FDR and the First New Deal

 Born January 30, 1882  Grew up very wealthy  Married Eleanor Roosevelt in 1905 (distant cousin)  1913 New York state representitve  1913 Secretary of the Navy  Democratic nominee for Vice President (38 years old)

 1921 lost use of his legs to Polio  Governor of New York  Becomes president  story-of-us/videos/playlists/exclusive- video#fdr-a-voice-of-hope story-of-us/videos/playlists/exclusive- video#fdr-a-voice-of-hope

 Roosevelt wins in land slide  Hoover had grim attitude, reluctant to enact direct action  Roosevelt had a warm, positive spirit, promised direct action  Also gets many democrats elected to congress  FDR goal is to restore faith in America  ANk0M ANk0M

 Transformed White House into positive place  Fireside Chats  Informal, addressed New Deal legislation  Reassured Americans  FDR skillfully handled press  Eleanor’s Influence  Very active in politics, good public image

 FDR was an experimenter, open to all ideas  Employed Republicans and Democrats  FDR immediately starts intensive legislation and policy changes  Panic about banks occurring  The majority of Americans had lost faith in financial institutions

 FDR had plan ready  Banks in good shape would open immediately  Struggling banks stayed closed until they could be opened safely  FDR assured people money was safest in banks  Bank crisis was over within a few days

 Promised “a new deal for Americans”  Addressed the 3 Rs: - Relief for Unemployment - Recovery measures to stimulate economy - Reform laws to reduce threat of another economic crisis

 Millions unemployed (3 years or more)  FDR creates new agency  Federal Emergency Relief Adm. (FERA)  $500 million  Debate over spending  Deficit Spending  Is this an issue today?  US Debt Clock

 Focused on putting people back to work  Environmental projects  Men left home to work on projects  Lived in barracks  By million men had served  Excluded minorities  Bonus army members  Good idea?

 Provided jobs to unemployed  Public projects ($3.3 billion)  Schools, highways, dams, sewage, etc

 Goal- to increase productivity of industry  Enforced National Industrial Recovery Act  Relaxed anti-trust laws  Maximum work hours, minimum wages  How did maximum hours create more jobs?  Publicity campaign to get businesses to follow new plan

 Controversial  Aide farmers hit hard by depression  Paid farmers subsidy  What is a subsidy?  Farmers had to destroy crops, kill animals  People saw this as wasteful, immoral

 Built dams for electricity  Create fish filled lakes  Increase tourism

 Truth in Securities Act  Eliminate fraud in stock market  Glass-Steagall Banking Act  Prohibited banks from investing money in stock market  Established FDIC

 First 100 days  Major victories for FDR  Passed all 15 proposals to congress

 Deficit spending  What is it? Good or bad thing?  Critics  Supreme Court reacts  Court packing bill