The Great Depression and World War II were pivotal in the development of a modern thrift business. The broad changes that occurred during this period came in three major areas. The first of these involved improvements in the structure of the thrift trade association. Under the leadership of its executive manager Morton Bodfish, the League became better organized and more useful to its members through the development of new programs designed to improve thrift business practices. At the same time, Bodfish and the League helped transform the mindset of thrift leaders to think of their business less as a movement and more as an industry, in part by urging associations to adopt the common term “savings and loan” to replace the older “building and loan” nomenclature. A second body of changes affecting the thrift business centered on the consequences of the Great Depression. While the financial turmoil associated with deposit runs and loan foreclosures led to a number of thrift failures, most associations survived the period, and this experience strengthened the industry by improving the financial acumen of most managers. The final major changes affecting thrifts involved the work of the newly created federal regulatory system, including the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, and the system of federal charters for savings and loans. Each program steadily attracted members, and by the end of World War II they were firmly established as part of the American financial system.