Nylon and Bombs: DuPont and the March of Modern America

3. Culture and Politics at DuPont before World War II

       ฀ t h r e e Culture฀and฀Politics฀at฀DuPont฀before฀ World฀War฀II ฀ ฀ ฀ At฀the฀end฀of฀the฀1930s,฀DuPont฀no฀longer฀had฀much฀in฀common฀with฀what฀it฀ had฀been฀at฀the฀beginning฀of฀the฀century,฀when฀the฀du฀Pont฀cousins฀took฀over.฀ This฀event฀had฀brought฀about฀a฀technical฀and฀organizational฀mutation฀that฀ changed฀the฀company฀from฀a฀simple฀producer฀of฀gunpowder฀and฀explosives฀ into฀an฀enterprise฀focused฀on฀the฀high-volume฀consumer฀market฀for฀chemicals฀ and฀a฀pioneer฀in฀advanced฀management฀techniques. ฀ This฀mutation฀went฀hand฀in฀hand฀with฀a฀change฀in฀customers.฀The฀U.S.฀ Army฀and฀Navy฀had฀been฀DuPont’s฀principal฀customers฀until฀World฀War฀I,฀ but฀when฀the฀company฀went฀into฀the฀high-volume฀civilian฀consumer฀market,฀ production฀for฀the฀military฀declined฀proportionally.฀This฀orientation฀was฀in฀part฀ brought฀about฀by฀the฀change฀in฀DuPont’s฀relationship฀with฀the฀federal฀government ,฀a฀change฀that฀went฀back฀to฀the฀very฀first฀years฀of฀the฀new฀century,฀when฀the฀ Progressives฀were฀fashioning฀a฀new฀government฀that฀had฀greater฀powers฀of฀intervention ฀and฀regulation฀than฀in฀the฀past.฀Until฀World฀War฀II,฀DuPont’s฀relations฀ with฀the฀government฀were฀fraught฀with฀tension฀and฀punctuated฀by฀periods฀of฀ crisis฀that฀became฀acute฀in฀the฀first฀years฀of฀the฀new฀century,฀during฀World฀War฀ I,฀and฀particularly฀in฀the฀early฀1930s,฀the฀first฀years฀of฀the฀New฀Deal. ฀ Moreover,฀DuPont฀had฀to฀deal฀with฀the฀public’s฀moral฀disapproval.฀Articles฀ in฀major฀daily฀newspapers฀stigmatized฀the฀“gunpowder฀trust”฀and฀the฀“American ฀Krupps,”฀and฀these฀attacks฀became฀even฀more฀prevalent฀after฀World฀War฀ I฀and฀in฀the฀1930s.฀On฀the฀eve฀of฀World฀War฀II,฀and฀just฀before฀the฀United฀ States฀definitively฀assumed฀a฀leadership฀role฀in฀international฀affairs,฀DuPont฀ was฀therefore฀politically฀on฀the฀defensive฀and฀extremely฀reluctant฀to฀venture฀ into฀new฀projects฀with฀the฀public฀authorities,฀even฀if฀the฀lines฀of฀communication ฀had฀been฀reopened.฀This฀was฀because฀the฀company’s฀leaders฀had฀early฀on฀ recognized฀the฀importance฀of฀developing฀a฀high-volume฀market฀for฀chemicals,฀ while฀the฀New฀Deal฀for฀its฀part฀had฀adopted฀a฀Keynsian฀perspective,฀in฀which฀ consumer฀spending฀became฀a฀political฀priority฀and฀attacks฀on฀big฀capital฀were฀ relinquished.฀The฀“consumer”฀as฀a฀political฀concept฀was฀thus฀a฀highly฀visible฀ figure฀when฀nylon฀came฀on฀the฀market;฀and฀this฀chronological฀concurrence,฀ which฀created฀a฀symbolic฀seal฀between฀a฀political฀economy฀and฀an฀already฀ famous฀product,฀prepared฀the฀way฀for฀the฀postwar฀era. ฀ The฀historians฀who฀have฀taken฀an฀interest฀in฀the฀political฀activities฀of฀the฀du฀ Pont฀family฀have฀concentrated฀on฀the฀American฀Liberty฀League,฀an฀anti-New฀ Deal฀association฀launched฀with฀a฀great฀deal฀of฀fanfare฀by฀the฀du฀Ponts฀in฀1934.฀ They฀have฀rightly฀stressed฀the฀truly฀reactionary฀nature฀of฀this฀group฀and฀its฀ lack฀of฀popular฀support.1฀Nonetheless,฀the฀political฀battles฀of฀the฀eponymous฀ directors฀have฀not฀yet฀been฀integrated฀into฀a฀larger฀perspective฀that฀would฀ go฀beyond฀moral฀considerations฀about฀the฀egoism฀of฀millionaires฀and฀allow฀ us฀to฀establish฀the฀connection฀between฀the฀profound฀conservatism฀of฀these฀ businessmen฀and฀the฀savvy฀boldness฀of฀their฀investments฀in฀high-volume฀consumer ฀chemicals. The฀du฀Ponts฀and฀the฀Progressive฀State DuPont฀and฀Federal฀Regulation As฀we฀know,฀DuPont฀at฀the฀time฀of฀its฀founding฀had฀very฀close฀ties฀to฀the฀ American฀government,฀particularly฀the฀military.฀This฀close฀association฀continued ฀throughout฀the฀nineteenth฀century,฀even฀if฀DuPont฀endeavored฀from฀the฀ beginning฀to฀expand฀its฀activities฀into฀the฀civilian฀market฀for฀black฀gunpowder฀ and฀explosives.฀But฀until฀the฀early฀years฀of฀the฀twentieth฀century,฀there฀were฀ no฀plans฀to฀produce฀anything฀else฀but฀black฀powder,฀smokeless฀powder,฀and฀ various฀kinds฀of฀dynamite.฀In฀1903,฀DuPont฀sold฀70฀percent฀of฀all฀the฀dynamite฀ Culture฀and฀Politics฀at฀DuPont฀before฀World฀War฀II฀ ฀ ฀ ฀  ฀ ฀ ฀ ฀ Nylon฀and฀Bombs sold฀in฀the฀United฀States,฀slightly฀more฀than฀60฀percent฀of฀the฀black฀powder,฀ 65฀percent฀of฀the฀nitrocellulose฀powders,฀80฀percent฀of฀the฀cannon฀powder,฀ 70฀percent฀of฀the฀powder฀for฀hunting฀rifles,฀and฀70฀percent฀of฀the฀smokeless฀ powder฀(which฀was฀used฀almost฀exclusively฀by฀the฀military).2฀Its฀profits฀came฀ essentially฀from฀the฀sale฀of฀dynamite฀and฀smokeless฀powder฀for฀the฀Army฀and฀ the฀Navy.฀In฀1905,฀for฀instance,฀of฀an฀overall฀profit฀of฀$4.88฀million,฀$1.90฀million ฀came฀from฀dynamite฀sales฀and฀$1.07฀million฀from฀military฀smokeless฀powder ,฀with฀the฀rest฀evenly฀divided฀among฀various...