# During World War II the US government successfully provided a trusted hierarchy The government’s R&D efforts were all in the [[Office of Scientific and Research and Development (OSRD)]] which was run by [[Vannevar Bush]] who reported directly to FDR. Bush notes several times in [[bushPiecesAction1970]] that FDR trusted him on R&D matters and in turn Bush trusted the people under him to give him accurate analyses that he could pass on to the president. A similar situation happened around the distribution of materials under the [[Controlled Materials Plan]] lead by [[Georges Doriot]]. Arguably, this structure was effective for winning WWII. While many things stopped being part of the hierarchy - the government no longer dictated manufacturing plans - the psychological assumption that the government is the default trusted hierarchy remained. I believe this assumption is why the default dichotomy is either government or decentralized systems. But [[Government centralized coordination versus decentralized efforts is a false dichotomy]]. <!-- #evergreen --> [Web URL for this note](http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/During+World+War+II+the+US+government+successfully+provided+a+trusted+hierarchy) [Comment on this note](http://via.hypothes.is/http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/During+World+War+II+the+US+government+successfully+provided+a+trusted+hierarchy)