FDR & the Results of the New Deal
• Objective: I can examine how the power
between the branches of government changed
with the New Deal.
• Preview: Work on your unit page.
• Process: New Deal Notes.
• On Your Own: Movie of choice.
Who was FDR Helping?
• Farmers: (AAA)
• Worst off states: Tennessee (TVA)
• Young men: (CCC/WPA), 3 million men 1825 years old.
• Teachers: (NIRA/CWA) build schools, pay
salaries.
• Workers: (NIRA/NRA) collective
bargaining, ban on child labor.
• Homeless/Elderly/Unemployed/Disabled:
(FERA/SSA)
• Foreclosed: (HOLC/FHA)
• The New Deal had not ended the
Great Depression.
• FDR had agreed to a policy of deficit
spending—spending more money
than the government receives in
revenue.
Liberals
• Said the New Deal did not go far
enough to help the poor and to
reform the economic system.
• Wanted to eliminate social and
economic inequalities.
Conservatives
• Said the programs gave too much
control to the government.
• Government too powerful, too big.
• Interfered with the free-market
economy.
FDR Tries to Pack the Courts
• Because two of his programs had been
dismantled by the Supreme Court, FDR
asked for Congress to pass a court-reform
bill to allow him to appoint 6 new Supreme
Court justices.
• “Court Packing bill” caused great protest in
Congress, separation of powers violation.
• FDR got his way, but not with the bill. 1
elderly justice retired, then over the next 4
years, 6 more retired.
• Father Charles Coughlin: Roman Catholic priest,
broadcast radio sermons to ~45 million people that
combined economic/political/religious ideas. At first a
supporter then against, he thought FDR was too friendly
with bankers. Anti-Semitism caused him to lose support.
• Dr. Francis Townsend: physician and health officer,
thought FDR wasn’t doing enough for the poor and
elderly.
• Huey Long: Senator from Louisiana, wanted to run for
president, wanted a nationwide social program called
Share-Our-Wealth enacted. Take money from the rich
and give it to the poor. Was assassinated in 1935.
• Social reformer & humanitarian.
• Civil rights/women’s rights
activist
• Children often wrote to her
about their conditions/issues.
• Traveled the country to observe
social conditions and reminded
the president about the
suffering of Americans.
• Republicans pick Alfred Landon: governor
of Kansas. Only won 2 states.
• Democrats stick with President Roosevelt.
• Marked the 1st time that most African
Americans had voted Democrat rather than
Republican.
• Most lopsided election in American history.
• Meant to help:
• Sharecroppers/migrant workers/poor farmers
• Professionals: wrote guides to cities, collected
slave narratives, painted murals, took pictures,
etc.
• Women/minorities: Eleanor Roosevelt
• Young students: financial aid to continue to go
to school in exchange for working part-time at
that school.
• Passed in 1935, implemented in 1936.
• Old-age insurance: 65 years and up; half of
the money from the worker and half from the
employer. Helped make retirement
comfortable during this time.
• Unemployment compensation: federal tax on
employers from each state.
• Aid to families with dependent children and
the disabled: paid for by federal tax money.