CHAPTER 13, SECTION 1FDR OFFERS RELIEF AND RECOVERY

• THE GREAT DEPRESSION CHALLENGED THE FAITH OF AMERICANS THAT DEMOCRACY COULD HANDLE THE CRISIS OF THE DEPRESSION – GERMANY, JAPAN AND ITALY TURNED TO DICTATORS

• FDR’S NEW DEAL HAD GREAT SIGNIFICANCE BECAUSE AMERICA’S RESPONSE TO THE GREAT DEPRESION PROVED THAT A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY COULD OVERCOME THE CHALLENGES PRESENTED BY THE SEVERE ECONOMIC CRISIS

Franklin Delano Roosevelt• FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK – FROM THE UPPER CLASS – BELIEVED PUBLIC SERVICE WAS A NOBLE CALLING

• 1905 – MARRIED HIS DISTANT COUSIN ELEANOR ROOSEVELT – NEICE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT – BECAME DEEPLY INVOLVED IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Franklin Delano Roosevelt• 1921 – FDR WAS DIAGNOSED WITH POLIO – NEVER RECOVERED THE USE OF HIS LEGS

• 1932 – FDR BECAME THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE FOR PRESIDENT PLEDGING “A NEW DEAL FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

FDR BELIEVED THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NEEDED TO PLAY AN ACTIVE ROLE IN PROMOTING RECOVERY AND PROVIDING RELIEF TO AMERICANS – OPPOSITE OF PRESIDENT HOOVER WHO BELIEVED RELIEF SHOULD COME FROM STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND PRIVATE AGENCIES

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

• FDR DEFEATED HOOVER BY MORE THAN 7 MILLION VOTES

• TO HELP HIM PLAN HIS NEW DEAL HE TOOK ADVICE FROM A DIVERSE GROUP OF MEN AND WOMEN – THE MOST INFLUENTIAL WAS A GROUP OF PROFESSIONALS AND ACADEMICS THE PRESS NICKNAMED THE “BRAIN TRUSTS”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt• FDR DISPLAYED HIS OPENESS BY NOMINATING TWO REPUBLICANS: 1. HARRY WALLACE - SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE 2. HAROLD ICKES - SECRETARY OF INTERIOR 3. FRANCES PERKINS – SECRETARY OF LABOR – THE FIRST WOMAN CABINET MEMBER IN U.S. HISTORY

FDR’s March 1933 Inaugural Address

“This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself-nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyses needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

Roosevelt’s First 100 Days• DURING HIS FIRST 100 DAYS IN OFFICE FDR PROPOSED AND CONGRESS PASSED 15 BILLS – KNOWN AS THE FIRST NEW DEAL – HAD THREE GOALS: RELIEF, RECOVERY AND REFORM

• HE INSTITUTED REFORMS TO PREVENT FUTURE DEPRESSIONS

Roosevelt’s First 100 Days

FDR CONVINCED CONGRESS TO PASS THE EMERGENCY BANKING BILL – INCLUDED A FOUR DAY BANK HOLIDAY – BANKS WERE ORDERED TO CLOSE SO THEY WOULD HAVE TIME TO GET THEIR ACCOUNTS IN ORDER BEFORE REOPENING

Roosevelt’s First 100 Days

• EIGHT DAYS AFTER HE BECAME PRESIDENT HE DELIVERED HIS FIRST FIRESIDE CHAT – INFORMAL RADIO SPEECH TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE – CONVINCED PEOPLE BANKS WERE A SAFE PLACE TO KEEP THEIR MONEY (PAGE 398)

Roosevelt’s First 100 Days

TO REFORM THE NATION’S FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS THE FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION (FDIC) WAS CREATED – IT INSURED BANK DEPOSITS UP TO $5,000

Roosevelt’s First 100 Days

CONGRESS ALSO CREATED THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (SEC) TO REGULATE THE STOCK MARKET AND MAKE IT A SAFER PLACE FOR INVESTMENTS

• FINANCIAL REFORMS HELPED RESTORE CONFIDENCE IN THE ECONOMY

Roosevelt’s First 100 Days

• TO HELP FARMERS CONGRESS PASSED THE AGRICULTURAL ADJUSTMENT ACT (AAA) – TO END OVERPRODUCTIN OF CROPS TO RAISE CROP PRICES – PROVIDED FINANCIAL AID PAYING FARMERS SUBSIDIES NOT TO PLANT PART OF THEIR LAND AND TO KILL OFF EXCESS LIVESTOCK – BY 1934 FARM PRICES BEGAN TO RISE

Roosevelt’s First 100 Days

• CONGRESS CREATED THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY (TVA) – TO HELP POOR AMERICANS LIVING IN THE TENNESSEE VALLEY – THE TVA: 1. BUILD DAMS IN THE TENNESSEE RIVER VALLEY TO CONTROL FLOODS AND GENERATE ELECTRIC POWER 2. REPLANTED FORESTS 3. CREATED JOBS 4. ATTRACTED INDUSTRY WITH THE PROMISE OF CHEAP POWER

Roosevelt’s First 100 Days

• CRITICS OF THE TVA BELIEVED IT TO BE SOCIALIST BECAUSE IT GAVE GOVERNMENT DIRECT CONTROL OF A BUSINESS

• PRIVATE POWER COMPANIES COMPLAINED THEY COULD NOT COMPETE WITH THE TVA

• TVA’S SUCCESS IN IMPROVING LIFE IN THE TENNESSEE VALLEY HAVE ENSURED IT SURVIVAL TO THE PRESENT

Roosevelt’s First 100 Days• FDR CREATED THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS (CCC) – TO COUNTER THE DPRESSSION’S IMPACT ON YOUNG MEN – PROVIDED JOBS FOR MORE THAN 2 MILLION YOUNG MEN – THE CCC: 1. REPLANTED FORESTS 2. BUILT TRAILS 3. DUG IRRIGAION DITCHES 4. FOUGHT FIRES

• FDR CALLED THE CCC HIS FAVORITE NEW DEAL PROGRAM

Other Relief Acts Passed by Congress1. FEDERAL EMERGENCY RELIEF ACT (FERA) – GRANTED FEDERAL FUNDS TO STATE AND LOCAL AGENCIES TO HELP THE UNEMPLOYED

2. CIVIL WORKS ADMINISTRATION (CWA) – PROVIDED JOBS ON PUBLIC WORKS PROJECTS

3. HOME OWNERS LOAN CORPORATION (HOLC) – LOANED MONEY AT LOW INTEREST RATES TO HOMEOWNERS WHO COULD NOT MEET MORTGAGE PAYMENTS

4. FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTATION (FHA) – INSURED BANK LOANS USED FOR BUILDING AND REPAIRING HOMES

Other Relief Acts Passed by Congress

THE $500 MILLION APPROPRIATED FOR THE FERA WAS THE LARGEST PEACETIME EXPENDITURE BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO THAT TIME

Roosevelt’s First 100 Days

• THE MOST IMPORTANT OF THE EARLY NEW DEAL PROGRAMS WAS THE NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL RECOVERY ACT (NIRA) – WHICH ROOSEVELT CALLED “THE MOST IMPORTANT AND FAR REACHING LEGISLATION EVER ENACTED BY THE AMERICAN CONGRESS” – THE NIRA CREATED THE NATIONAL RECOVER ADMINISTRATION (NRA) – THE NRA: 1. DEVELOPED CODES OF FAIR COMPETITION TO GOVERN WHOLE INDUSTRIES 2. ESTABLISHED MINIMUM WAGE FOR WORKERS 3. ESTABLISHED MINIMUM PRICES FOR THE GOODS THAT BUSINESSES SOLD

Roosevelt’s First 100 Days

THE IDEA BEHIND THESE CODES WAS TO INCREASE THE WAGES OF WORKERS SO THEY COULD BUY MORE GOODS AND RAISE PRICES SO COMPANIES COULD MAKE A PROFIT

Roosevelt’s First 100 Days• PUBLIC WORKS ADMINISTRATION (PWA) – BUILT BRIDGES, DAMS, POWER PLANTS AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS – RESPONSIBLE FOR BUILDING MANY IMPORTANT PROJECTS STILL IN USE TODAY: 1. NYC’S TRIBOROUGH BRIDGE 2. THE OVERSEAS HIGHWAY LINKING MIAMI TO KEY WEST 3. BONNEVILLE DAM ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER

• THESE PUBLIC WORKS PROJECTS IMPROVED THE NATION’S INFRASTRUCTURE AND CREATED MILLIONS OF NEW JOBS FOR WORKERS

Opposition to the New Deal• THE CHIEF COMPLAINT AGAINST THE NEW DEAL WAS THAT IT MADE THE GOVERNMENT TOO POWERFUL – THE GOVERNMENT WAS TELLING BUSINESS HOW TO OPERATE, SPENDING LARGE SUMS OF MONEY AND CREATING A HUGE NATIONAL DEBT

• MANY CONSERVATIVES THOUGHT THE NEW DEAL WAS DESTROYING FREE ENTERPRISE AND UNDERMINING INDIVIDUALISM

Opposition to the New Deal• HERBERT HOOVER CALLED THE NEW DEAL “THE MOST STUPENDOUS INVASTION OF THE WHOLE SPIRIT OF LIBERTY” IN THE NATIONS HISTORY • SOCIALISTS BELIEVED THE NEW DEAL DID NOT DO ENOUGH TO END THE DEPRESSION – CLAIMED FDR’S ONLY CONCERN WAS SAVING THE BANKING SYSTEM AND ENSURING PROFITS FOR BIG BUSINESS – AMERICAN SOCIALISTS PARTY DESCRIBED THE NEW DEAL AS A “CAPITALIST RUSE”

Opposition to the New Deal

THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CRITICISM OF FDR CAME FROM PEOPLE INFLUENCED BY THE POPULIST MOVEMENT – BELIEVING THEY WERE SPOKESMEN FOR THE POOR: 1. FRANCIS TOWNSEND – CALLED FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE $200 A MONTH TO ALL CITIZENS OVER 60 – BELIEVED THESE FUNDS WOULD FILTER OUT TO THE REST OF SOCIETY AND PRODUCE ECONOMIC RECOVERY

Opposition to the New Deal

2. FATHER CHARLES COUGHLIN – ONCE A SUPPORTER OF THE NEW DEAL – CAME TO BEILEVE FDR WAS NOT DOING ENOUGH TO END THE DEPRESSION – CAME TO CALL THE NEW DEAL THE “RAW DEAL”

Opposition to the New Deal3. HUEY LONG – SENATOR FROM LOUISIANA – HIS ANSWER TO THE DEPRESSION WAS THE “SHARE OUR WEALTH” PROGRAM THAT PROPOSED HIGH TAXES ON THE WEALTHY AND LARGE CORPORATIONS AND THE REDISTRIBUTION OF THEIR INCOME TO THE POOR

• ROOSEVELT VIEWED LONG AS A POLITICAL THREAT – LONG HAD MADE MANY ENEMIES IN LOUISIANA – HE WAS ASSASSINATED IN 1935