Roosevelt and the New Deal

Roosevelt and the New Deal Chapter 19 Section 1

Video on Roosevelt’s “New Deal” • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Deue0fLd1V4

The First New Deal • Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected as President in 1932 promising a “New Deal” for Americans. • In his 1st 100 days in office he created laws designed to rescue the banks, industry and agriculture and to resurrect the economy by providing jobs for the unemployed. • FDR was a distant cousin to Theodore Roosevelt and married his niece Eleanor. • He contracted an incurable disease, polio but would not let it slow him down though it forced him to leg braces and limitations on his walking.

The First New Deal • Roosevelt would become Governor of the state of New York and his determination and energy gave people confidence in him. • He ran as the Democratic nominee for President of the United States with the promise of a New Deal for the American public. • Roosevelt led many to believe that he could make things better while Herbert Hoover the current President was seen as being ineffective of bringing about a change. • Come election day, FDR would win the electoral votes of all but six states.

The First New Deal • Eleanor Roosevelt would serve as the eyes and ears for her husband as she travelled throughout the country. She greatly changed the role of a First Lady who were generally seen as hostesses. • She was seen as a first lady for all people and supported the downtrodden as well as being a champion of civil rights. • She helped to save the Tuskegee Airmen program for African-American pilots. • She was greatly loved by Americans.

The First New Deal • Roosevelt came into office with ideas about how to end the depression but no clear agenda on how to go about it. • During his first 100 days in office he would have 15 major acts passed through Congress to resolve the economic crisis. He would set a record pace for new legislation to deal with America’s ills. These programs became known as the First New Deal. • Despite disagreement among his advisors (BRAIN TRUST) they all generally favored governmental intervention in the economy unlike the previous administration .

The First New Deal • He addressed the people directly with many of his decisions through radio programs known as “Fireside Chats.” • He reassured Americans, told them the state of the nation, and let them know exactly what he was trying to accomplish. • His first fireside chat was on banking reforms and the following day deposits outnumbered withdrawals.

The First New Deal • Many of his advisors supported creating federal agencies to manage the economy. • The Tennessee Valley Authority was one of Roosevelt's programs to build dams for flood control, conservation of forest lands and to provide hydroelectric energy. • The program created 29 hydroelectric dams, 11 fossil fuel plants, 3 nuclear power plants, and has provided power to over 8 million people in a seven state region.

The Second New Deal • The Second New Deal is the term used by commentators of the time to describe the second stage of New Deal programs such as the WPA, theWagner Act and the Social Security Act. • Roosevelt did have his critics. Some thought that the New Deal programs regulated business too tightly while other felt it had greatly expanded the federal governments power over the states. • To pay for the programs, Roosevelt had started deficit spending (using borrowed money). This also caused concerns.

The Second New Deal • Huey Long as the Governor of Louisiana had been a champion of the poor and downtrodden. He was very popular in Louisiana among the people. • In 1930 he was elected as the state’s U.S. Senator • Huey Long often attacked the rich during the depression and started the Share the Wealth Society to promote his plan for massive redistribution of wealth .

The Second New Deal • In July 1935 Congress passed the Labor Relations Act (also known as the Wagner Act). • The Act guaranteed worker the right to organize unions and to bargain collectively. • It also set up the National Labor Relations Board that organized votes on unions within factories • The end result of the Act was industrial unionism

The Second New Deal • The Social Security Act had as its major goal, to provide some security for older Americans and unemployed workers. • Roosevelt and his advisers spent months preparing the bill which they viewed primarily as an insurance measure. • It also provided modest payments to those with disabilities and poor mothers with dependent children.

The New Deal Coalition • President Roosevelt had the Congress passing the legislation he wanted created various departments designed to fight the depression. • The Supreme Court however had several cases against the new departments and threatened Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. • FDR tried to get a bill passed that would push the Justices of the Supreme Court out at 70 (most we close to that age or over.) He could then appoint the ones he wanted and sway the Court. • This was seen as a serious mistake for the President as it gave him too much power and interfered with the Constitution ‘s Separation of Powers. • The papers referred to it as the Court Packing Plan. • The bill never passed though the Court did back down on several prior suits against the New Deal Programs.

The New Deal Coalition • In 1937 when Roosevelt felt that the economy was going in the right direction, Roosevelt decided to cut spending to several of the New Deal programs. • The economy did not get better. Instead there was an economic downturn and he was again forced back into deficit spending to pay for the programs that were keeping people employed. • His opponents felt that it made people too dependent on the government money in their lives.

The End • http://www.usdebtclock.org/index.html

Roosevelt and the New Deal