1. Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer.

2. The New
Deal

3. FDR overwhelmingly elected 1932
Campaign song: “Happy days are here again”; promised a “new deal” for Americans (fed gov’t aid)
= 1st New Deal; Congress passed 15 bills in 100 days with aims of relief, recovery, & reform

4. Relief = immediate aid = money & materials for the unemployed; put people back to work (FERA, AAA, CCC)
Recovery = turn things around = help industrial & agricultural economy
Reform = laws prevent future problems (TVA)

5. Success of New Deal: Republican & Democratic cooperation; FDR sought advice from his “brain trust” (intellectuals & Cabinet); FDR radio broadcasts to explain programs to the people (Fireside Chats)– made him seem more personable to the public

6. Critics of the New Deal:
Af Ams believed FDR too concerned w/votes from white southern Dems
slow & cautious change angered minorities (civil rights better, but not great, for African Americans, Native Americans, & women)
Interfering too much or too little in people’s lives
American Liberty League: big business concerned w/FDR’s “socialist” leanings; wanted gov’t out of private enterprise
Farm program critics: threw away food that could feed poor; poor & tenant farmers not eligible for federal subsidies

7. Townsend, Long, Coughlin, & Union Party:
Francis Townsend organized elderly people in CA to advocate an old-age pension plan
Huey Long (LA) thought FDR was being used by wealthy businessmen/banks; “Share Our Wealth” to redistribute tax $ from inheritance & incomes over $1m
Father Coughlin: persuaded his 30m radio listeners that FDR was on the side of big business (formed Union Party w/Long’s successor-Gerald Smith)

8. Eleanor Roosevelt = active first lady
people felt connected to the White House because of her work for charitable causes
= 2nd New Deal = expanded relief, aided farmers & workers, and provided for further economic reforms
conservative judges on the Supreme Court opposed New Deal social laws, FDR tried to “pack the court” by increasing the number of justices
Offended Congress, Court, Dem Party, & Am public, so failed to change # & faced greater congressional opposition to additional New Deal laws

9. Legacy of the New Deal
Reshaped role of presidency (power)
Role of federal gov’t grew dramatically in Americans’ lives (welfare state to care for the needy)
Ushered women into more influential roles in gov’t

10. Did it work?
Partially effective in restoring Am’s economic health
Unemployment down, but still high
GNP up slightly
Federal debt increased dramatically
Only WWII got U.S. economy booming again (war production)
Success: FDR’s optimism & bold activism to solve problem commanded respect