Transcript Document

1932, America in the
depths of the Great Depression
Things look grim for Hoover as
the 1932 general election nears
1932 Election
Republicans Herbert Hoover
and Charles Curtis
1932 Election
Democrats Franklin D. Roosevelt
and John Nance Garner
1932 Election
Hoover
shouldered
blame for
Depression
and plight of
Bonus Army
Results
Franklin D. Roosevelt
2-term governor of
New York
V. P.
Candidate
1920
Victim of polio—mostly
confined to wheelchair
1932 Election
1930 Dem Rep Oth
Sen.
47 48 1
House 216 218 1
1932
Sen.
59 36 1
House 313 117 5
Dems: total control
Roosevelt
Carefully selected advisors:
professors, lawyers, & journalists
known as “The Brain Trust.”
Together created New Deal
“A new deal for the
American people.”
One of Roosevelt’s
closest friends and most trusted
advisors was Harry Hopkins
First served as an aide
to Roosevelt in N. Y.
Headed the Federal
Emergency Relief
Administration then
the Works Progress
Administration (WPA)
Three Goals:
1. Relief for the needy
2. Economic
recovery
3. Financial
reform
The Hundred Days:
March 9-June 16, 1933
Roosevelt completely controlled
the Congress
Fifteen pieces of New Deal
legislation.
We’ll be
closed until
March 13th
Roosevelt
takes office March 4,
1933.
March 5: declares a
bank holiday to
prevent further
withdrawals.
Congress passed The
Emergency Banking Relief Act
Treasury Department could
inspect banks for solvency
Insolvent banks remain closed;
receive loans from government
Revived public confidence in
American banks—faith that banks
in good financial shape
March 12,
1933—Roosevelt
gives first “fireside
chat”—radio
address
Gave occasionally on issues of
public concern. Explained New
Deal programs in clear, simple
language. People felt talking
directly to them.
Within next few weeks,
people returned their savings to
American banks.
Glass-Steagall Banking Act
of 1933—curb irresponsible
speculation by banks
Created the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
Insured individual accounts
up to $5,000.00
Agricultural Adjustment
Act of 1933
Reduced crop reduction to end
surpluses and halt downward
spiral of crop prices
Domestic allotment system
Agricultural Adjustment System
1936: Supreme Court
struck down the Agricultural
adjustment Act (AAA), saying
agricultural issues should be
regulated by the states, not the
federal government.
Setbacks for Roosevelt and the
New Deal. Roosevelt felt further
such decisions could dismantle
the New Deal.
Resettlement Administration (1935)
Farm Security Administration (1937)
Rural Electrification Administration
National Industrial Recovery Act
National Recovery
Administration
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
The Truth in Securities Act (1933 &
1934)
Created the Securities and
Exchange Commission (June 1934)
Federal Emergency Relief
Administration
Civil Works Administration (4 Million
people to work
Pump-priming:
Government money to stimulate the
economy
One of the New Deal’s most
important contributions to public
policy
Civilian Conservation
Corps
Criticism of New Deal
Early 1935: no end in sight
Many Americans hostile to New Deal
Right-wingers
Corporate America
Communists
Conservatives concerned with
reckless spending
Criticism of New Deal:
Liberty League
Pierre S. du Pont family
DuPont Chemical
Arouse public opposition to
the New Deal’s ‘dictatorial”
policies and its supposed attacks on
free enterprise
FDR: “I welcome their hatred.”
Francis Townsend
Plan for federal pensions
for the elderly
Father Charles E. Coughlin
Critical of capitalists
Monetary reform
Huey P. Long (D-LA)
Attacked banks, oil companies
Utilities, etc.
Very powerful
Dictatorial powers as
governor
Solid record of conventional
progressive accomplishment
Huey P. Long (D-LA)
Share-Our-Wealth Plan
Tax system to confiscate
surplus wealth of richest
people
All The King’s Men
1949 & 2006
Second New Deal—1935
Soak the Rich scheme
Highest and most progressive tax
rates in U. S. history
Primarily a symbolic effect
John L. Lewis
William Green
Frances Perkins
Secretary of Labor
First female cabinet
member
Led Social Security Act
of 1935
Payroll tax
Pension System
Unemployment
insurance
Social Security Act of 1935
Frances Perkins
Social insurance for the
elderly and unemployed
Elderly:
$15.00 a month in federal
assistance
Pension system—payroll tax
Also system of unemployment
insurance—not welfare
Works Progress Admin. (WPA)
Works Progress Admin. (WPA)
Civil works projects
2.1 million employed
1935-1941
Built or renovated:
110,000 public buildings
Constructed 600 airports
Constructed 500,000 miles of roads
Constructed 100,000 bridges
Also sponsored the Federal Writers
Project
1936 General Election
Roosevelt and
John Nance
Garner vs.
Alf Landon of Kansas
and Frank Knox
Not even close
Roosevelt Attempts to
“Pack” the Supreme Court
1935, Supreme Court struck
down the National Industrial
Recovery Act (NIRA) as
unconstitutional
Gave legislative powers to the
executive branch
February 1937:
Roosevelt asks Congress to enact
a court-reform bill that would
add 6 new Supreme Court
justices.
Court-packing—create a Supreme
Court sympathetic to New Deal
programs.
Most in Congress felt
such a bill would violate the
principles of judicial independence and the separation of
powers. Never came to a vote.
However, in time:
Due to retirements/resignations,
Roosevelt appointed 7 new
justices in 4 years.
1934 Off Year Elections
74th Congress (1935-1937)
Dem Rep Other
Senate
69
25
2
House
322 103 10
73rd Congress (1933-1935)
Senate
59
36
1
House
313 117
5
Roosevelt’s Black Cabinet
Mary McLeod Bethune
William Hastie
Informal Network of energetic AfricanAmerican officeholders in Roosevelt
Administration
Marian Anderson
DAR refused
Permission to sing
In DAR Hall in
D. C.
Eleanor Roosevelt
resigned from DAR;
persuaded Hopkins
to permit Anderson
to sing on Lincoln
Memorial steps,
Easter Sunday 1939
Second New Deal
Roosevelt prodded to help the
poorest people by his wife,
Eleanor
Eleanor
Roosevelt:
Traveled country
Reported to the
president
Kept president up-to-date about
people’s suffering
Reminded president to appoint
women to government positions