in the early-to-mid-20th century, "dollar-a-year men" were business and government executives who helped the government mobilize and manage american industry during periods of war, notably world war i, world war ii, and the korean war. us law forbids the government from accepting the services of unpaid volunteers. those employed by the government had to be paid a nominal salary, and the salary establishes their legal relationship as employees of the government. during world war i, about 1,000 such people were employed by the united states. while they received only a dollar in salary from the government, most executives had their salaries paid by the companies.