Young takes a close look at Congress during the most consensual war in American history to show how its members fought intense battles over issues ranging from economic regulation to social policies. Her book highlights the extent of - and reasons for - liberal successes and failures, while challenging assumptions that conservatives had gained control of legislative politics by the early 1940s. It focuses on the role of moderates in modern American politics, arguing that they, not conservatives, determined the outcomes in key policy debates and also established the methods for liberal reform that would dominate national politics until the early 1970s.

The world before the war -- Bringing home the bacon: Congress and the economics of war -- "We'll get down and fight" over resource management -- "Congress does have power" over the president -- "A lesson to the president": labor legislation -- Human rights or human wrongs? Congress, pluralism, and social justice -- "The dregs of Europe": a conflicted refugee policy -- A "virtual black-out of civil liberties" and the politics of prejudice -- "Saving America for Americans": the fascistic origins of the second red scare -- Epilogue: the world the war made.