executive government official politician
Donald Marr Nelson was born on November 17, 1888 in Hannibal, Missouri, United States. He was the son of Quincy Marr Nelson, a locomotive engineer, and Mary Ann MacDonald. His mother died when he was young, and Nelson was raised by his maternal grandmother.
After attending elementary and secondary schools in Hannibal, he entered the University of Missouri, graduating in 1911 with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering.
Nelson went to work in a Missouri agricultural experiment station. In 1912, he accepted employment as a chemist for Sears, Roebuck and Company, with which he remained until 1942. From the testing laboratories Nelson advanced to administrative posts; in 1921 he became manager of the men's and boys' clothing department, and he advanced to the post of general merchandise manager in 1927. Three years later he was appointed vice-president of merchandising and a company director.
In 1939 he became executive vice-president and chairman of the executive committee. During this extended service with Sears, Roebuck and Company, Nelson had one brief experience in government: in 1934 he received a leave of absence to serve as assistant to Clay Williams, administrator of the National Recovery Administration. In May 1940, Nelson accepted the first of a series of government appointments. Released by Sears, he reported to Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr. , as acting director in charge of procurement, with the responsibility for aiding in the handling of requests by foreign governments for raw materials and manufactured products. The following month he was named chairman of the newly created National Defense Advisory Commission.
In January 1941, Nelson became part of the newly established Office of Production Management (OPM), as head of the Division of Purchases. The OPM was unwieldy and lacked authority. Furthermore, its leaders were divided regarding the urgency of war preparations and the extent of the need to curtail civilian production. Nelson favored as rapid an expansion of war production as possible.
In July 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Supply, Priorities, and Allocations Board (SPAB), which attempted to allocate the supply of materials among military, defense aid, and civilian needs. Nelson became executive director of SPAB and director of priorities. After Pearl Harbor it became apparent that the powers of SPAB were too limited to meet the needs of a nation at war. President Roosevelt decided that American war production should be placed under one man, and at the suggestion of his adviser Harry Hopkins, he appointed Nelson as head of the new War Production Board (WPB) on January 16, 1942. A major initial task of the WPB was to convert the economy from civilian to war production. This process included the redirection of the automobile industry to the manufacture of airplanes, tanks, and military vehicles. The WPB also was involved in the production of ships, including vessels for the navy and cargo craft. It had to deal with large companies and also brought small concerns into war production. Throughout the war the WPB handled the allocation of steel and sought to increase the supply of rubber by supporting the production of synthetic rubber and decreasing the unnecessary use of rubber. In addition it had to cope with the relationships between management and labor; in this connection Nelson pressed successfully for nationwide use of labor-management committees.
Nelson headed the WPB until August 1944. By that time he had become embroiled in a bitter dispute with army leaders; one of the differences was over preparations for reconversion to a civilian economy when the war ended.
Nelson accepted Roosevelt's offer of an assignment to accompany Major General Patrick J. Hurley on a special mission to the Soviet Union and China. Nelson conferred especially on economic matters with the leaders of these countries as President Roosevelt's personal representative and held cabinet rank.
In May 1945, Nelson returned to private life. He wrote a book on his war experiences, Arsenal of Democracy (1946).
He died in Los Angeles.
Nelson headed the WPB ( War Production Board). He made effective use of "dollar-a-year" men, a device initiated during World War I, in which prominent individuals served the government for a token fee. He also served as president of the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers, chairman of the board of Electronized Chemicals, and president of Consolidated Caribou Silver Mines.
Nelson was married five times. His first wife was Estelle Lord, who died in 1923. He married Helen Wishart in 1926; they were divorced in January 1945. The following month Nelson married his former secretary, Marguerite S. Coulbourn, who died in February 1947. He married Edna May Rowell in November 1947; they were divorced in 1958. On February 12, 1959, Nelson married Lena Peters Schunzel.
