= Office of Defense Mobilization = The '''Office of Defense Mobilization''' ('''ODM''') was a defense procurement agency. <> ---- == Composition == The office was led by a '''director'''. This position was appointed by the [[UnitedStates/Presidents|president]] with [[UnitedStates/Senate|Senate]] approval. ---- == History == [[UnitedStates/HarrySTruman|Truman]] created the office in 1950 as a successor to the [[UnitedStates/NationalSecurityResourcesBoard|NSRB]]. Although the board had been created only three years earlier, it already become ineffectual, and Truman wanted a streamlined agency that could manage the U.S. national economy while he focused on the [[WorldHistory/KoreanWar|Korean War]]. The office drastically intervened in the civilian economy: * Commodities were declared federal property and rationed; diversion/theft of commodities resulted in cancellation of contracts * Even for construction of buildings, purchases of steel required pre-approval * Manufacturers were set quotas for munitions; failing to meet quota resulted in seizure * Price controls were utilized to manage inflation * CBS was banned from production of color televisions [[UnitedStates/DwightDEisenhower|Eisenhower]] reorganized the office under the [[UnitedStates/ExecutiveOfficeOfThePresident|Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization]] in 1958. ---- CategoryRicottone