After graduating from Indiana in 1913, McNutt went to Harvard Law School where he became a member of Acacia fraternity[2] as well as taking an extracurricular job as a United Press reporter and sports writer.

McNutt took his law degree from Harvard in 1916, then returned to Martinsville where in a race for Morgan County prosecutor he was narrowly defeated.

[3] The following year he took a job as assistant professor at the Indiana University School of Law, but quit to enlist in the United States Army when the United States entered World War I. McNutt completed officer candidate school at Fort Benjamin Harrison, and received his commission in the field artillery branch.

To provide another source of revenue, he advocated creating a state-issued franchise license, so that licensees would be the only business that could sell liquor in the state.

The revenue increases had the desired effect and balanced the state budget and paid off the $3.4 million debt created during World War I.

The system for exclusive franchises for beer distribution were sold to his campaign contributors who in turn made large donations to him and the party.

He also had the legislature postpone the 1933 municipal elections as a cost-saving measure, adding an extra year to the terms of local officials, a majority of whom were Democrats.

[12] Indiana's constitution kept McNutt from seeking reelection as governor in 1936, and he launched a bid to be nominated to run for President on the Democratic ticket.

McNutt was also the target of criticism from Republicans, notably Representative Albert J. Engel of Michigan, for a proposal to construct a "summer palace" in the mountains near Baguio.

[14] In a notable humanitarian act, McNutt, in cooperation with Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon, quietly side-stepped the U.S. Department of State in allowing the entry into the Philippines of 1,300 Jewish refugees fleeing fascist regimes in Europe.

[15] By 1938 the press speculated that McNutt would, despite opposition from Roosevelt supporters, "have to be reckoned with" for the 1940 Democratic nomination for president because of his military and American Legion service, gubernatorial record, and "astonishingly good looks.

It also served as a cover agency from 1942 to 1944 for the War Research Service, a secret program to develop chemical and biological weapons.

The FSA job gave McNutt high visibility, but his presidential hopes ended because Roosevelt decided to seek a third term.

Coincidentally, Roosevelt's opponent in 1940 was McNutt's Indiana University classmate and Beta Theta Pi fraternity brother Wendell Willkie, now a Republican.

McNutt loyally supported Roosevelt in 1940 and was given added responsibilities at the FSA in managing defense-related health and safety programs.

In 1942, Roosevelt appointed him chairman of the War Manpower Commission, which was charged with planning to balance the labor needs of agriculture, industry and the armed forces, but the position carried little real power.

In a further qualification one week after the original statement, McNutt stated that the comments reflected his personal views and not official U.S. government policy.

[17] McNutt was among 12 nominated at the 1944 Democratic National Convention to serve as Roosevelt's running mate in the presidential election that year, receiving one vote.

[21] Paul V. McNutt Quadrangle, a residence hall complex at Indiana University Bloomington, is named for him[22] and has a bust of him in the front foyer of the main building.