emy discouraged the anti-Hitler resistance within Germany. Other critics complained that he relied too heavily on strategic bombing. His own generals were angry because he postponed the "second front" against Hitler until June 1944. Such delay, critics added later, infuriated the Soviet Union, which had to carry the brunt of the fighting against Hitler between 1941 and 1944, and sowed the seeds of the Cold War. In running the war effort Roosevelt encountered almost endless difficulties on the domestic front. Congress dismantled New Deal agencies such as the WPA and blocked such liberal proposals as aid to education and health insurance. Blacks, angry at continuing racial injustice, threatened to march on Washington in 1941. Fearful of racial disorder, Roosevelt responded by signing an executive order setting up a Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) to prevent discrimination in defense-related employment. Though the order was his most important action on behalf of civil rights, the FEPC did not have much power, and racial tension mounted throughout the war.Industrial controversies proved equally troublesome for the president. In order to encourage cooperation from corporate interests, Roosevelt brought business leaders into policy-making positions, offered corporations generous contracts and tax breaks, and downgraded progressive domestic reforms. Furious liberals protested against this growing power of big business. Other critics complained that Roosevelt refused to delegate authority over mobilization to a "czar" who would have power to establish priorities for production. The lack of centralized authority caused confusion, bureaucratic conflict, and delays in output. The difference between Roosevelt and many of the presidents that preceded him are many. He came into leadership in a time when his predecessor, Hoover, was unable to end the depression. He, more so than many of our leaders was charged with fixing capi...
