Mr. JuddStreetsboro High School

Franklin Delano Roosevelt: First Inaugural Address March 4, 1933 History Sound Bite

“The only thingwe have to fearis fear itself.”

The New Deal, a phrase taken from a campaign speech in whichRoosevelt had promised “a newdeal for the American people”, focused on three general goals:

1) relief for the needy

2) economic recovery

3) financial reform

The First 100 DaysRoosevelt’s first step as presidentwas to carry out reforms in bankingand finance.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation(FDIC) -provided federal insurance forindividual bank accounts of up to$5,000.

Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC)- regulate the stock market bypreventing people with inside informationabout companies from “rigging” thestock market for their own profit.

While working on banking and financial matters, the Roosevelt administration alsoimplemented programs to provide relief to farmers, perhaps the hardest hit bythe depression.

The Agricultural Adjustment Act(AAA) sought to raise farm prices by paying farmers to slaughter hogs and leave land unseeded. The theory was that reduced supply would boost prices.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) createdthousands of jobs building dams and providedflood control and hydroelectric power for animpoverished region.

The Public Works Administration (PWA),created as part of the National Recovery Act (NRA), provided moneyto states to create jobs chiefly in theconstruction of schools and other community buildings.

The Civilian Conservation Corps(CCC):

•Provided almost 3 million men aged 18-25 with work and wages between 1933-42.

•Planted over 3 billion trees, developed over 800 state parks, and built more than 46,000 bridges

•Were paid $30 dollars a month, of which $25 was automatically sent home to the worker’s family

. The Legacy of the CCC

Did You Know?

Roosevelt gave many fireside chats, orradio talks, to explain issues and/or lift people’s morale during the depression.

•FDR was elected to four consecutive terms as president: 1932, 1936,1940 and 1944. His lengthyterm inspired the 22nd Amendment.

•FDR was the 5th cousin ofTheodore Roosevelt.

•FDR struggled with polio. Only two photos exist of himin a wheelchair.

•FDR died while posing fora portrait at his Warm Springs,Georgia home in April, 1945.

New Deal Comes Under Attack

• Conservative critics argued that Roosevelt spent too much on direct relief and used New Deal policies to control businesses and socialize the economy. Many critics believed the New Deal interfered with the workings of a free-market economy.

President Roosevelt reluctantly agreed to a policy of deficit spending-spending more money than the government receives in revenue. In theory,deficit spending would jump start the economy by giving consumers more money to spend on goods and services thus fueling economic growth.

Late British economistand promoter of deficitspending

John Maynard Keynes

Obama and a “new” New Deal

A *New* New Deal Is Obama's Recovery Act the new New Deal

Perhaps the most serious challengeto the New Deal came from SenatorHuey Long of Louisiana. Like Robin Hood, his program would empower the government to confiscate wealthfrom the rich through taxes and thenprovide a guaranteed minimum income and a home to every American family.

Senator Huey Long

Other “Voices of Protest”Dr. Francis Townsendproposed that the federal government pay citizens over the age of 60 a pension of $200 a month. Recipientswould have to retire and spend their entire pension check each month.

Father Charles Coughlin, aCatholic priest from Detroit,called for the government toinflate currency and nationalizethe banking system.

Angered that the Court had declared several of his NewDeal measures unconstitutional,Roosevelt called attention to theages of the justices, labeling them “Nine Old Men,” and asked congress to allow himto appoint one new justice foreach of those 70 or older, up tosix new justices. Critics chargedthat this “court-packing” wouldtamper the delicate balance oflegislative, executive, and judicial powers.

•Banking and finance are reformed•Government takes a more active role in the economy•Workers benefit from labor standards•Social Security system continues to provide security•Conservation efforts continue to preserve the environment