Political Cartoons from

1933

• Mr. Zaiff US History

• Important words are FDR, budget, relief, war debts, unemployment, repeal, jobs, cabinet possibilities.

• The title of the cartoon is, “Just a little homework”• In this cartoon, FDR is sitting at his desk, struggling as

he looks upon all of the problems facing him. When Roosevelt was inaugurated in March 1933, the U.S. was at the nadir of the worst depression in its history. A quarter of the workforce was unemployed. Farmers were in deep trouble as prices fell by 60%. Industrial production had fallen by more than half since 1929. In a country with limited government social services outside the cities, two million were homeless. The banking system had collapsed completely. FDR had a lot on his hands and the cartoon saying “just a little homework” to mock the fact that FDR had a lot of work ahead of him and the problems were not going to be so easy to settle. The sweat dripping off of Roosevelt, further shows the fact that he is struggling to figure out ways to help settle the issues facing him as he took the oath of presidency.

• The important words and phrases in this cartoon are FDR, the specific parts of the cabinet, From the far west, from the middle west, from the east, from the south, and to be unpacked by March 4th.

• The title of this cartoon is the “Cabinet Maker.” • FDR scratching his head, and the bunches of

little men in the boxes shows that FDR was indecisive about choosing his cabinet members. The boxes of different people from different regions of the United States shows that FDR wanted a diverse cabinet with people who came from all different regions of the United States.

• The quote “to be unpacked by March 4th” shows that FDR needs to make his decision of who will become part of his cabinet by inauguration day.

• Important words or phrases in the cartoon are, vice president Gardner, public, “Come on- Think hard! You ought to know who I am” and “news of presidential and congressional activities”

• The title of the Cartoon is “The face is familiar but…”• The question mark above the man who represents the

public and the fact that the man is scratching his head shows that he has no idea who the vice president of the United States is or even what he looks like.

• Most government policies at the time were closely associated with Roosevelt and Gardner was not well known to the public at all. Garner once described the office of the vice presidency as being "not worth a bucket of warm piss" (at the time reported with the bowdlerization "spit").

• The important words or phrases in this cartoon are “I’ve tried all the big financial medicine and they failed, so I’ll try anything once.”, money for financial ills, big business financial cure, the nations greatest financial cure, and economists pills.

• The title of this cartoon is “A dangerous medicine, but maybe we need it”

• The man in this cartoon is Uncle Sam, and he represents the common man that was affected during the Depression of the 1930’s.

• Although many of FDR’s New Deal programs helped the majority of people, there were still many issues that remained unsolved. Roosevelt experimented with many different ways to help the country flourish once again.

• Important words are phrases are FDR, Congress and Recovery program.

• The title of the Cartoon is “Helping the president”• In this cartoon, FDR is carrying an extremely large log which

represents the recovery programs he wanted to be passed in order to help organize the country after the Great Depression. In this cartoon Roosevelt is using a lot of effort to hold up the log while the man who represents the United States Congress uses one finger to help Roosevelt with the heavy weight.

• Roosevelt's "First 100 Days" concentrated on the first part of his strategy: immediate relief. From March 9 to June 16, 1933, he sent Congress a record number of bills, all of which passed easily.

• Recovery was pursued through "pump-priming" (that is, federal spending). The NIRA included $3.3 billion of spending through the Public Works Administration to stimulate the economy, which was to be handled by Interior Secretary Harold Ickes. Roosevelt worked with Republican Senator George Norris to create the largest government-owned industrial enterprise in American history, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which built dams and power stations, controlled floods, and modernized agriculture and home conditions in the poverty-stricken Tennessee Valley. The repeal of prohibition also brought in new tax revenues and helped him keep a major campaign promise.

Works Cited

• http://www.nisk.k12.ny.us/fdr/1933/33010801.gif• http://www.nisk.k12.ny.us/fdr/1933/33042611.gif• http://www.nisk.k12.ny.us/fdr/1933/33040606.gif• http://www.nisk.k12.ny.us/fdr/1933/33012801.gif• http://www.nisk.k12.ny.us/fdr/1933/33042606.gif