The faster the armies drove through Germany the happier grew the U.S. Senate. By the time Jimmy Byrnes had quit his job as War Mobilizer, after explaining that V-E day was now in sight (see below), Senators in both parties were beaming. Now was the time to face the politically troublesome manpower issue. The Senate faced it by defeating the compromise manpower bill, 46 to 29.
The watered-down bill would have frozen workers in essential jobs in areas where labor is short, would have fixed employment ceilings to prevent labor hoarding, would have made employers and employes alike liable to...
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