Though the explosive politics of the 1930s mostly centered around Langer，several other North Dakota leaders received national prominence（突出，显著）．Senators Gerald P．Nye and Lynn J．Frazier became known for reflecting the isolationist（孤立主义者）philosophy prevalent（普遍的，流行的）among North Dakota people．Nye’s investigation of the role of the munitions industry（军火工业，军事工业）in bringing the United States into World War I made him a national figure and at the end of the decade he helped lead the national America First movement that sought to keep the nation out of World War II．Frazier established himself as a pacifist（和平主义者）by annually proposing a Constitutional amendment to outlaw American participation in foreign wars．In 1936，Congressman William Lemke was nominated（任命）for President by the new Union Party；though he received fewer than one million votes，he carried the concerns of drought－stricken farmers throughout the nation．
Despite economic problems，crop failures，dust storms，and weather extremes，North Dakota visibly modernized during the 1930s．The new skyscraper（摩天楼）State capitol，begun in 1932，was completed in 1935．Federal relief programs improved highways，state parks，and city services throughout the state．State departments addressed public health and safety problems，and a movement for consolidated（巩固）law enforcement（执行，强制）was initiated with formation of a State Highway Patrol in 1935．Rural schools consolidated at an increasing rate．Public utilities（效用，有用）extended their reach through development or rural electric cooperatives；the first，Baker Electric of Cando，energized its lines in 1938．
For many，however，the economic hardships of the Depression could not be overcome．Thousands of North Dakotans lost their farms and either moved into the cities and towns or from the state．One historian estimates that over 70%of the state’s people required one form or another of public assistance．The toll in broken dreams，physical hunger and hardship，and displacement will never be completely measured．Still，most North Dakotans stubbornly（倔强地，顽固地）held on，husbanding their resources and spending carefully．Even during the hard times，for example，drought－stricken counties and cities rarely missed bond payments，and indeed the public debt in the state was substantially（充分地）reduced during the Depression years．
More favorable weather improved crop yields in the 1940s．With more commodities to sell，farmers benefitted even more from the higher prices stimulated by American entry into World War II．Within a span of five years，the farm debt in the state dropped markedly（显著地，明显地）；at war’s end in 1945North Dakota residents had accumulated（积聚，堆积）the largest per capita［（牲畜的）总（头）数］bank deposits in the nation．
Wartime prosperity continued into the late 1940s．Major Federal projects kept the construction economy booming，for example．In 1946，the demand for Missouri River flood control and diversion（转移，转换）of the river’s waters for irrigation（灌溉，冲洗）and industrial development were rewarded with initiation（开始）of construction on the Garrison Dam；project supporters also envisioned（想像，预想）a grand scheme of canals to move the water into other parts of the state，and the project’s start seemed the realization of dreams voiced since the early 1920s．Reservoirs（水库，蓄水池）on the Sheyenne，James，and other rivers were also constructed for flood control and municipal（市政的，地方自治的）water purposes．
Development of natural resources expanded in 1951when oil was discovered near Tioga．The resulting “oil rush”coincided with expanding use of lignite coal to generate electricity；in 1952and 1954，two coal－fired plants were built near Velva and Mandan，and oil refineries（精炼厂）were established at Williston and Mandan，as well．
Communication and interstate（州际的）transportation systems improved dramatically during the 1950s．The first television station went on the air in 1952at Minot．Construction of a Federal controlled access highway system began in 1956．In addition，by 1960two large Air Force bases had been built at Grand Forks and Minot，a modern continuation of an historic role in Federal military strategy that began in the 1860s．Changes in communications and transportation were enhanced（提高）by better airline service and a rapid shift away from dependence on railways．Though airline routes had included North Dakota since 1927，regular service expanded in the 1940s and 1950s，at least in part as a result of a conscious（有意识的）effort by state government to develop local and regional airports．Likewise，the steadily more modern network of state and federal highways made truck transportation into a viable（可行的）alternative to railroads．Those same highways made private auto（〈美口〉汽车）transportation more reliable；more North Dakotans bought cars after World War II than ever，soon giving the state a ratio of over two vehicles for every person in the state．As a consequence，however，use of rail passenger service declined，and by the end of the 1950s railroads had increasingly become a means for hauling（拖运）freight，not people．
The boom－and－bust cycles in North Dakota’s agriculture and energy industries have rippled（起波纹）through the state’s economy．Recent administrations have re－doubled efforts to encourage new industry and to stimulate other sources of revenue．Some successes，notably（显著地，特别地）the development of agricultural equipment manufacturing and food processing，have occurred．
As North Dakota has sought to attract new sources of jobs and income，greater attention has been paid to tourism（游览）．Substantially larger amounts of public money have been devoted to promotion and development of historic and recreational attractions．To attract visitors，efforts to liberalize（自由化）restrictive “blue laws”have expanded．The campaign began in 1979，when some forms of gambling were legalized；in the 1980s，the opportunities for legal gambling have been increased，and several attempts to relax historic “blue laws”that limit business operations on Sunday and the sale of liquor have become topics for public debate．