George Washington Goethals was a United States Army general and civil engineer, best known for his administration and supervision of the construction and the opening of the Panama Canal. He was the State Engineer of New Jersey and the Acting Quartermaster General of the United States Army.

The War Industries Board (WIB) was a United States government agency established on July 28, 1917, during World War I, to coordinate the purchase of war supplies between the War Department and the Navy Department. Because the United States Department of Defense would only come into existence in 1947, this was an ad hoc construction to promote cooperation between the Army and the Navy, it was founded by the Council of National Defense. The War Industries Board was preceded by the General Munitions Board —which didn't have the authority it needed and was later strengthened and transformed into the WIB.