He also helped governors in Pennsylvania and New York develop what became Social Security, unemployment insurance, and the idea of publicly owned power utilities. After losing his first election for the U.S. Senate in 1942, at the age of 49 he enlisted in the U.S. Marines and was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his service in the Pacific.
Later, after he was elected to the Senate, Douglas was a champion of consumer protection laws, including the 1968 Truth in Lending Act, and was a leading supporter of civil rights legislation. One of Paul Douglas’s most important achievements in public life was to promote ethics in government.