After the United States entered World War I in 1917, the country's railways proved inadequate to the task of supplying the nation's war effort. On December 26, 1917, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson nationalized most American railways under the Federal Possession and Control Act, creating the United States Railroad Administration (USRA), which took control of the railways on December 28, 1917. The USRA introduced several reforms to increase efficiency and reduce costs, including standardizing rolling stock and steam locomotive designs. The war ended in 1918, and on March 1, 1920, the railways were handed back to their original owners.

In 1939 the Tennessee Electric Power Company was nationalized. In 1971 Amtrak was nationalized. In 1976 Conrail was created to bailout a half dozen unprofitable rail lines. After 911, airport security was nationalized. In 2008 Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were nationalized. And now we’re in the process of nationalizing the Big Three.

In every case, the argument is made that these concerns are too big, too important to the economy, and too important to the nation to fail. Thus, what would not survive on its own, must be made to survive with the help of the government. In every case, however, we witness a disaster in progress. Ronald Reagan’ blasting of the Tennessee Valley Authority helped put him in the governorship of California; Conrail lost billions during its period of being government run; the TSA misses 60-75% of fake bombs brought through security and cost flyers and taxpayers nearly $7 billion / year. We still don’t know the full cost of nationalizing Fred and Fan but it will be in the billions.

The point is: history has already shown us what a disaster nationalizing will be. Why do we not learn from it.

The most famous one is that of Amtrak, the railroad. It was purchased by the government in 1971 and operates very well to this day. They had serious problems with lateness during the late 70s and 80s, but were rectified.

More recently, the formerly privately owned airport security forces were nationalized under the Homeland Security Dept following the 9/11 attacks.

Many suspect there may be more such actions in the near future, as some have noted the large bailouts (especially those issued to FannieMae and FreddyMac) resemble nationalization.

The truth is that the United States has a long and overlooked history of "nationalization," starting with the Northwest Ordinance of 1789, and then the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Both acts put vast amounts of American territory in the public domain, at a time when land was far more valuable than currency. Even today, a third of all the land in the United States is still publicly owned, as are the continental shelves along our coasts, the airspace above us, not to mention hundreds of thousands of miles of roads and trillions of dollars' worth of other public infrastructure so essential to our private economy.

In World War I, the nations' railroads were successfully nationalized to sustain the war effort. In the 1930s, the Reconstruction Finance Corp. bought millions of shares in over 6,000 banks in order to rescue them. During World War II, government took control of the economy's entire pricing system for consumer goods—a more complex job than taking over several big banks—and did quite well at it, most economists agree. In the 1980s, the Resolution Trust Corp. seized hundreds of failed savings and loans in order to save the system. After 9/11, the government effectively nationalized the private-security firms at airports, and replaced them with the federal TSA.

Taken from: http://www.newsweek.com/id/183993/page/1

Also...

During World War II, Washington seized dozens of companies, including railroads, coal mines and, briefly, the Montgomery Ward department store chain. In 1952, President Harry S. Truman seized 88 steel mills across the country, asserting that unyielding owners were determined to provoke an industrywide strike that would cripple the Korean War effort. That nationalization did not last long, though, because the Supreme Court ruled the move an unconstitutional abuse of presidential power.

In banking, the government took an 80 percent stake in the Continental Illinois Bank and Trust in 1984. Continental Illinois failed in part because of bad oil-patch loans in Oklahoma and Texas. As the nation’s seventh-largest bank, Continental Illinois was deemed “too big to fail” by federal regulators, who feared wider turmoil in the financial markets. In the end, the government lost an estimated $1 billion on the bad loans it bought as part of the takeover of Continental, which eventually became part of Bank of America.

The nearest precedent for the Treasury plan, finance experts say, are the investments made by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in the 1930s. The agency, established in 1932, not only made loans to distressed banks, but also bought stock in 6,000 banks, at a cost of $1.3 billion, said Mr. Sylla, the N.Y.U. economist. A similar effort these days, in proportion to today’s economy, would be about $200 billion.

Taken from: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/business/economy/14nationalize.html

And...

United States
1917: All U.S. railroads were nationalized as the Railroad Administration during World War I as a wartime measure, but were returned to their private owners almost immediately after the war.

1939: Organization of the Tennessee Valley Authority entailed the nationalization of the facilities of the former Tennessee Electric Power Company.

1971: The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) is a government-owned corporation created in 1971 for the express purpose of relieving American railroads of their legal obligation to provide inter-city passenger rail service. The (primarily) freight railroads had petitioned to abandon passenger service repeatedly in the decades leading up to Amtrak's formation.

1976: The Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail), another government corporation, was created to take over the operations of six bankrupt rail lines operating primarily in the Northeast; Conrail was privatized in 1987. Initial plans for Conrail would have made it a truly nationalized system like that during World War I, but an alternate proposal by the Association of American Railroads won out.

2001: In response to the September 11 attacks, the then-private airport security industry was nationalized and put under the authority of the Transportation Security Administration.

2008: Some economists consider the U.S. government's takeover of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and Federal National Mortgage Association to have been nationalization.[17][18]

taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalization#United_States

And I think we own AIG now as well...

taken from: my head.

Definition:

Nationalization, also spelled nationalisation, is the act of taking an industry or assets into the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being state operated or owned by the state.

Notable Events:

The U.S. railroads, taken up by the Railroad Administration during World War I as a wartime measurement, but returned back to private owners after the war.

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) is a government owned corporation; it was meant to relieve American railroads of their legal obligation to provide inter-city passenger rail service.

Post 9/11 brought about nationalized airport security, the industry was previously owned privately or contracted out. The industry is now under the athority of the Transportation Security Administration.

Economists also see the Federal Home Loan Morgage Corporation and the Federal National Mortgage Association as nationalization.

Nationalization, also spelled nationalisation, is the act of taking an industry or assets into the public ownership of a national government or state.

Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being state operated or owned by the state.

History of Nationalization in the USA:
* 1917: All U.S. railroads were nationalized as the Railroad Administration during World War I as a wartime measure, but were returned to their private owners almost immediately after the war.
* 1939: Organization of the Tennessee Valley Authority entailed the nationalization of the facilities of the former Tennessee Electric Power Company.
* 1971: The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) is a government-owned corporation created in 1971 for the express purpose of relieving American railroads of their legal obligation to provide inter-city passenger rail service. The (primarily) freight railroads had petitioned to abandon passenger service repeatedly in the decades leading up to Amtrak's formation.
* 1976: The Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail), another government corporation, was created to take over the operations of six bankrupt rail lines operating primarily in the Northeast; Conrail was privatized in 1987. Initial plans for Conrail would have made it a truly nationalized system like that during World War I, but an alternate proposal by the Association of American Railroads won out.
* 2001: In response to the September 11 attacks, the then-private airport security industry was nationalized and put under the authority of the Transportation Security Administration.
* 2008: Some economists consider the U.S. government's takeover of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and Federal National Mortgage Association to have been nationalization.

The United States has a long and overlooked history of "nationalization," starting with the Northwest Ordinance of 1789, and then the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Both acts put vast amounts of American territory in the public domain, at a time when land was far more valuable than currency. Even today, a third of all the land in the United States is still publicly owned, as are the continental shelves along our coasts, the airspace above us, not to mention hundreds of thousands of miles of roads and trillions of dollars' worth of other public infrastructure so essential to our private economy.

In World War I, the nations' railroads were successfully nationalized to sustain the war effort. In the 1930s, the Reconstruction Finance Corp. bought millions of shares in over 6,000 banks in order to rescue them.

During World War II, government took control of the economy's entire pricing system for consumer goods—a more complex job than taking over several big banks—and did quite well at it, most economists agree. In the 1980s, the Resolution Trust Corp. seized hundreds of failed savings and loans in order to save the system. After 9/11, the government effectively nationalized the private-security firms at airports, and replaced them with the federal TSA.

The power utilities, subways, commuter trains like New Jersey Transit, the public bus service, Amtrak, and the U.S. Postal Service are all nationalized services.

Then there's the health care system, with Medicare creating a quasi-nationalization model, and the Veterans Administration providing a fully nationalized system.