“The Imperial President”

• Bank Failures

• Stock Market Crash

• Farm Failures

• High Unemployment

• Limited welfare system and lack of relief agencies

• Drop in home ownership

• Minorities hit the hardest and received the least amount of aid

• School ClosuresPresident Hoover appears to be

unwilling to provide relief for the Great Depression…

• Born in 1882 to a wealthy and prominent family

• Raised to believe that wealthy should look after the poor

• Believed government’s primary role was to respond to social need

•Stricken with Polio in 1921 (at the age of 39 years) – public did not know

• President for 12 years during the two of the nation’s biggest crises -Great Depression and WWII

• Only President elected for 4 terms

• known to represent the “common man”

• ability to convey sympathetic concern for all

• Hoover was a Republican, FDR was a Democrat

• FDR Received 57% of popular vote and 472/531 electoral votes

• Election called the “Roosevelt Revolution”

• Greatest change in voter history

• Realignment of voter alliances

• Democrats now included farmers, industrial and white-collar workers, African Americans, immigrants, women, and intellectuals

• FDR ran against Hoover on a “New Deal” campaign – a program to solve the problems of the Great Depression

Blue States = Voted for Hoover

Red States = Voted for Roosevelt

• The New Deal Programs would provide

• Relief: short term plan to give money directly to the people

• Recovery: designed to stimulate production and restore the economy

• Reform: long term plan to insure that another depression would not occur

• “100 Days”

• in FDR’s first 100 days in office he pushed 15 pieces of legislation through Congress to fight the Depression

• he focused on stabilizing financial institutions, providing relief, creating jobs, and regulating the economy

• he used expansionary fiscal & monetary policy (i.e. increased the amount of money in circulation)

• EXAMPLE: day after taking office he declared a “bank holiday” (banks were closed so no one could withdraw their money) & government inspected banks to determine when they could re-open

Video on First Fireside Chat

• Between 6.5 – 12.5 million workers still unemployed

• Elected with 60.8% of popular vote (largest in history)

• Won every electoral vote but Maine and Vermont

• Number of votes for Democratic candidates increased by 205% from previous election

• improved labor conditions for many workers (secured rights of unions to use collective bargaining, minimum wage and hours laws)

• helped create lasting infrastructure (roads, bridges, public buildings)

• created some Federal Agencies that still exist today (ex: FDIC& SEC)

• Created a welfare system(ex: Social Security)

• stabilized financial institutions

• provided millions of jobs

• there were some critics and opponents to the New Deal

• some felt that the New Deal gave the Federal Government and the President too much power

• increased federal deficit

• The Supreme Court declared some New Deal programs unconstitutional (ex: NIRA & AAA)

• some felt the New Deal did not do enough

• New Deal did not end Great Depression – WWII did