arsenal of democracy

Etymology
Introduced to wide usage (although probably not first used) by U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in December, 1940.

Noun

 * 1)  The United States of America, as supplier of extensive materiel support to U.S. allies during World War II; or post-war U.S. as the manufacturer and possessor of the greatest quantity of advanced military weaponry in the world, in the service of defending democratic forms of government.
 * 2) * 1985 July 6, Drew Middleton, "Books of the Times: Analysis of a Failure" (book review of The 25-Year War: America's Military Role in Vietnam by Gen. Bruce Palmer Jr.), New York Times (retrieved 11 July 2014) :
 * The United States, he contends, is no longer the arsenal of democracy. Nor does it have a clear technological advantage over the Soviet Union.
 * The United States, he contends, is no longer the arsenal of democracy. Nor does it have a clear technological advantage over the Soviet Union.

Usage notes

 * Sometimes used to refer to specific American urban industrial centers which contributed much output of this kind, such as Detroit, Chicago, and New York.