Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal

Background

Wealthy, New Yorker

Attended Harvard, then Columbia Law

NY State Senator, 1911-13

Asst Sec of Navy, 1913-20

Polio -1921

Contracts polio on vacationNever gains use of legsGave him patienceSensitivity toward the less

fortunate

Eleanor Roosevelt

Shy, awkward, intelligent, sensitive and shrewd politically.

Played very public role as 1st lady

Communicated with common man– Blacks included

Gave FDR moral focus

FDR Elected in 1932

Took Oath of Office – Mar 5, 1933Began New Deal on inauguration

dayNew Deal – economic stimulus

package to get US out of Depression

Elected to 3 more terms 1936, 1940, 1944. Only President to serve more than two.

Target the Depression

Main goal – end the depression

Said no political agenda would stand in his way for ending the depression

Restore Confidence

Upbeat and Optimistic

Great Speaker– Inaugural address -

“Only thing we have to fear is fear itself”

– Fireside Chats – weekly radio address

The First 100 Days

Greatest period of domestic legislation in American History in regards to the number of significant bills that were passed

Bank Recovery

• Lines at banks• 4/5 of states temporarily

closed their banks• Emergency Bank Act –

Mar 9, 1933• Federal Deposit

Insurance Company (FDIC) – June 1933

• Home Owners Loan Corp (HOLC) – June 1933

Creation of Jobs – May 1933

Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA)– Civil Works

Administration

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) – May 1933

Farm commodity prices depressedAttempt to make farming

competitiveProvided subsidies for farmers to

not plant - fallow landWho did it hurt?

– Consumers– Railroads – Sharecroppers

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) – May 1933

Federal government took control of hydroelectric facility

Compete with private electric companies– Communist?

Provided service for rural areas

Experiment in centralized federal economic planning.

National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) – June 1933

Created Public Works Administration - $3.3 billion

Established fair competition standards by industry

Workers rights Opponents argued

it is communismRuled

unconstitutional in 1935

Is It Working??

Had no clear ideological basis, but ... Banks reopen 100,000 people go back to work. Economic indicators start to rise. Creates optimism. Does not end the depression…this

leads to the 2nd New Deal

Relief Legislation

Resettlement Administration Revenue Act of 1935 – “Soak the

Rich Act”

Regulatory Legislation

SEC – Securities and Exchange Commission

FCC – Federal Communications Commission

Reform Legislation of 2nd New Deal WPA – Works Progress Admin NLRA – National Labor Relations Act

(Wagner Act) Social Security Act 1935

Fair Labor Standards Act - 1938

Banned oppressive child labor Minimum hourly wage = 25 cents/hrMaximum workweek = 44 hours

Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO)Organized by John L.

Lewis in 1935AFL was more geared

toward skilled workersLabor union that

organized unskilled workers across industries

Accepted African-Americans

Dramatic increase in labor enrollment

Challenges from the Right and Left

Hoover RepublicansNeo-Populists

– Huey Long• Share the Wealth

– Fr. Charles Coughlin– Dr. Francis Townsend

Communists

Court Packing – Supreme Court is a RivalSupreme Court – obstacle to New

DealDeclared several acts

unconstitutional– 1st AAA– NIRA

Concerned Social Security and Wagner Act would be declared unconstitutional

Court Reform Bill

If a justice retires at 70, they can retire at full pay.

Or.. President can assign another justice (with equal power) to the court to help with the workload.

Results of Court Reform

People were outraged

• Bipartisan criticism

The bill passed, but removed clause that allows the President to appoint additional justices

New Deal In Decline

FDR’s reputation from Court Packing takes a hit

Recession in 1937 – more criticism of New Deal

Labor Strikes – national mood toward labor declines

Issues with Italy, Germany, Japan

John Maynard Keynes

Government must spend during a recession– Deficit spending is OK if

necessary

Hope is to jump start the economy

During good economic times you pay down the national debt.

The New Deal in closing

Increased the size of federal bureaucracy

Committed country to federal responsibility for national welfare

African-Americans shift from republican to democrat voters