The New Deal and the first 100 Days FDR’s Depression The New Deal and the first 100 Days

Election of 1932 Herbert Hoover (R) Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) 16 million votes 23 million votes Democrats win the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives… A strong rebuke of Hoover and the Republicans in the wake of the crash and depression

Roosevelt takes office Before he is inaugurated he gathers the best minds in the economic world to begin to put together a plan for recovery “Brain Trust” forms the policies of the New Deal “First 100 Days” has a flurry of bills giving the government more power over the economy. New Deal came from a campaign speech where he said that America deserves a “new deal”. This follows in the vein of Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal.

Banks… “We gotta fix the banks!” March 5 … declares a bank holiday to prevent any more withdrawls and institute a “cooling off” period for consumers The government would inspect the finances of the banks in order to restore confidence Role of the fireside chats FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) is developed to protect people’s deposits Because people rushed on the banks and pulled out their money as the stock market crashed and the economy crumbled the banks were crippled because they had no money in reserves. People were stuffing money into mattresses, burying it in the yard, in the walls, etc because they feared losing their money as banks failed. The government was charged with stepping in and inspecting the books. Insolvent banks were closed, struggling banks could get government loans to stabilize, and healthy banks could reopen. On the eve of the bank openings FDR gave a sit down with the american people. Rather than TV it was radio and he encouraged Americans to listen as the banks were set to open so he could begin to restore confidence in the banks. To protect the investments and to restore confidence the FDIC was created to insure investments and prevent bank runs.

FDR and the New Deal Video Play “The New Deal” from the video series 20th Century: a moving visual History

“Alphabet Soup” Programs SEC – Securities and Exchange Commission Regulate the stock market to prevent the speculation that caused the crisis AAA – Agricultural Adjustment Act Subsidies to destroy crops, milk, food Why? How do you think the poor, hungry, and struggling felt about this policy? CCC – Civilian Conservation Corps Young men were put to work on projects across the country and were paid $30 / month, but $25 was sent to directly home to the families NIRA – National Industrial Recovery Act Money to the states to help create jobs in their area

A A product of the CCC The monument to the CCC workers is at the top of the amphitheater at Red Rocks… many of the trails and parklands in CO were put together by the CCC.

Why did people oppose this? Deficit Spending… Definition: Liberal Reaction Supreme Court Court packing Deficit Spending: government spending more money than they take in with taxes and revenue. Each year of deficit spending puts the government in more debt. Why would a government need to do this? How might this help a situation like the Great Depression? Liberal reaction: Many liberals felt that the government wasn’t doing enough to help the poorest of the country. They were hungry and homeless and the government wasn’t doing enough in terms of direct relief for those people Supreme Court: Key parts of FDR’s plan were struck down as unconstitutional by the court and FDR was a bit mad about that… in retaliation he challenged Congress to allow him to expand the court and appoint the justices he wanted so as to have the support of the Supreme Court in this case. Ultimately he was not allowed to expand the court but he did get to nominate 7 justices while in office… assuring that his programs would hold up to court scrutiny.

Connect this to today! What are the similarities to the economic crisis we are still dealing with today? How does the government react in the Great Depression compared to today’s crisis?