U.S. CIVIL DEFENSE BEFORE 1950: THE ROOTS OF PUBLIC LAW 920

Abstract

The historic background of Public Law 920, the Civil Defense Act of 1950, is examined in order to illuminate the causes of the difficulties now confronting those concerned with national civil defense in their efforts to establish an operational or potentially operational civil defense organization. The hypothesis of the Study is that many of these difficulties are an inheritance of a forgotten past. The study of this period shows that many of the events leading up to the enactment of this law, as well as the intent of those involved in its legislation, are probably radically misunderstood at present. Understanding of events prior to the enactment of the law sheds much light on many current defense difficulties and, as such, is useful for future planning.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1966
Accession Number
AD0637900

Entities

People

  • Nehemiah Jordan

Organizations

  • Institute for Defense Analyses

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerial Warfare
  • Civil Defense
  • Congress
  • Employment
  • Health Services
  • Law
  • Medical Personnel
  • Military Organizations
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Second World War
  • United States Government
  • Warfare
  • Warning Systems
  • Weapons Effects

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Public Financial Management and Budgeting
  • Theoretical Analysis.