From the early twentieth century through the Second Word War, public corruption dropped sharply particularly at the federal level. Despite the fact that some cities remained under the control of corrupt political machines, governments made significant process in controlling traditional forms of public corruption. The New Deal and the Second World War saw a massive increase in federal spending without any major public corruption scandals. After the Second World War, a fierce battle began over the future of the administrative state. Conservative and business critics of the administrative attempted to convince the public that big government meant big corruption. Defenders of the administrative state argued that public corruption regulation needed to expand to regulate so-called conflicts of interest that presented a direct threat to public trust in the objectivity and impartiality of the administrative state. The perceived ability of government to bring public corruption under control and the public crackdown on arguably immoral conduct created a false sense of stability. In many parts of the United States vice went underground. Organized crime met the demand for a range of illicit activities. In public, elected officials and career public servants found themselves forced to adhere to accepted standards of behavior. In their private lives, some public figures engaged in non-conventional lifestyle choices with little fear the media would report on the conflict between their private lives and their public images.