Abstract
The National Industrial Recovery Act was perhaps the greatest social and economic experiment in the history of the United States. By its very nature, the Act was necessarily a process of trial, error, correction, and redirection. Many mistakes were made. On the other hand, numerous benefits were derived from it. The theory of the Act, federal government intervention and control in business, was something new and different for Americans. As a result, many persons had something to say about it. Consequently, much was written in the contemporary periodicals concerning the NIRA and its various ramifications. | However, there has been no examination of the NIRA through this periodical literature. The books written on the subject are mostly contemporary observations from the single point of view of the author, usually a lieutenant of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This thesis will examine the NIRA through the reported stories, articles, and editorials in the contemporary periodic literature.