Sec. 2: Roosevelt’s New Deal President Franklin Roosevelt promised to take action to get America out of the Great Depression.

Key terms: Hundred Days, New Deal, work relief, subsidy Essential Questions How did Roosevelt try to restore the confidence of the American people? What programs were created in FDR’s first 100 days?

Franklin D. Roosevelt Believing they had a good chance of winning the Presidency the Democrats chose New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt as their candidate. During the 1932 campaign, Roosevelt declared that “the country needs and … demands bold, persistent experimentation.” FDR won in a landslide.

FDR takes Charge In the months before Roosevelt took office, the economy worsened. The banking system was collapsing. Two days after the inauguration, Roosevelt ordered all banks closed for 4 days. He called Congress to a special session & he signed the Emergency Banking Relief Act. At the end of his first week in office, FDR assured Americans in a radio broadcast, he called these fireside chats. They helped FDR gain the public’s confidence.

The Hundred Days Pres. Roosevelt sent Congress 15 proposals for new programs to deal with the nations economic problems. This special session came to be called the Hundred Days.

The New Deal Takes Shape The new laws that Congress passed during the Hundred Days came to be called the New Deal. New Deal laws and regulations affected banking, the stock market, industry, agriculture, public works, relief for the poor, and conservation of resources. One of the boldest programs launched during the Hundred Days was the Tennessee Valley Authority. The New Deal did not cure the nation’s ills. The Depression dragged on yet the darkest days had passed and the flurry from the nation’s capital had restored some measure of confidence.