United States. President Truman signs a government order nationalizing American steel mills, for reasons of national security, for the Korean War. This provokes a strong internal reaction, not only from the Republican opposition. Lyndon Johnson declares this to be typical of practices that lead to dictatorship. Some newspapers write that these are behaviors that would have pleased Hitler or Mussolini. There are also 14 separate calls for Truman’s impeahment. In reality, Truman, by signing the act, had actually violated the constitutional separation of powers. The steel mills respond by suing the government and filing lawsuits. On June 2 of the same year, the Constitutional Court will rule the president’s actions unconstitutional by a vote of 6 to 3.
