President Franklin Delano Roosevelt The New Deal

President Hoover and the Depression President Hoover was criticized for not doing more to end the depression. Unemployment reached 25% Banking system collapsed Offered relief checks and job programs but they were too little, too late By the election of 1932, Americans wanted hope and strong leadership

FDR Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was elected in 1932 He was a Democrat He promised a “New Deal” for the U.S.

FDR beats Hoover

Unemployment in the U.S.

The New Deal A series of laws that were designed to fight the depression: Relief: gov’t relief checks & jobs to get people back to work Recovery: tried to end the depression by stimulating industry and farming Reform: long-term solutions to America’s economic problems

The Hundred Days In his 1st 100 days in office, FDR & Congress passed 15 major laws His first action was to address the bank crisis – to try and get people to have faith in banks again He declared a 4-day bank holiday after which banks were allowed to re-open only after gaining permission from the government Banks recovered and Americans slowly regained confidence in banks

Bank holiday

Fireside Chats FDR used the radio to sell his New Deal programs to the American people These “Fireside Chats” used simple, clear language to explain his New Deal programs and gain public support for these goals. Fireside Chat – YouTube

New Deal: Relief The greatest success of the New Deal was its ability to offer relief to unemployed citizens: The gov’t provided relief checks to 15% of Americans Created jobs Created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a work program to help young men aged 18-25, build roads, soil erosion projects, and parks Employed 3 million young men

Americans receiving relief checks

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New Deal: Reforms Long-Term reforms to address weaknesses in the American economy Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) was created to regulate the stock market & prevent another stock market crash Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was created to help restore public confidence in banks; the gov’t insures money in bank accounts up to $250,000 Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) created hydroelectric power plants in the South, dams in 7 states to provide cheap power and to create jobs.

The TVA

TVA

New Deal: Recovery Tried to stimulate the economy and end the depression Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) tried to help farmers by paying them not to produce This lowered supply and the gov’t hoped to increase crop prices The New Deal began in 1933, but by 1935 the depression had not yet come to an end

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FDR’s Critics The failure of the New Deal to end the depression led to frustration and criticism of FDR’s programs The most vocal critic was Louisiana Senator Huey Long Long’s “Share the Wealth” plan suggested taxing all personal income over $1 million to give each family $2,500 per year The Supreme Court declared 2 recovery programs unconstitutional FDR feared that the Supreme Court would weaken the New Deal His solution was to increase the number of justices from 9-15 (called court-packing) Congress rejected his radical plan

The Second New Deal 1935-1938 In 1935 FDR launched the Second New Deal The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was the biggest New Deal program Created 10 million jobs in various professions and cost the government $10 billion Social Security was America’s first welfare program Old-age pensions to be funded by employers & workers Welfare payments for the blind, handicapped, & needy children Wagner Act protected workers right to strike & collectively bargain Outlawed unfair practices used by companies to discourage union membership

Alphabet soup

Court packing

New Role for the U.S. Gov’t For the 1st time the gov’t used deficit spending (going into debt) to stimulate the economy For the 1st time the gov’t took responsibility for the people and created welfare programs New Deal successfully offered relief to ease peoples’ suffering, but it did not end the depression

End of the New Deal The U.S. was launched into WWII after Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese on December 7, 1941

FDR – other changes campaigned in favor of a strong United Nations, so his victory symbolized support for the nation's future participation in the international community Elected 4 times! Washington set the convention of a two-term limit for presidents and this amendment made it law 22nd Amendment- no president may serve more than 2 terms

Eleanor Roosevelt FDR’s wife Eleanor went directly into American towns to experience, first hand, how Americans were living. She would go back and report to her husband. She was one of his most important advisors. She was a symbol of social progress and women’s activism