As part of the New Deal in the United States, the National Recovery Administration developed by Roosevelt and his Administration pushed industries to make codes and rules for "fair competition". It gave more rights to workers and employees, and assisted industries as well as poor unemployed people of the early 1930s. The NRA established minimum wages and maximum labor hours.

The NRA was declared unconstitutional in 1935 by the US Supreme Court on the grounds that its codes were an illegal delegation of authority and invaded areas reserved for states.

Its director was Hugh S. Johnson, a retired general and successful businessman. Johnson saw the NRA as a national crusade designed to restore employment and regenerate industry in an excitement of torchlight processions and giant rallies.

See related: National Industrial Recovery Act