rivet, women mostly worked unskilled jobs in the defense industry (riveting was considered skilled labor). Blacks also sought to leave their sheltered lives on the fields in the South to join the defense industry but they were shunned. It was not until they threatened to march on DC (Led by Asa Philip Robinson) that FDR created the Fair Practices Employment Committee to ensure blacks had more chances. Interestingly enough, blacks were relegated to menial roles in the military and military units were segregated. Very few black units were allowed to be on the front line, most blacks served as cooks, laborers, etc.. In the big picture though, the war economy is what boosted the US out of the depression and while it wasn't easy or immediate, all parts of US society benefited. 9. FDR died shortly after his 4th inauguration in April of 1945 (he gave the shortest inauguration speech in history as he was very sick). Harry S Truman took over and it was his decision to drop the atomic bombs, though it was pretty much a foregone conclusion. 10. Social security is one of the few lasting New Deal programs. That just scratches the surface of the 850+ pages in this book. Kennedy has detailed accounts of war strategy, the Yalta, Teheran, and Potsdam conferences, specific programs within the New Deal, the politics behind the New Deal, FDR's machinations and bargaining, and most importantly, the socio-economic effects of all of this on the US and the labor movement.