vice President. Roosevelt died in April 1945, and Truman assumed the Presidency through the end of the war.

Cabinet

• Secretary of State
  United States Secretary of State
  The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
  
  
  • Cordell Hull
    Cordell Hull
    Cordell Hull was an American politician from the U.S. state of Tennessee. He is best known as the longest-serving Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during much of World War II...
    
     pre-war to November 1944
  • Edward Stettinius to war's end
• Secretary of the Interior
  United States Secretary of the Interior
  The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
  
  
  • Harold Ickes
    Harold L. Ickes
    Harold LeClair Ickes was a United States administrator and politician. He served as United States Secretary of the Interior for 13 years, from 1933 to 1946, the longest tenure of anyone to hold the office, and the second longest serving Cabinet member in U.S. history next to James Wilson. Ickes...
    
     throughout the war
• Secretary of Commerce
  United States Secretary of Commerce
  The United States Secretary of Commerce is the head of the United States Department of Commerce concerned with business and industry; the Department states its mission to be "to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce"...
  
  
  • Jesse H. Jones pre-war to June 1945
  • Henry A. Wallace
    Henry A. Wallace
    Henry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the Secretary of Agriculture , and the Secretary of Commerce . In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace was the nominee of the Progressive Party.-Early life:Henry A...
    
     to war's end
• Secretary of the Treasury
  United States Secretary of the Treasury
  The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...
  
  
  • Henry Morgenthau Jr. pre-war to June 1945
  • Carl Vinson
    Carl Vinson
    Carl Vinson was a United States Representative from Georgia. He was a Democrat and the first person to serve for more than 50 years in the United States House of Representatives...
    
     to war's end
• Secretary of Labor
  United States Secretary of Labor
  The United States Secretary of Labor is the head of the Department of Labor who exercises control over the department and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all other issues involving any form of business-person controversies....
  
  
  • Francis Perkins pre-war to June 1945
  • Schwellenback to war's end
• Secretary of War
  United States Secretary of War
  The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...
  
  
  • Henry L. Stimson
    Henry L. Stimson
    Henry Lewis Stimson was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican Party politician and spokesman on foreign policy. He twice served as Secretary of War 1911–1913 under Republican William Howard Taft and 1940–1945, under Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the latter role he was a leading hawk...
    
     throughout the war
• Secretary of the Navy
  • Frank Knox
    Frank Knox
    -External links:...
    
     pre-war to May 1944
  • James V. Forrestal to war's end
• Secretary of Agriculture
  United States Secretary of Agriculture
  The United States Secretary of Agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The current secretary is Tom Vilsack, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on 20 January 2009. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other...
  
  
  • Claude Wickard pre-war to June 1945
  • Anderson
    Clinton Presba Anderson
    Clinton Presba Anderson was an American Democratic Party politician who served as a U.S. Congressman from New Mexico , as the United States Secretary of Agriculture , and as a U.S. Senator from New Mexico .-Early life and career:Anderson was born in Centerville, South Dakota, on October 23, 1895...
    
     to war's end
• Postmaster General
  United States Postmaster General
  The United States Postmaster General is the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Postal Service. The office, in one form or another, is older than both the United States Constitution and the United States Declaration of Independence...
  
  
  • Frank C. Walker pre-war to June 1945
  • Hannegan to war's end
• Attorney General
  United States Attorney General
  The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
  
  
  • Francis Biddle
    Francis Biddle
    Francis Beverley Biddle was an American lawyer and judge who was Attorney General of the United States during World War II and who served as the primary American judge during the postwar Nuremberg trials....
    
     pre-war to June 1945
  • Tom C. Clark
    Tom C. Clark
    Thomas Campbell Clark was United States Attorney General from 1945 to 1949 and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States .- Early life and career :...
    
     to war's end
• Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • J. Edgar Hoover
    J. Edgar Hoover
    John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
    
     throughout the war

Executive Agencies

• Foreign Economic Administration
  Foreign Economic Administration
  In the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Foreign Economic Administration was formed to relieve friction between US agencies operating abroad. As described by the biographer of the FEA's chief, Leo Crowley, the agency was designed and run by "The Nation's #1 Pinch-hitter".S. L...
  
   under Director Crowley, formed September 1943 from the Office of Economic Warfare
  Board of Economic Warfare
  The Office of Administrator of Export Control was established in the United States by Presidential Proclamation 2413, July 2, 1940, to administer export licensing provisions of the act of July 2, 1940 . Brigadier General Russell Lamont Maxwell, United States Army, headed up this military entity...
  
  , the Office of Lend Lease Administration
  Lend-Lease
  Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
  
  , and the Office of Foreign Relief and Rehabilitation Operations
  United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
  The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration was an international relief agency, largely dominated by the United States but representing 44 nations. Founded in 1943, it became part of the United Nations in 1945, was especially active in 1945 and 1946, and largely shut down...
  
  .
• Office of Price Administration
  Office of Price Administration
  The Office of Price Administration was established within the Office for Emergency Management of the United States government by Executive Order 8875 on August 28, 1941. The functions of the OPA was originally to control money and rents after the outbreak of World War II.President Franklin D...
  
   under Administrators Henderson, Brown, and Bowles, formed April 1941 (originally named the Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply).
• Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion under Chairmen Byrnes and Vinson, formed in May 1943 as the Office of War Mobilization
  Office of War Mobilization
  The Office of War Mobilization was an independent agency of the United States government headed by Former Supreme Court Justice James F. Byrnes that coordinated all government agencies involved in the war effort during World War II...
  
  .
• War Production Board
  War Production Board
  The War Production Board 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...
  
   under Chairmen Nelson and King, formed in January 1942 from the Office of Production Management and the Supply Priorities and Allocation Board.
• Economic Stabilization Board under Chairmen Byrnes and Vinson, formed in October 1942 as the Office of Economic Stabilization
  Office of Economic Stabilization
  The Office of Economic Stabilization was established within the United States Office for Emergency Management on October 3, 1942, pursuant to the Stabilization Act of 1942, as a means to control inflation during World War II through regulations on price, wage, and salary increases.-Directors:*...
  
  .
• War Manpower Commission
  War Manpower Commission
  The War Manpower Commission was a World War II agency of the United States Government charged with planning to balance the labor needs of agriculture, industry and the armed forces. It was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Executive Order 9139 of April 18, 1942. Its chairman was Paul V...
  
   under Chairman McNuff, formed in April 1942.
• United States Maritime Commission
  United States Maritime Commission
  The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and replaced the U.S. Shipping Board which had existed since World War I...
  
   under Chairman Land.
• War Shipping Administration
  War Shipping Administration
  The War Shipping Administration was a World War II emergency war agency of the US Government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the US needed for fighting the war....
  
   under Administrator Land, formed in February 1942.
• Office of Defense Transportation under Chairman Eastman, formed in December 1941.
• Petroleum Administration for War under Administrator Ickes, formed in December 1942.
• War Food Administration formed in December 1942.
• National War Labor Board
  National War Labor Board
  The National War Labor Board was a federal agency created in April 1918 by President Woodrow Wilson. It was composed of twelve representatives from business and labor, and co-chaired by Former President William Howard Taft. Its purpose was to arbitrate disputes between workers and employers in...
  
   under Chairman Davis, formed in January 1942.
• Office of Scientific Research and Development
  Office of Scientific Research and Development
  The Office of Scientific Research and Development was an agency of the United States federal government created to coordinate scientific research for military purposes during World War II. Arrangements were made for its creation during May 1941, and it was created formally by on June 28, 1941...
  
   under Chairman Bush, formed in July 1941.
• Office of War Information under Chairman Davis, formed in June 1942.
• Office of Civilian Defense
  Office of Civilian Defense
  Office of Civilian Defense was a United States federal emergency war agency set up May 20, 1941 by Executive Order 8757 to co-ordinate state and federal measures for protection of civilians in case of war emergency...
  
   under Chairmen LaGuardia and Landis, formed in May 1941.

Joint Chiefs of Staff

The Joint Chiefs were military officers, as opposed to the above, who were for the most part civilians.

• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
  Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
  The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is by law the highest ranking military officer in the United States Armed Forces, and is the principal military adviser to the President of the United States, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council and the Secretary of Defense...
  
   William D. Leahy
  William D. Leahy
  Fleet Admiral William Daniel Leahy was an American naval officer, building his reputation through administration and staff work. As Chief of Naval Operations he was the senior officer in Navy, overseeing the preparations for war. After retiring from the Navy he was appointed by his close friend...
  
  
• Army Commander-in-Chief and Chief of Staff George C. Marshall
• Navy Commander-in-Chief and Chief of Operations Ernest King
  Ernest King
  Fleet Admiral Ernest Joseph King was Commander in Chief, United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations during World War II. As COMINCH, he directed the United States Navy's operations, planning, and administration and was a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was the U.S...
  
  
• Army Air Force Commander Henry Arnold
• Marine Corps Commandant Alexander Vandegrift
  Alexander Vandegrift
  Alexander Archer Vandegrift, KBE, CB was a General in the United States Marine Corps. He commanded the 1st Marine Division to victory in its first ground offensive of World War II — Battle of Guadalcanal. For his actions during the Solomon Islands campaign, he received the Medal of Honor...
  
  
• Army Air Force Chief of Staff Giles
• Army Ground Forces Commander Lear
• Army Service Forces Commander Somervell

In addition, the following offices reported to the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

• Operations Division, formerly the War Plans Division.
• Military Intelligence Division
  Military Intelligence Division
  The Military Intelligence Division was a military intelligence branch of the United States Army, established in 1885. It was the first standing intelligence agency of the Army; the Union Army had had a Bureau of Military Information, but that had reported to the Commanding General for less than a...
  
  
• Office of Naval Intelligence
  Office of Naval Intelligence
  The Office of Naval Intelligence was established in the United States Navy in 1882. ONI was established to "seek out and report" on the advancements in other nations' navies. Its headquarters are at the National Maritime Intelligence Center in Suitland, Maryland...