CHAPTER 22: THE NEW DEAL

FDR Offers Relief and Recovery

20.1

Americans were ready for a change.

In 1932, President Hoover ran for reelection. But he had little chance of winning.

• Unemployment stood at 25%.

• Bank failures had wiped out savings.

• The hungry waited for food at soup kitchens.

Hoover’s opponent in the election was Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt.

• Harvard graduate

• New York State senator

• Assistant Secretary of the Navy

• 1920 Nominee for Vice President

• Polio survivor

• Governor of New York

The two candidates offered very different approaches to the problems of the Great Depression.

Hoover

State and local governments and private agencies should provide relief.

Roosevelt

Leadership should come from the federal government.

Roosevelt won in a landslide.

The Brain Trust

• FDR gathered the elite of the academic world to come up with ways for government to fix the failing economy

• the cabinet would be made up of the following:

• Sec’t of State – Cordell Hull

• Sec’t of Labor – Frances Perkins (first female cabinet member)

• Sec’t of Agriculture – Henry Wallace

• Sec’t of Interior – Harold Ickes

• the New Deal would focus on the three R’s – Relief, Reform, & Recovery1. relief for the needy2. recovery from the

depression3. reform to prevent

future depressions

• FDR did not want to overturn the free enterprise system but wanted to reform it like TR, Taft, and Wilson

• was a pragmatist who wanted to experiment with new ideas – if something is broke, try to fix it; if it fails, admit it, but try something

• FDR would give fireside chats to inform the public of these New Deal Programs which were done on the radio

The First Hundred Days1. during the time of his

election to the inauguration, which then was in March, the Great Depression went through its worst drop

2. the 20th Amendment would be passed for lame duck presidents to leave office earlier – Jan. 20 and those in Congress for Jan. 3

3. at his inauguration FDR tells the public “you have nothing to fear, but fear itself”

4. he would introduce 15 bills to Congress during his first 100 days and the Democratically controlled Congress passed every one into a law

5. he would first set out to fix the banks

6. in March, 1933, FDR issued a bank holiday closing all of the banks in the country

a. the federal government would inspect the banks and determine that those that were on good solid ground would be reopened and those that were not had to be fixed

b. many sought to cash in their deposits; FDR went on the radio with one of his fireside chats and assured the public the government’s job would be to fix the banks and he received positive feedback as many did keep their deposits in afterward

c. he created the Glass-Steagall Act where investors would have their money insured under FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) originally set at $5,000.00

d. this along with a wide array of programs would be called alphabet soup

Roosevelt then turned to a series of New Deal programs to bring relief to the country.

• The AAA sought to end overproduction and raise crop prices.

• The TVA built dams to control floods and generate electricity.

Some programs helped farmers and those in the rural South.

Many programs focused on job relief.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

Put young men to work improving national parks, forests, and wilderness areas

Federal Emergency Relief Agency (FERA)

Granted funds to state and local agencies to helped the unemployed. Replaced in 1935 by the WPA.

Civil Works Administration (CWA)

Gave people jobs on public- works projects

The Public Works Administration (PWA) created millions of jobs.

Workers built bridges, dams, power plants, and government buildings.

These projects improved the nation’s infrastructure.

Taming the Unruly Business Cycle

• NIRA – National Industrial Recovery Act which was set up as the NRA or National Recovery Act where gov’t allowed businesses to set wages and prices to reduce competition

• sometimes producing less led to an increase the price on products (the symbol would be the Blue Eagle)

The Stock Market

• SEC – the Security and Exchange Commission, 1933: codified standards for sale and purchase of stock, required risk of investments to be accurately disclosed; still exists

Not everyone, however, supported the New Deal.

Conservatives charged that it was making the government too powerful.

• Destroying free enterprise

• Undermining individualism

Such critics formed the American Liberty League.

Liberals – felt FDR was not doing enough to fix the economy

• Dr. Francis Townsend, a retired California doctor wanted a pension plan for the elderly where everyone over the age of 62 would receive $200 a month

• Fr. Charles Coughlin, the radio priest wanted the banks nationalized and a living annual wage for all; he was also anti- Semitic

• Huey Long, the kingfish and ex- governor of Louisiana, now a senator challenged FDR in 1935 with the idea of “share the wealth,” wanted tax revisions where the rich would give to the poor; he would be shot and killed over an in state affair that year

While conservatives thought the New Deal did too much, others took the opposite position.

Some argued that the New Deal did not do enough to end the depression.

• Socialist Party

• American Communist Party

Despite the critics, the New Deal was popular with most Americans.

In his inaugural address, Roosevelt told Americans, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

FDR succeeded in reducing people’s fear, but the depression was far from over.