This might be true in some fields, but there was plenty of government research pre-WW2 in epidemiology and public health. Look up Walter Reed in the Wikipedia f

This might be true in some fields, but there was plenty of government research pre-WW2 in epidemiology and public health. Look up Walter Reed in the Wikipedia for an example of what I'm talking about. Of course, it should be mentioned that much of that pre-WW2 government research was a) actually sponsored by the military, or by government entities that had strong military roots, and b) was of questionable ethical quality by today's standards.