Even as the Fed battled in almost unprecedented fashion to stem a widening credit and housing slump, some Fed members fretted over the possibility of a "prolonged and severe" business downturn.

It was in that environment that they voted--with two dissents--to cut this important interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point, to 2.25 percent.

That action capped the most aggressive Fed intervention in a quarter-century.

Some Fed policymakers thought that such a widening recession could not be ruled out given the further restriction of credit availability and "ongoing weakness in the housing market," according to the meeting minutes that were made public Tuesday.

Two Fed's members--Charles Plosser, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, and Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas--opposed such a big rate reduction, however.

They favored a smaller cut because of concerns about a potential inflation flare-up.

It was a crack in the mostly unified front that the fed often has projected to the public.

The minutes of the closed-door March meeting underscored the economic cross-currents pulling at Fed policymakers.

"With the uncertainties in the outlook for both economic activity and inflation elevated, members noted that appropriately calibrating the stance of (interest-rate) policy was difficult," the minutes stated.

On the one hand, the Fed has been urgently moving to prevent the trio of economic woes -- housing, credit and financial -- from plunging the country into a deep recession.