 Freedom from Want was published with an essay by Carlos Bulosan as part of the Four Freedoms series. Bulosan's essay spoke on behalf of those enduring domestic socioeconomic hardships rather than sociopolitical hardships abroad, and it thrust him into prominence. As he neared his thirtieth birthday, the Philippine immigrant and labor organizer Bulosan was experiencing a life that was not consistent with the theme Rockwell depicted in his version of Freedom From Want. Unknown as a writer, he was subsisting as a migrant laborer working intermittent jobs. Post editors tracked down the impoverished immigrant to request an essay contribution. Bulosan rose to prominence during World War II when the Commonwealth of the Philippines, a United States territory, was occupied by Japan. To many Americans, Bulosan's essay marked his introduction, and his name was thereafter well recognized. The essay was lost by The Post, and Bulosan, who had no carbon copy, had to track down the only draft of the essay at a bar in Tacoma.
