L12&13: Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal: Redefining Federal Authority (1933-1944)

Striving for Balance Between Democracy and Authority

AgendaObjective:1. To explore FDR’s definition of

freedom2. To understand how FDR

redefined federal authority in pursuit of his definition of freedom

3. To evaluate the impacts of these actions.

Schedule: 4. Lecture & Discussion

Homework

None

Understandings of Democracy 1787-1837

Group/Ideology Thinking on Democracy

Federalists• Hamilton• Marshall

• There is a nation – USA is an entity with a will independent of states that comprise it

• National power exists and should be used to promote the interest of the nation• SCOTUS is the final say on what is constitutional (Marbury v. Madison 1803)

Jeffersonian-Democrats (Democratic-Republicans; Strand of Democrats)• Jefferson• Calhoun

• Eschews national power for the sake of the people• State power for the sake of the people• There is no nation, just “states united” (Calhoun)• States are final say on what is constitutional

• VA&KY Resolutions 1798• Nullification Crisis 1832• Succession

Jacksonian Democrats (Democrats of the Jackson Era)• Andrew Jackson

• National power should be used for the people• Where the people = white, male, rural/farmer• Especially executive branch (informally has “final say”)

• Believes in the USA as a nation• But that it doesn’t have a will independent of the people• Its sovereignty lies with the people

• The nation should be an expression of the people’s will

Understandings of Democracy Civil War and Reconstruction

Group/Ideology

Thinking on Democracy

Abraham Lincoln

• There is a nation• USA is an entity with a will independent of states that comprise it• The nation exists to aspire to a higher calling of spreading liberty • The nation exists to aspire to a higher calling of exemplifying liberty for other nations• The will of the nation is not the “the nation” (Federalists) or “the people” (Jackson) but the ideal

of human liberty/freedom• National power should be used to promote liberty (defined as freedom to labor)

• View of the Presidency • Whitman on Lincoln: “Oh Captain, My Captain!”…He is at the helm…steering the ship of

liberty and can do what is right in pursuit of it• Democracy requires the citizenship of blacks (but they not have to be fully equally to whites in the

package of rights they possess)

Radical Republicans

• There is a nation• National power should be used widely and heavily to promote full and complete equality between

blacks and whites• National power should be used to actively promote civil rights through legislation• Reconstruction Amendments enforces that the national government (Congress in particular)

have the authority to enforce Civil Rights issues/legislation• Democracy requires complete equality between blacks and whites

• Democracy necessitates civil rights• Democracy requires all races be equal in the package of rights they possess

• With Reconstruction Amendments, Constitution is re-written to serve as a tool to attain/achieve equality

• Recognizes the vote as a basic component of all male citizenship

Understandings of Democracy Gilded Age – 1920s & Progressives

Group/Ideology

Thinking on Democracy

Gilded Age & 1920s Conservatives

• Freedom meant “unfettered economic opportunity for the enterprising individual” (Foner, p. 205)• Greatest obstacle to freedom is government intervention in the economy….promote and endorse laissez-faire• The government is the biggest obstacle to your freedom

Progressives • Progressives define freedom as “industrial freedom”/”economic freedom”• Empowered workers who can interact with owners and corporations on equal terms• Access to consumer goods• While we have seen freedom defined in economic terms before (Lincoln & The laissez-faire capitalists) we

for the first time see freedom being defined as economic fairness in the interactions between people (as workers and consumers) and corporations

• How do Progressives define democracy: • View of national government

• Nation-state was a moral agent which should set rules for society and the economy to function fairly

• National government should be an efficient, bureaucratic, and scientific entity in order to be most effective at promoting “industrial freedom”

• View of the citizenry• Citizenry can be perfected

• View of rights• American’s have economic rights as workers and consumers

• View of the vote• Purifying the Electorate: Greater Political Participation Among “The Best and Brightest”

• Back to the Jeffersonian View, but imbue it with a sense of social engineering• Ironically…leads them to endorse votes for women while also sitting by as blacks

systemically denied the right to vote in the south

Understandings of Democracy Franklin Roosevelt & the New Deal

Group/Ideology

Thinking on Democracy

Franklin Roosevelt

Where are we by the End of the Progressive Era?

• The unfettered capitalism of the Gilded Age and its associated economic and social ills spawn the Progressive Movement

• Progressives define freedom as “industrial freedom”/”economic freedom”– Empowered workers who can interact with owners and corporations

on equal terms– Access to consumer goods– While we have seen freedom defined in economic terms before

(Lincoln & The laissez-faire capitalists) we for the first time see freedom being defined as economic fairness in the interactions between people (as workers and consumers) and corporations

• Progressives believe the national government can be used as a mechanism to achieve industrial freedom– National government should be an efficient, bureaucratic, and scientific entity in order to be most effective at promoting “industrial freedom”

Progressive Era Reforms to Promote Industrial Freedom: City and State Level

Progressive Era Reforms to Promote Industrial Freedom: National Level (Legislation & Amendments)

The Great Depression• 1929-late 1930s• Worldwide economic collapse in which

unemployment and homelessness skyrocketed, government revenue and international trade

plummeted, the stock market lost significant value, and banks closed.

• Real output (GDP) fell 29% from 1929 to 1933.

• Unemployment increased to 25% of labor force.

• Consumer prices fell 25%; wholesale prices 32%.

• Some 9000 banks failed.

How Great was the Great Depression?

Redefinition of Freedom/DemocracyPost Great Depression

• Freedom as liberty (free labor) no longer sufficient in the wake of the corporate abuses of the Gilded Age & The Great Depression

• Sense that the Progressive definition of industrial freedom doesn’t go far enough…– Need for greater economic regulations to prevent extreme economic downfalls– Many progressive goals still to be implemented

• Ex. No federal minimum wage

Franklin Roosevelt• 1882-1945• Democrat• Married to Eleanor Roosevelt• Was Assistant Secretary of the Navy

and Governor of New York• Contracted polio at age 39 and was

paralyzed from the waist down– Never used a wheel-chair in public– Always strove to appear ambulatory in

public images

• President from 1933-1945– Was elected President a record 4 times

in a row– Died during his 4th term in office

• Oversaw American involvement in the Great Depression & World War Two

• Created a massive and instrumental social welfare program in the US known as the New Deal

Roosevelt’s Notion of Freedom and Democracy

• Together we will listen to excerpts from Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union Speech.

• Has come to be known as the “Four Freedoms Speech”– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

tPjYCg8_sKQ (start 26:23)

• Discussion:– According to this speech, what is

freedom for Roosevelt?– According to this speech, what is the

role of the national government in securing that freedom? • In other words, what shape should

American democracy take to ensure the freedom of its citizens?

FDR on Freedom and Democracy

• Freedom – Freedom can only be accessed if people have economic security

• Macro Level (National Level)– The American economy is stable

» Jobs, currency is stable, banks are safe

• Mico Level (Personal Level)– Your personal family economy is stable

» You have a job, money to put food on the table

• Democracy– This economic security must be insured by the national government– National government should actively and strictly promote both

• National economic stability • Your own personal economic stability

– Also helps to usher in a new relationship between the people and the national government» The national government should be close to the people» The national government has an obligation to the quality of your life

– In defining democracy this way, Roosevelt transforms the relationship between:• Federal Government & Economy• Federal Government & Citizenry

What Makes Roosevelt’s Ideas about Freedom New?

See Personal Freedom as Inborn/Automatic • Federalists

– Personal freedom is natural to men, only obstacle is possible “mob rule”

• Jefferson / Jeffersonians– Personal freedom is natural to men, only obstacle is possible tyrannical federal authority

• Gilded Age/ 1920s Laissez-Faire Capitalists– Unfettered capitalism grants you freedom naturally (if you use it property)

See Barriers to Accessing Personal Freedom, and Recognize That They need to be Removed…• Jackson

– Must have equal political participation (the vote & more) to be free (applies to white males only)• Barrier: Lack of suffrage

• Lincoln– Must be free to labor (economic autonomy) to be free

• Barrier: Slavery

• Radical Republicans – Must have civil rights to be free

• Barrier: Legal Inequality

• Progressives– Must have economic fairness as a worker and consumer (industrial freedom) to be free

• Barrier: Unfettered capitalism

• Franklin Roosevelt– Must have economic security to be free

• Barrier: Unfettered capitalism, poverty, bad luck

Those Who See Barriers to Freedom, Argue it is the Job of the National Government to Break

Them Down• Jackson

– Freedom rests on more political participation for the average white farmer Use broad presidential power outside of war to accomplish this (Trail of Tears, Veto the Bank)

• Lincoln– Freedom rests on freedom to labor Broadly define Presidential War Time Powers to

accomplish this by ending slavery (Civil War & Emancipation Proclamation)

• Radical Republicans – Freedom rests on the possession of Civil Rights Expand the authority of the

National Government and Empower Congress with the ability to pass Civil Rights Legislation (Reconstruction Amendments)

• Progressives– Freedom rests on economic fairness State and national governments need to

promote laws that limit the power of corporations and promote the rights of workers

• Franklin Roosevelt– Freedom relies on economic security Expand the national government and its

powers to intervene in both the national economy and our personal economies to achieve macro and micro level economic security

• In so doing, recast the idea of freedom by linking it the expanding power of the nation-state!

How Does FDR Go About Using the National Government to Ensure Economic Security?

Consolidate national power • Bring the 3 branches of government

in line with FDR’s vision (use extreme-ish means to do this if necessary)

• Keep the vision going by running for president 4 times

Produce Programs that Focus Economic Security• Focus on Economic Security at both:

• National Level• Personal Level

• Use Laws, Programs, and Executive Orders to achieve this

Fire-side chats • Use radio speeches given directly to

the American people to develop closeness/relationship/trust between the national government and the people

Consolidate National Power by Bring the 3 Branches of Government under

his Direction• President

– Franklin Roosevelt (Democrat)– Highly visionary and active– Crafted the New Deal and its programs and pushed them through

Congress

• Congress – Senate: Democratic Majority– House: Democratic Majority– First 100 Days FDR sent Congress 15 major bills all of which passed easily

• Supreme Court – Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes– Most justices ideologically aligned with the Republican Party– SCOTUS find several pieces of New Deal legislation

unconstitutional across approximately 10 different cases– The orientation of SCOTUS is a problem for Roosevelt….

Consolidate National Power by Bring the 3 Branches of Government in line

• How to bring the court in line?– Judicial Procedures Reform Bill 1937

• “Court Packing Plan”• A legislative initiative (threat) by FDR to add more

justices to SCOTUS• Would have granted the president power to appoint an

additional Justice to SCOTUS, up to a maximum of 6, for every member of the court over 70.5 years old

• Since the Constitution does not define the size of SCOTUS, Roosevelt pointed out that it was within the power of Congress to change it

– Bill never makes it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee

– But…• Associate Justice Owen Roberts, who had voted against

the constitutionality of ND legislation, now began to vote for it– His switch was seen as a direct response to the pressure FDR

was putting on the court– Reversal came to be known as “the switch in time that saved

nine”

• Associate Justice Willis Van Devanter resigns, beginning a process of tipping the court towards Roosevelt

• Other deaths/retirements throughout Roosevelt’s 12 years in office leave SCOTUS squarely on his side throughout his 3rd term.

Programs Focused on Economic Security:

The New Deal • Series of domestic programs aimed at providing relief,

recovery, and reform during the Great Depression– Relief for the unemployed and poor– Recovery of the economy to normal levels– Reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat

depression

• Achieved through laws passed by Congress as well as presidential executive orders

• Mostly enacted between 1933 and 1938• Let’s review some of these programs…

– Let’s take a look at a very partial list of ND programs– As we look at the list think about…

• How are these programs producing economic security at the national level?

• How are these programs producing economic security at the personal level?

• How are the powers of the national government being expanded in this process?

– http://staff.washington.edu/qtaylor/Courses/101_USH/new_deal.htm

– You may wish to also look at the periodic table of the New Deal• http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/education/resources/

periodictable.html

How is Economic Security Being Ensured?

Economic Security

National Level

Personal Level

Fire-Side Chats• A series of 30 evening radio addresses given

by President Roosevelt between 1933 and 1944

• Topics included:– Banking crisis, the recession, New Deal

initiatives, and World War Two

• Chats had better ratings than the most popular radio shows

• Was able to “sell” is programs to the American people

• The fireside chats represent the first time in history that a chief executive communicated directly with a large number of citizens

• Level intimacy made people feel like they were a part of the administration– Trusted the government– Helped to convince them that the government

worked for them

Criticisms of Conservative Opponents

• Conservative opponents said the New Deal went too far:– It was socialism (killed individualism)– It added to the national debt It wasted

money on relief and encouraged idleness– It violated the constitution & states rights– It increased the power of the

Presidency (FDR was reaching toward dictatorship, Congress arubber stamp, independenceof judiciary threatened, separation of powers shattered)

Transformation of the Democratic Party Under FDR

• Broad coalition of farmers, industrial workers, reform-minded urban class, liberal intellectuals, and white-supremacist southerners

• Commitment to federal intervention in issues of economic stability and justice

• Sizeable southern contingency meant that the boundaries of American democracy would continue to be defined by race.

• Makes the democrats a party whose focus is on the economically marginalized (not yet on other marginalized groups).

Important Considerations• The power of the Democratic South helped

to mold the New Deal welfare state into a set of entitlement programs for white (male) Americans

• FDR does not challenge, and in fact works within, dominant understandings of race and gender to enact his programs

• Goes beyond this, and codifies and institutionalizes our assumptions about race and gender into New Deal Programs

• Examples:– Tennessee Valley Authority’s rural

electrification program disproportionately aids whites

– Segregation permitted in Civilian Conservation Corp

– Social Security Act only provided old age benefits for people who worked for the government or in companies, not people who were employed in informal labor markets. For example, black women, who tended to work in domestic help, were not given any social security benefits.

Understandings of Democracy Franklin Roosevelt & the New Deal

Group/Ideology

Thinking on Democracy

Franklin Roosevelt