Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal

Background

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Wealthy, New Yorker

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Attended Harvard, then Columbia Law

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NY State Senator, 1911-13

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Asst Sec of Navy, 1913-20

Polio -1921

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Contracts polio on vacation

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Never gains use of legs

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Gave him patience

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Sensitivity toward the less fortunate

Eleanor Roosevelt

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Played very public role as 1st lady

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Shy, awkward, intelligent, sensitive and shrewd politically. Communicated with common man

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Blacks included

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Gave FDR moral focus

FDR Elected in 1932

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Took Oath of Office – Mar 5, 1933

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Began New Deal on inauguration day

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New Deal – economic stimulus package to get US out of Depression

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

Target the Depression

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Main goal – end the depression

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

Restore Confidence

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Upbeat and Optimistic

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Great Speaker

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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

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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

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Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA)

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Civil Works Administration

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Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) – May 1933 

Farm commodity prices depressed

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Attempt to make farming competitive

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Provided subsidies for farmers to not plant - fallow land

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Who did it hurt?

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Consumers Railroads Sharecroppers

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) – May 1933    

Federal government took control of hydroelectric facility Compete with private electric companies

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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

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Established fair competition standards by industry

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Workers rights Opponents argued it is communism

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Ruled 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 2 nd New Deal

Relief Legislation

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Resettlement Administration

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Revenue Act of 1935 – “Soak the Rich Act”

Regulatory Legislation 

SEC – Securities and Exchange Commission

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FCC – Federal Communications Commission

Reform Legislation of 2 nd New Deal   WPA – Works Progress Admin NLRA – National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act)  Social Security Act 1935

Fair Labor Standards Act - 1938

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Banned oppressive child labor

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Minimum hourly wage = 25 cents/hr

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Maximum workweek = 44 hours

Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) 

Organized by John L. Lewis in 1935

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AFL was more geared toward skilled workers

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Labor union that organized unskilled workers across industries

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Accepted African Americans

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Dramatic increase in labor enrollment

Challenges from the Right and Left 

Hoover Republicans

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Neo-Populists

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Huey Long

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Share the Wealth

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Fr. Charles Coughlin

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Dr. Francis Townsend

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Communists

Court Packing – Supreme Court is a Rival 

Supreme Court – obstacle to New Deal

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Declared several acts unconstitutional

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1 st AAA NIRA

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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

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FDR’s reputation from Court Packing takes a hit

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Recession in 1937 – more criticism of New Deal

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Labor Strikes – national mood toward labor declines

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Issues with Italy, Germany, Japan

John Maynard Keynes

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Government must spend during a recession

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Deficit spending is OK if necessary

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Hope is to jump start the economy

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During good economic times you pay down the national debt.

The New Deal in closing

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Increased the size of federal bureaucracy

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Committed country to federal responsibility for national welfare

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African-Americans shift from republican to democrat voters