In the fall of 1944, while the Allied Armies broke out of Normandy and fought toward Germany, a small, select committee of US Senators met to discuss an emerging resource crisis that could possibly grind the Allied war effort to a halt.1 Affecting both the fighting overseas as well as the war production effort at home, the crisis carried strategic consequences.2 The issue was not gasoline, armor, or ammunition – it was cigarettes. Tobacco in the form of cigarettes had become a staple of American life by World War II, and the trend expanded dramatically with America embroiled in war. When soldiers fought, they smoked. When workers worked in the war factories, they smoked. Indeed, nicotine was actively encouraged by the military because it calmed nerves, steadied the hands, assuaged boredom, and demonstrated a commander’s care for his soldiers. Any interruption to this cycle of working, fighting, and smoking, could yield severe consequences.