Franklin Delano Roosevelt

• Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) won the 1932 Presidential

election.
 Americans blamed President Hoover for the
country’s economic woes.
 Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the Democratic
Party’s nomination.
 He was related to Theodore Roosevelt.
 He survived polio.
 He was governor of New York.
 Roosevelt promised relief for the poor and more
public works programs to provide jobs. He attacked
Hoover and the Republicans for their response to
the Great Depression.
 Roosevelt won a landslide victory—winning more
than 57 percent of the popular vote.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a winning personality and
believed that it was the government’s job to take direct action
to help its people.

Eleanor Roosevelt was a powerful political force in her own

right, and she helped to change to role of the First Lady.

Franklin and Eleanor’s marriage played a central role in Franklin

Roosevelt’s political success.
 Franklin Roosevelt Eleanor Roosevelt
 Appealing blend of  “Eyes and ears” of her
cheerfulness, optimism, husband
and confidence
 Directed efforts to solve
 An effective several major social
communicator (ex. issues (ex. lynching of
fireside chats) African Americans)
 A reform-minded  Wrote her own
Democrat newspaper column
 Believed the  Had the trust and
government could solve affection of many
economic and social Americans
problems
 In 1933 Franklin Delano
Roosevelt became president
of a suffering nation. He
quickly sought to address the
country’s needs, with mixed
results.
 Saving the Banks

Bank run, New York City, 1931

• FDR gathered
information from
many economic
experts, known as the
Brain Trust, on how
to fight the
depression.
 Banking Crisis Hundred Days Beyond the
Hundred Days
• Temporarily • Critical period of
closed all the government • FDR and
nation’s banks to activity Congress passed
stop panic and • Roosevelt pushed important
large-scale Congress to put legislation after
withdrawals most of his New the Hundred Days
• Passed the Deal into • Created the Civil
Emergency practice. Works
Banking Act • The New Deal Administration
• Glass-Steagall Act promised relief, • Passed the Indian
created the FDIC recovery and Reorganization
reforms. Act
 Fireside Chats
• FDR gave 30 radio speeches to the nation, which became
known as fireside chats.http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/fdrfirstfiresidechat.html

FDR’s
first
fireside
chat on
the bank
crisis.
(March
12,
1933)
• Roosevelt declared a “bank holiday”, closing every bank in
the nation for eight days.
• Congress then
passed the
Emergency Banking R
, which only allowed
banks to open if they
had enough funds to
pay their depositors.

FDR signing the

Emergency Banking
Relief Act into law.
• FDR’s
first firesid
reassured
people
that
banks
were safe
to use
again.
 Federal Emergency Relief Administration
 ½ billion dollars given to state & local
governments; matching funds for individual relief
 Civil Works Administration
 Temporary work for those most in need
 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
 Helped unemployed young men 18 to 25 years
old
 Agriculture Adjustment Act (AAA)
 Helped farmers by paying them not to grow crops
 Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
 Helped build dams and other projects along the
Tennessee River and its tributaries
 National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA)
 Helped business by requiring that businesses in
the same industry cooperate with each other to
set prices and output
 Started Public Works Administration (PWA)
 Labor received federal protection for the right
to organize.
 Federal Securities Act
 Helped investors, restored confidence in the
markets
 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
 II. plans for
I. Relief for the economic
unemployed
Recovery

The New Deal had three major goals:

III. Reforms to
prevent another
depression
Radical Reactions to the New Deal
• Believed the New Deal did not go far enough in reforming the
economy
• Wanted a complete overhaul of capitalism
• Huey P. Long, Father Charles Coughlin, Dr. Francis Townsend

Conservative Reactions to the New Deal

• Attacked the New Deal as a radical break with traditional
American ideals
• Thought the New Deal would drive the country to destruction.
• American Liberty League
 Huey P. Long (senator from Louisiana)
 Believed Roosevelt’s policies were too friendly to banks and
businessmen (started the Share Our Wealth Society)
 Father Charles Coughlin (the “radio priest”)
 Believed Roosevelt was not doing enough to curb the power of
bankers and financial leaders
 Dr. Francis Townsend
 Criticized the New Deal for not doing enough for older Americans
(wanted pensions for people over 60)
 The American Liberty League
 Believed that the New Deal went too far and was anti-business
 Opposition from the courts
 Critics of the New Deal feared that it gave the president too much
power over other branches of government.
 Schechter Poultry Corporation v. United States
 United States v. Butler
Criticism of the New Deal

Senator Huey Long:

· He wanted to put heavy taxes

on the rich and to use the
money to give every
American family a house, a
car, and a decent income.
Criticism of the
New Deal

Father Coughlin:

· He criticized FDR
on his radio show
for not taking
stronger action
against bankers and
rich investors.
Criticism of the
New Deal

Francis Townsend:

• He proposed giving
every American over
age 60 a pension of
$200 per month.

• However, people receiving the pension would have to retire,

freeing up the job for a younger American.
• In addition, every person that receives the pension would be
required to spend it immediately in order to spur the economy.
Criticism of the
New Deal

Liberty League:

· It complained that
the New Deal
interfered too much
with business and
people’s lives.
 FDR and the
Supreme Court
The Conflict:
· The Supreme
Court ruled that
many New Deal
laws were
unconstitutional.
Ex.) AAA

February 10, 1937,

Columbus (Ohio)
Dispatch,
"Trying to Change
the Umpiring"
· After winning the
1936 presidential
election, FDR
proposed increasing
the number of
Supreme Court
Justices from 9 to
15.

February 14, 1937,

Waterbury (CT)
Republican, "Do
We Want A
Ventriloquist Act In
The Supreme
Court?"
* This would allow FDR
to appoint 6 new pro-New
Deal Justices to the
Supreme Court.

February 18, 1937,

Oakland (California)
Tribune, "New Blood"
The Results:

· Many Americans,
including New Deal
supporters, felt that FDR
was unfairly trying to
control the Supreme
Court.

February 28, 1937,

Richmond (Virginia)
Times Dispatch,
"What Has Become of
the Old-Fashioned
Man...?"
 June 16, 1937,
Providence (R.I.)
Bulletin,
" Pulling No
Punches"
 August 26, 1937
Newport (R.I.) News,
"And That's The Versatile
Quarterback Who Said If
One Play Didn't Work He'd
Try Something Else."
 • Roosevelt launched the Second New Deal in the spring of
Second 1935.
Hundred • Congress passed laws extending government oversight
Days of the banking industry and raised taxes on the wealthy.
• Congress funded new relief programs.

• Emergency Relief Appropriations Act – stopped direct

Emergency payments to Americans in need
Relief • Works Progress Administration (WPA) – largest
peacetime jobs program in U.S. history

• Provided guaranteed, regular payments for many people

Social
65 and older
Security
• Included a system of unemployment insurance
1. National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) guaranteed workers the
right to form unions and bargain collectively.
 Difficult to enforce, fatally weakened by Supreme Count’s ruling
in Schechter Poultry Corporation v. United States
1. Roosevelt backed the Wagner Act, or the National Labor Relations
Act (NLRA).
 Outlawed a number of anti-labor practices, established the
National Labor Relations Board and gave it authority to conduct
voting in workplaces to determine whether employees wanted
union representation
1. The Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) was born in
1935.
 John L. Lewis led this group to break away from the American
Federation of Labor (AFL).
 The United Auto Workers (a division of the CIO) launched a
successful sit-down strike in 1936.
 Roosevelt His Critics The Results
• Passed the Rural • Republicans argued • A tremendous
Electrification Act, that the New Deal victory for
which provided was overly Roosevelt
electricity to bureaucratic and
• Alf Landon carried
millions of farmers was creating a
only two states.
• Showcased his planned economy.
• The Union Party
achievements: • American Liberty
candidate polled
unemployment cut League tried to
less than 2 percent
in half, income and stop Roosevelt’s
of the popular
business earnings attack on big
vote.
were up, New Deal business.
programs provided • The Democrats
• Republican Alf
hope and help again gained seats
Landon did not
in both houses.
• Spoke out against pose a serious
big business threat.
Roosevelt surprised Congress with a plan to reorganize the
nation’s courts.

In the fall of 1937, the nation’s economy suffered another

setback.

Although the Supreme Court began to rule in favor of New Deal

legislation and the economy began to rebound in the summer of
1938, the positive feelings about Roosevelt and the New Deal
had begun to fade.
 Roosevelt’s Plan The Result
 Gave the president  Plan did not pass;
power to appoint many however, the Supreme
new judges and expand Court made some rulings
the Supreme Court by that favored New Deal
up to six judges legislation.
 Supreme Court upheld a
 Roosevelt argued that minimum wage law in
changes were needed to Washington state.
make the courts more
efficient.  Court ruled in favor of a
key element of the
 Most observers saw plan Wagner Act.
as effort to “pack” the
court with friendly  Court declared Social
justices. Security plan to be
constitutional.
The Nation’s Economy
• 1937 witnessed an economic downturn that began with a
sharp drop in the stock market. By the end of the year, about
2 million Americans had lost their jobs.
• Roosevelt had hoped to cut back on government spending, for
he feared the growing federal budget deficit.
• As unemployment rose during 1937 and 1938, the
government spent large sums of money to help the
unemployed.

Economic Theory
• British economist John Maynard Keynes argued that deficit
spending could provide jobs and stimulate the economy.
• The economy did begin to rebound in the summer of 1938.
The New Deal had mixed success in
rescuing the economy, but it
fundamentally changed Americans’
relationship with their government.
• 1952, Herbert Hoover
• New Deal failed because it “attempted to collectivize the American system of life.”

• 1940s-1960s, “liberal consensus” historians

• New Deal was a “pragmatic” revolution that expanded the role of the federal
government in American life.

• mid-1960s, “New Left” historians

• New Deal was fundamentally conservative, it could but failed to redistribute
power in American society; it protected American capitalism.

• 1970s-2000s, contemporary historians (including Alan Brinkley)

• New Deal could not have done more than it did, because of conservative
Congress, the lack of adequate government bureaucracy, and localist and
antistatist political culture.
 The New Deal promised relief, recovery, and reform.
 Relief programs put billions of dollars into the pockets of poor
Americans.
 The New Deal was less successful in delivering economic
recovery.
 New Deal reforms were successful and long-lasting.

 The New Deal changed the link between the American people and
their government.
 Roosevelt believed that government could help businesses and
individuals achieve a greater level of economic security.
 The New Deal required a much bigger government.
 Americans now began to look regularly to government for help.
 Relief Recovery Reform
• Millions of • Not as successful • More successful
Americans at economic and long-lasting
enjoyed some recovery
• FDIC restored
form of help. • Unemployment public confidence
• Direct relief or remained high. in the nation’s
jobs that • Some critics banks.
provided a argued that • SEC restored
steady paycheck Roosevelt public confidence
• Programs such needed the in stock markets.
as Social support of big
• New Deal left
Security and business.
thousands of
unemployment • Other critics said roadways,
insurance that the New bridges, dams,
became a fixture Deal didn’t spend public buildings,
of government. enough money. and works of art.
Relief programs gave aid to millions of people, but they were
not meant to be a permanent solution to joblessness. Also,
they did not provide jobs to everyone who needed one.

The level of government assistance varied by state. For

example, a family needing assistance in Massachusetts might
receive $60 per month, while a family in Arkansas might get $8.

New Deal programs permitted discrimination against African

Americans, Hispanic Americans, women, and others.
 • Setbacks such as the court-packing fight and the
1937 economic downturn gave power to anti-New
Deal senators.
Weakening
• Opposition in Congress made passing New Deal
Support legislation more difficult. Only one piece passed in
1938: the Fair Labor Standards Act (which set up a
minimum wage).

• Roosevelt tried to influence voters in the South during

1938 the congressional elections of 1938; however his
candidates lost.
Elections
• The Republicans made gains in the both houses.
• Roosevelt lacked the congressional support he needed
to pass New Deal laws.

• The New Deal ended in 1938.

After the
New Deal • Americans turned their attention to the start of WWII.