Abstract: The entry of the U.S. into the war brought the federal government fully into the act of promoting national cohesion, and produced an infrastructure of institutions devoted to publicly defining for Americans their common ground. During the war, groups and individuals across the political spectrum warned of the Nazi tactic of “divide and conquer,” and promoted cooperation among subgroups in American society. Beneath this broad canopy of consensus, however, sharp ideological differences remained. This chapter explores the different visions of America offered by anti-fascists and by those who portrayed America’s enemy as totalitarianisms of both right and left. It then considers the implications of the emphasis on national unity for labor and business. The CIO largely abandoned its militant idiom during the war, and business groups too increasingly moderated their tone. Led by Chamber of Commerce president Eric Johnston, business moderates urged Americans to embrace the politics of consensus and argued that all would benefit from a harmonious and productive society in which business rather than government took the lead.

Keywords: divide and conquer, consensus, anti-fascist, totalitarianism, national unity, CIO, business moderates, Eric Johnston,