Video: 'Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer Case Brief Summary | Law Case Explained'

(Tuesday, April 8, 1952, 10:30 p.m. EST; during the 1952 steel strike) — U.S. President Harry S. Truman tonight nationalized the American steel industry hours to avert a strike of their 600,000 workers.

“My fellow Americans, tonight our country faces a grave danger,” Truman said from the White House tonight. “These are not normal times. These are times of crisis.”

Truman went on to explain why he had just directed his secretary of commerce to seize control of the country’s steel mills. An ongoing dispute between the companies and their workers threatened to deny U.S. troops the weapons and tanks they needed to fight in the Korean conflict.

“I would not be faithful to my responsibilities as president if I did not use every effort to keep this from happening,” he argued.

The order directing that the government take over the mills was issued effective at midnight, one minute before the scheduled strike was to take place.

The steel companies sued to regain control of their facilities. On June 2, 1952, in a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer that the President lacked the authority to seize the steel mills.

The Steelworkers struck to win a wage increase. The strike lasted 53 days and ended on July 24, 1952, on essentially the same terms that the union had proposed four months earlier.