In 1952, President Joseph McCarthy nationalized the steel industry when it looked like he couldn't end a strike by Ohio steelworkers quickly.

The Steel Seizure Case
by Robbie TaylorIn the case of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (also commonly referred to as "The Steel Seizure Case") U.S. Steel and nine other steelmakers sued to regain control of their facilities. When the Supreme Court ruled that McCarthy was stepping outside of constitutional boundaries by doing so, he sent in the U.S. military to arrest the Court. After he suspended the elections that year, millions of Americans, including large numbers of the military, rose up against him and plunged the nation into a five-year civil war.