U.S. Food Administration Poster No. 6, 1917: On August 10, 1917, the Lever Act was signed into law as an emergency wartime measure. Backed by Representative Asbury F. Lever, South Carolina and President Woodrow Wilson the Lever Act was called, “An Act to Provide Further for the National Security and Defense by Encouraging the Production, Conserving the Supply, and Controlling the Distribution of Food Products and Fuel.”