Roosevelt and the Great Depression/New Deal
Franklin Delano Roosevelt served as President from
March 1933 to April 1945, the longest tenure in American history. He may have
done more during those twelve years to change American society and politics
than any of his predecessors in the White House, save Abraham Lincoln. Of
course, some of this was the product of circumstances; the Great Depression and
the rise of Germany and Japan were beyond FDR's control. But his responses to
the challenges he faced made him a defining figure in American history.
Americans elected Roosevelt President in 1932
because they believed he could combat the Depression more effectively than his
Republican opponent, President Herbert Hoover. Roosevelt promised a "new
deal" and he certainly delivered. By implementing a variety of innovative
policies, FDR was able to pull the United States away from the brink of
economic, social, and perhaps even political, disaster—and lay the foundation
for future stability and prosperity.
http://millercenter.org/president/fdroosevelt/essays/biography/9
(Source A)
Other key pieces of legislation during FDR’s first
“Hundred Days” created some of the most important programs and institutions of
Roosevelt’s New Deal, including the Agricultural Adjustment Administration
(AAA), the Public Works Administration (PWA), the Civilian Conservations Corps
(CCC) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). In addition to programs aimed
at providing economic relief for workers and farmers and creating jobs for the
unemployed, Roosevelt also initiated a slate of reforms of the financial
system, notably the creation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC) to protect depositors’ accounts and the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) to regulate the stock market and prevent abuses of the kind
that led to the 1929 crash.
In 1935, after the economy had begun to show signs
of recovery, Roosevelt asked Congress to pass a new wave of reforms, known as
“Second New Deal.” These included the Social Security Act (which for the first
time provided Americans with unemployment, disability, and pensions for old
age) and the Works Progress Administration. The Democratic-led Congress also
raised taxes on large corporations and wealthy individuals, a hike that was
derisively known as the “soak-the-rich” tax.
http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/franklin-d-roosevelt
(Source B)
Roosevelt’s Changes in Law
Under FDR, the American federal government assumed
new and powerful roles in the nation's economy, in its corporate life, and in
the health, welfare, and well-being of its citizens. The federal government in
1935 guaranteed unions the right to organize and bargain collectively, and the
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 established a mechanism for putting a floor
under wages and a ceiling on hours that continues to this day. It provided, in
1935, financial aid to the aged, infirm, and unemployed when they could
no longer provide for themselves. Beginning in
1933, it helped rural and agricultural America with price supports and
development programs when these sectors could barely survive. Finally, by
embracing an activist fiscal policy after 1937, the government assumed
responsibility for smoothing out the rough spots in the American economy.
Writ large, the New Deal sought to insure that the
economic, social, and political benefits of American capitalism were
distributed more equally among America's large and diverse populace. The New
Deal did this to a remarkable degree. But FDR's New Deal failed to cure
completely the Depression-induced ills of the American economy. By 1940, the
percentage of Americans without jobs remained in double digits and the American
people lacked the purchasing power to jump start the economy. Only American
entry into World War II ended this torpor.
http://millercenter.org/president/fdroosevelt/essays/biography/9
(Source A)
Roosevelt Strength at War
If FDR was elected in 1932 to fight the Depression,
he was largely re-elected in 1940 because Americans believed he could guide the
nation through a period of treacherous international relations. FDR correctly
understood that Japan and Germany threatened the United States, which in turn
endangered the cherished freedoms Americans enjoyed at home. With the onset of
war in 1939, FDR ably guided America's efforts to aid its allies without
formally entering into hostilities. When Japan and Germany forced his hand in
December 1941, Roosevelt rallied Americans in support of a massive war effort,
both at home and abroad.
FDR hoped that the war would produce a more secure
and peaceful post-war world, and he became a major proponent of a post-war
United Nations, in which the United States would be a leading member. FDR,
however, left to his successors the thorny problem of relations with the Soviet
Union, which quickly replaced Germany and Japan as America's chief global
adversary. Nonetheless, a sea change had occurred in American foreign relations
under FDR. By 1945, the United States had become a global power with global
responsibilities—and its new leaders both understood this new reality and had
the tools at their disposal to shape the world accordingly.
http://millercenter.org/president/fdroosevelt/essays/biography/9
(Source A)
As early as 1937, FDR warned the American public
about the dangers posed by hard-line regimes in Germany, Italy and Japan,
though he stopped short of suggesting America should abandon its isolationist
policy. After World War II broke out in September 1939, however, Roosevelt
called a special session of Congress in order to revise the country’s existing
neutrality acts and allow Britain and France to purchase American arms on a
“cash-and- carry” basis. Germany captured France by the end of June 1940, and
Roosevelt persuaded Congress to provide more support for Britain, now left to
combat the Nazi menace on its own. Despite the two-term tradition for
presidents in place since the time of George Washington, Roosevelt decided to
run for reelection again in 1940; he defeated Wendell L. Wilkie by nearly 5
million votes.
http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/franklin-d-roosevelt
(Source B)
Roosevelt Strength in Communicating With the Public/ Making White House Changes
FDR also reshaped the American presidency. Through
his "fireside chats," delivered to an audience via the new technology
of radio, FDR built a bond between himself and the public—doing much to shape
the image of the President as the caretaker of the American people. Under FDR's
leadership, the President's duties grew to encompass not only those of the
chief executive—as implementer of policy—but also chief legislator—as drafter
of policy. And in trying to design and craft legislation, FDR required a White
House staff and set of advisers unlike any seen previously in Washington. The
President now needed a full-time staff devoted to domestic and foreign
policies, with expertise in these areas, and a passion for governance. With
enactment of the Executive Reorganization bill in 1939, FDR changed the shape
of the White House forever. In sum, President Roosevelt greatly increased the
responsibilities of his office. Fortunately for his successors, he also
enhanced the capacity of the presidency to meet these new responsibilities.
http://millercenter.org/president/fdroosevelt/essays/biography/9
(Source A)
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