The longest and costliest strike in the history of the steel industry hit the United States economy in 1959. Across the nation, the steel industry banked its furnaces, turned off the vital flow of steel, and many of the nation’s auto plants closed down in a few months with their supply of steel used up. Gone are the good old days of strikes bringing down entire industries that force intervention from the president of the United States. "I’m not going to try to assess any blame," President Dwight D. Eisenhower assured during the strike. "But I’m getting sick and tired of the apparent impasse in the settlement of this matter, and I think, so are the American people." President Eisenhower ordered the 500,000 striking steel workers back to work—and the workers ultimately saw their demands met.
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