We tend to romanticize the mobilization that occurred after December 7, 1941.

Congress unanimously approved F.D.R.'s next day Declaration of War, governors around the country cabled in offers of help, and volunteers of every gender, color and class flooded the offices of recruiters.

War is easy. It's dramatic. It's clear. Everyone feels good getting behind it, unions and bosses (at least in public) toe the line, and every little individual action becomes imbued with interconnected...