CHAPTER 33 - THE GREAT
DEPRESSION AND THE NEW
DEAL
FDR: A POLITICIAN IN A
WHEELCHAIR
• In 1932, voters still had
not seen any economic
improvement, and they
wanted a new president.
• President Herbert Hoover
was nominated again
without much vigor and
true enthusiasm, and he
campaigned saying that
his policies prevented
the Great Depression
from being worse than it
was.
FDR: A POLITICIAN IN A
WHEELCHAIR
• The Democrats nominated
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a tall,
handsome
man who was the fifth cousin of
famous Theodore Roosevelt and
had
followed in his footsteps.
– FDR was suave and conciliatory while TR
was pugnacious and confrontational.
– FDR had been stricken with polio in 1921,
and during this time, his wife, Eleanor,
became his political partner.
– Franklin also lost a friend in 1932 when he
and Al Smith both sought the Democratic
nomination.
• Eleanor was to become the most
active First Lady ever
Question 1
• Franklin Roosevelt's ____ contributed the
most to his development of compassion
and strength of will.
– a. education
– b. domestic conflicts with Eleanor Roosevelt
– c. family ties with Teddy Roosevelt
– d. affliction with infantile paralysis
– e. service in World War I
PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS
OF 1932
• In the campaign, Roosevelt
seized the opportunity to
prove that he
was not an invalid, and his
campaign also featured an
attack on Hoover’s spending
(ironically, he would spend
even more during
his term).
• The Democrats found
expression in the airy tune
“Happy Days
Are Here Again,” and clearly,
the Democrats had the
advantage in
this race.
Question 2
• In 1932, Franklin Roosevelt campaigned
on the promise that as president he would
attack the Great Depression by
a. nationalizing all banks and major industries.
b. mobilizing America's youth as in wartime.
c. returning to the traditional policies of laissezfaire capitalism.
d. continuing the policies already undertaken by
President Hoover.
e. experimenting with bold new programs for
economic and social reform.
Question 3
• The Democratic party platform on which Franklin
Roosevelt campaigned for the presidency in
1932 called for
a. extensive social reforms and a balanced budget.
b. deficit spending and a higher military budget.
c. higher tariffs and support for American manufacturers.
d. nationalization of key industries.
e. breaking up monopolistic corporations and supporting
small business.
HOOVER'S HUMILIATION IN
1932
• Hoover had been swept into the
presidential office in 1928, but in
1932, he was swept out with equal
force, as he was defeated 472 to 59.
• Noteworthy was the transition of the
Black vote from the Republican to
the Democratic Party.
• During the lame-duck period,
Hoover tried to initiate some of
Roosevelt’s plans, but was met by
stubbornness and resistance
– an anti-inflationary policy that would
have made much of the New Deal
impossible
• Hooverites would later accuse FDR
of letting the depression worsen so
that he could emerge as an even
more shining savior.
Question 4
• One striking new feature of the 1932 presidential
election results was that
a. the South had shifted to the Republican party.
b. Democrats made gains in the normally Republican
Midwest.
c. urban Americans finally cast more votes than rural
Americans.
d. a clear gender gap opened up in which more women
favored the Democrats.
e. African Americans shifted from their Republican
allegiance and became a vital element in the
Democratic party.
RELIEF, RECOVERY, AND
REFORM
• On Inauguration Day, FDR
asserted, “The only thing we
have to fear is fear itself.”
• He called for a nationwide bank
holiday to eliminate paranoid
bank withdrawals, and then he
commenced with his Three R’s.
• The Democratic-controlled
Congress was willing to do as
FDR said, and the first Hundred
Days of FDR’s administration
were filled with more legislative
activity than ever before.
– Many of the New Deal Reforms
had been adopted by European
nations a decade before. He
also borrowed ideas from war
time agencies which took a
direct role in the economy.
Question 5
• The phrase Hundred Days refers to the
a. worst months of the Great Depression.
b. time it took for Congress to begin acting on
President Roosevelt's plans for combating the
Great Depression.
c. flood of legislation passed by Congress in the
first months of Franklin Roosevelt's
presidency.
d. "lame-duck" period between Franklin
Roosevelt's election and his inauguration.
e. time that all banks were closed by FDR.
Question 6
The early New Deal experiments borrowed rather
freely and randomly from
a. the American labor movement and European
socialism.
b. early twentieth-century economists and social
theorists Thorstein Veblen and John Dewey.
c. Mussolini's fascism and Hitler's Nazism.
d. U.S. wartime and pre-war agencies and European
social reform models.
e. the late nineteenth-century utopian literature of Henry
George, Edward Bellamy, and Charlotte Perkins
Gilman.
ROOSEVELT MANAGES THE
MONEY
• The Emergency Banking
Relief Act of 1933 was
passed first. FDR
declared a one week
“bank holiday” just so
everyone would
calm down and stop
running on the banks.
• Then, Roosevelt settled
down for the first of his
thirty famous “Fireside
Chats” with America.
ROOSEVELT MANAGES THE
MONEY
• The “Hundred Days Congress” passed the GlassSteagall Banking Reform Act, that provided the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
which insured individual deposits up to $5000, thereby
eliminating the epidemic of bank failure and restoring
faith to banks.
• FDR then took the nation off of the gold standard and
achieved controlled inflation by ordering Congress to
buy gold at increasingly higher prices.
– In February 1934, he announced that the U.S. would pay
foreign gold at a rate of one ounce of gold per every $35 due.
ROOSEVELT MANAGES THE
MONEY
• The Emergency Banking Relief Act gave FDR the
authority to manage banks.
• FDR then went on the radio “fireside” and reassured
people it was safer to put money in the bank than
hidden in their houses.
– The Glass-Steagall Banking Reform Act was passed.
– This provided for the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance
Corp.) to insure the money in the bank.
• FDR wanted to stop people from hoarding gold.
– He urged people to turn in gold for paper money and took
the U.S. off the gold standard.
– He wanted inflation, to make debt payment easier, and
urged the Treasury to buy gold with paper money.
Question 7
The most immediate emergency facing Franklin
Roosevelt when he became president in March
1933 was
a. the collapse of nearly the entire banking system.
b. runaway inflation.
c. the growing power of demagogues such as Huey
Long and Father Coughlin.
d. the near collapse of international trade.
e. riots by unemployed workers and farmers unable to
sell their goods.
Question 8
Immediately after taking office, President
Roosevelt responded to the banking crisis by
a. restoring the gold standard to guarantee the
soundness of American currency.
b. reassuring Americans that all their banking deposits
were safe.
c. providing major federal loans to the largest and
soundest banks.
d. establishing a new Bank of the United States to
guarantee deposits.
e. closing all American banks for a week, while
reorganizing them on a sounder basis.
Question 9
The Glass-Steagall Act
a. took the United States off the gold standard.
b. empowered President Roosevelt to close all banks
temporarily.
c. created the Securities and Exchange Commission
to regulate the stock exchange.
d. permitted commercial banks to engage in Wall
Street financial dealings.
e. created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
to insure individual bank deposits.
Question 10
Franklin Roosevelt took America off the gold
standard and adopted a managed currency
policy designed to
a. stimulate inflation.
b. reduce the price of gold.
c. restore confidence in banks.
d. reduce the amount of money in circulation.
e. shake up the Federal Reserve Board.
A DAY FOR EVERY
DEMAGOGUE
• Roosevelt had no qualms
about using federal
money to assist the
unemployed, so he
created the Civilian
Conservation Corps
(CCC), which
provided employment in
fresh-air government
camps for about 3 million
uniformed young men.
– They reforested areas, fought
fires, drained swamps,
controlled floods, etc.
– One of the most popular of his
programs
– However, critics accused FDR
of militarizing the youths and
acting as dictator.
Question 11
The single most popular New Deal program
was probably the
a. Works Progress Administration.
b. Agricultural Adjustment Act.
c. National Recovery Administration.\
d. Civilian Conservation Corps.
e. Tennessee Valley Authority.
Question 12
All of the following are true statements about the
men who joined the CCC (Civilian Conservation
Corps) except
a. there were about three million men in the program.
b. the men were mostly young, hired to work in fresh-air
camps.
c. many of the men had had criminal records.
d. they worked on reforestation, flood control and swamp
drainage projects.
e. CCC workers helped families by sending most of their
paychecks home.
A DAY FOR EVERY
DEMAGOGUE
• The Federal Emergency Relief Act looked for immediate relief
rather than long-term alleviation, and its Federal Emergency
Relief Administration (FERA) was headed by the zealous
Harry L. Hopkins.
• The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) made available many
millions of dollars to help farmers meet their mortgages.
• The Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) refinanced
mortgages on non-farm homes and bolted down the loyalties of
middle class, Democratic homeowners.
• The Civil Works Administration (CWA) was established late in
1933, and it was designed to provide purely temporary jobs
during the winter emergency.
– Many of its tasks were rather frivolous (called “boondoggling”) and were
designed for the sole purpose of making jobs.
A DAY FOR EVERY
DEMAGOGUE
• The New Deal had its
commentators.
– One FDR
spokesperson was
Father Charles
Coughlin, a Catholic
priest in Michigan who
at first was with FDR
then disliked the New
Deal and
voiced his opinions on
radio.
A DAY FOR EVERY
DEMAGOGUE
– Senator Huey P. Long of
Louisiana was popular for
his “Share the Wealth”
program. Proposing “every
man a king,” each family
was to receive $5000,
allegedly from the rich. The
math of the plan was
ludicrous.
• His chief lieutenant was former
clergyman Gerald L. K. Smith.
• He was later shot by a deranged
medical doctor in 1935.
A DAY FOR EVERY
DEMAGOGUE
– Dr. Francis E.
Townsend of California
attracted the trusting
support of perhaps 5
million “senior
citizens” with his
fantastic plan of each
senior receiving $200
month, provided that all
of it would be spent
within the month. Also,
this was a
mathematically
silly plan.
Question 13
Match each New Deal critic below with the cause
or slogan that he promoted.
A.Father Coughlin
B.Huey Long
C.Francis Townsend
D.Herbert Hoover
a. A-l, B-2, C-4, D-3
b. A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4
c. A-3, B-4, C-2, D-1
d. A-4, B-3, C-1, D-2
e. A-1, B-4, C-3, D-2
1."social justice“
2."every man a king“
3."a holy crusade for liberty“
4."$200 a month for everyone over 60"
Question 14
Senator Huey P. Long of Louisiana gained a large
national following by promising to
a. nationalize all banks and public utility companies.
b. make Jews pay for causing the Great Depression.
c. help farmers and workers organize to resist the power
of corporations.
d. provide the unemployed and elderly a $200-a-month
social security payment.
e. "share our wealth" by raising taxes on the rich and
giving every family $5,000.
A DAY FOR EVERY
DEMAGOGUE
• Congress also authorized the Works Progress
Administration (WPA) in 1935, which put $11 million
on thousands of public buildings, bridges, and hardsurfaced roads and gave 9 million people jobs in its
eight years of existence.
– It also found part-time jobs for needy high school and college
students and for actors, musicians, and writers.
– John Steinbeck counted dogs (boondoggled) in his California
home of Salinas county.
• Boondoggled-An unnecessary or wasteful project or activity
NEW VISIBILITY FOR WOMEN
• Ballots newly in hand, women
struck up new roles.
• First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt
was the most visible, but other
ladies shone as well: Sec. of
Labor Frances Perkins was
the first female cabinet member
and Mary McLeod Bethune
headed the Office of Minority
Affairs in the NYA, the “Black
Cabinet”, and founded a Florida
college.
– Bethune-Cookman (Pitt hoops
played them in 2012)
NEW VISIBILITY FOR WOMEN
• Anthropologist Ruth
Benedict helped develop
the “culture and
personality movement”
and her student Margaret
Mead reached even
greater heights with
Coming of Age in Samoa.
• Pearl S. Buck wrote a
beautiful and timeless
novel, The Good Earth,
about a simple Chinese
farmer which earned her
the Nobel Prize for
literature in 1938.
Question 15
Prominent female social scientists of the
1930s, like Ruth Benedict and Margaret
Mead, brought widespread contributions to
the field of
a. economics.
b. political science.
c. psychology.
d. sociology.
e. anthropology.
HELPING INDUSTRY AND
LABOR
• The National Recovery
Administration (NRA), by far
the most complicated of the
programs, was designed to
assist industry, labor, and the
unemployed.
– There were maximum hours of
labor, minimum wages, and
more rights for labor union
members, including the right to
choose their own
representatives in bargaining.
– Largely failed because it
required too much self-sacrifice
on the part of industry, labor,
and the public.
HELPING INDUSTRY AND
LABOR
• (NRA)
• The Philadelphia Eagles
were named after this act,
which received much
support and patriotism, but
eventually, it was shot down
by the Supreme Court.
• One of the Hundred Days
Congress’s earliest acts
was to legalize light wine
and beer with an alcoholic
content of 3.2% or less and
also levied a $5 tax on
every barrel manufactured.
– He could possibly raise revenue
and create jobs
– Prohibition was repealed with
21st Amendment
– Besides too much was
expected of labor, industry,
and the public.
– The Public Works
Administration (PWA) also
intended both for industrial
recovery and for
unemployment relief.
• Headed by Secretary of the Interior
Harold L. Ickes, it aimed at longrange recovery by spending over
$4 billion on some 34,000 projects
that included public buildings,
highways, and parkways (i.e. the
Grand Coulee Dam of the
Columbia River).
Question 16
The most complex and ambitious New Deal
effort to achieve recovery and reform the
entire American economy was the
a. Public Works Administration.
b. National Recovery Administration.
c. Tennessee Valley Authority.
d. National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act).
e. Social Security Administration.
Question 17
The National Recovery Administration (NRA) failed
largely because
a. businesses resisted regulation by the agency.
b. it required too much self-sacrifice on the part of
industry, labor, and the public.
c. Harold Ickes, the head of the agency, proved to be an
incompetent administrator.
d. it did not provide enough protection for labor to
bargain with management.
e. the agency did not have enough power to control
business.
Question 18
Roosevelt supported the repeal of prohibition
because
a. he thought it was unconstitutional.
b. he believed the problem of drunkenness could be
solved by restricting alcohol content to 3.2 percent by
weight.
c. he thought that it afforded the opportunity to raise
needed federal revenue and provide jobs.
d. he needed support from the repeal movement to gain
reelection.
e. drys - those who opposed alcohol - were an
increasingly small segment of the population.
PAYING FARMERS NOT TO
FARM
• To help the farmers, which had been suffering from
deflation ever since the end of World War I, Congress
established the Agricultural Adjustment
Administration, which paid farmers to reduce their crop
acreage and would eliminate price-depressing
surpluses.
– However, it got off to a rocky start when it killed lots of pigs
for no good reason, and paying farmers not to farm actually
increased unemployment.
– The Supreme Court killed it in 1936.
• The New Deal Congress also passed the Soil Conservation
and domestic Allotment Act of 1936, which paid farmers to
plant soil-conserving plants like soybeans or to let their land
lie fallow.
• The Second Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 was a
more comprehensive substitute that continued conservation
payments but was accepted by the Supreme Court.
Question 19
The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)
proposed to solve the farm problem by
a. reducing agricultural production.
b. subsidizing American farm exports overseas.
c. encouraging farmers to switch to industrial
employment.
d. helping farmers to pay their mortgages.
e. creating farm cooperatives.
DUST BOWLS AND BLACK
BLIZZARDS
• After the drought of 1933,
furious winds whipped up
dust into the air, turning
parts of Missouri, Texas,
Kansas, Arkansas, and
Oklahoma into the Dust
Bowl and forcing many
farmers to migrate west to
California and inspired
Steinbeck’s classic The
Grapes of Wrath.
– The dust was very hazardous to the
health and to living, creating further
misery.
– Caused by soil erosion, over
cultivation on marginal Great Plains
farm land, and a severe drought
DUST BOWLS AND BLACK
BLIZZARDS
• Commissioner of Indian
• The Frazier-Lemke Farm
Affairs was headed by John
Bankruptcy Act, passed
Collier who sought to reverse
in 1934, made possible a
the forced-assimilation
suspension of mortgage
policies in place since the
foreclosure for five years,
Dawes Act of 1887.
but it was voided in 1935
– He promoted the Indian
by the Supreme Court.
Reorganization Act of 1934
(the Indian
• In 1935, FDR set up the
“New Deal”), which encouraged
Resettlement
tribes to preserve their culture
Administration, charged
and traditions.
with the task of removing
– Not all Indians liked it though,
near-farmless farmers to
saying if they followed this “backto-the-blanket” plan, they’d just
better land.
become museum
exhibits. 77 tribes refused to
organize under its provisions
(200 did).
Question 20
All of the following contributed to the Dust
Bowl of the 1930s except
a. dry-farming techniques.
b. drought.
c. farmers' failure to use steam tractors and
other modern equipment.
d. the cultivation of marginal farmlands on the
Great Plains.
e. soil erosion.
Question 21
In 1935, President Roosevelt set up the
Resettlement Administration to
a. help farmers migrate from Oklahoma to California.
b. place unemployed industrial workers in areas where
their labor was needed.
c. move Indians from land that could be farmed by
victims of the Dust Bowl.
d. find jobs for farmers in industry.
e. help farmers who were victims of the Dust Bowl move
to better land.
Question 22
Most Dust Bowl migrants headed to
a. Oklahoma.
b. Arizona.
c. Nevada.
d. Oregon.
e. California.
Question 23
The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 attempted
to
a. reverse the forced assimilation of Native Americans
into white society by establishing tribal selfgovernment.
b. encourage Native Americans to give up their land
claims.
c. reinforce the Dawes Act of 1887.
d. pressure Native Americans to renounce selfgovernment.
e. define clearly which tribes were federally recognized.
Question 24
Native Americans responded to the Indian
Reorganization Act of 1934
a. with some thrilled by its efforts to stop the loss
of Indian lands.
b. with many Indians rejecting its provisions to
organize tribes and tribal governments.
c. by denouncing it as a "back to the blanket"
measure.
d. All of these
e. None of these
BATTLING BANKERS AND
BIG BUSINESS
• The Federal Securities Act (“Truth in Securities Act”)
required promoters to transmit to the investor sworn
information regarding the soundness of their stocks and
bonds.
• The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was
designed as a stock watchdog administrative agency,
and stock markets henceforth were to operate more as
trading marts than as casinos.
• In 1932, Chicagoan Samuel Insull’s multi-billion dollar
financial empire had crashed, and such cases as his
resulted in the Public Utility Holding Company Act of
1935.
Question 25
The Federal Securities Act and the Securities
Exchange Commission aimed to
a. halt the sale of stocks on margin (i.e. with borrowed
funds).
b. force stockbrokers to register with the federal
government.
c. prevent interlocking directorates and business
pyramiding schemes.
d. provide full disclosure of information and prevent
insider trading and other fraudulent practices.
e. enable the Chicago Board of Trade to compete with
the New York Stock Exchange.
THE TVA HARNESSES THE
TENNESSEE RIVER
• The sprawling electric-power
industry attracted the fire of New
Deal reformers.
– New Dealers accused it of gouging
the public with excessive rates.
• Thus, the Tennessee Valley
Authority (TVA) (1933) sought
to discover exactly how much
money it took to produce
electricity and then keep rates
reasonable.
– It constructed dams on the
Tennessee River and helped the
2.5 million extremely poor citizens
of the area improve their lives and
their conditions.
– Hydroelectric power of Tennessee
would give rise to that of the West.
Question 26
The federally-owned Tennessee Valley
Authority was seen as a particular threat to
a. the entire capitalist system.
b. the Republican party.
c. the automobile industry.
d. the private electrical utility industry.
e. white southern racial practices.
HOUSING REFORM AND
SOCIAL SECURITY
• To speed recovery and better
homes, FDR set up the Federal
Housing Administration (FHA) in
1934 to stimulate the building
industry through small loans to
householders.
– It was one of the “alphabetical” agencies
to outlast the age of Roosevelt.
• Congress bolstered the program in
1937 by authorizing the U.S.
Housing Authority (USHA),
designed to lend money to states or
communities for low-cost
construction.
– This was the first time in American
history that slum areas stopped growing.
HOUSING REFORM AND
SOCIAL SECURITY
• The Social Security Act of
1935 was the greatest victory
for New
Dealers, since it created
pension and insurance for the
old-aged, the
blind, the physically
handicapped, delinquent
children, and other
dependents by taxing
employees and employers.
– Republicans attacked this bitterly,
as such government-knows-best
programs and policies that were
communist leaning and penalized
the rich for their success. They
also opposed the pioneer spirit of
“rugged individualism.”
Question 27
The Social Security Act of 1935 provided all
of the following except
a. unemployment insurance.
b. old-age pensions.
c. economic provisions for the blind and
disabled.
d. support for the blind and physically
handicapped.
e. health care for the poor.
A NEW DEAL FOR LABOR
• A rash of walkouts
occurred in the summer of
1934, and after the NRA
was axed, the Wagner
Act (AKA, National
Labor Relations Act) of
1935 took its place. The
Wagner Act guaranteed
the right of unions to
organize and to
collectively bargain with
management.
– Under the encouragement
of a highly sympathetic
National Labor Relations
Board, unskilled laborers
began to organize
themselves into effective
unions, one of which was
John L. Lewis, the boss of
the United Mine Workers
who also succeeded in
forming the Committee for
Industrial Organization
(CIO) within the ranks of
the AF of L in 1935.
• CIO wanted to organize
all workers in an entire
industry not just a plant
– The CIO later left the AF of
L and won a victory against
General Motors.
A NEW DEAL FOR LABOR
• The CIO also won a victory
against the United States
Steel Company, but smaller
steel companies struck back,
resulting in such incidences
as the Memorial Day
Massacre of 1937 at the
plant of the Republic Steel
Company of South Chicago
in which police fired upon
workers, leaving scores
killed or injured.
FAIR LABOR STANDARDS
ACT
• In 1938, the Fair Labor
Standards Act (AKA the
“Wages and Hours Bill”)
was passed, setting up
minimum wage and
maximum hours
standards and forbidding
children under the age of
sixteen from working.
• Roosevelt enjoyed
immense support from the
labor unions.
• In 1938, the CIO broke
completely with the A F of
L and renamed itself the
Congress of Industrial
Organizations (the new
CIO).
Question 28
The Wagner Act of 1935 proved to be a
trailblazing law that
a. gave labor the right to bargain collectively.
b. established the NRA.
c. established the Social Security system.
d. authorized the Public Works Administration
(PWA).
e .guaranteed housing loans to workers.
Question 29
The primary interest of the Congress of
Industrial Organizations was
a. the effective enforcement of yellow dog
contracts.
b. the organization of trade unions.
c. the maintenance of open shop industries.
d. the organization of all workers within an
industry.
e. maintaining existing wage levels.
1936 PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION
• The Republicans
nominated Kansas
Governor Alfred M.
Landon to run against
FDR.
– Landon was weak on the
radio and weaker in
personal campaigning, and
while he criticized FDR’s
spending, he also favored
enough of
FDR’s New Deal to be
ridiculed by the Democrats
as an unsure idiot.
1936 PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION
• In 1934, the American
Liberty League had been
formed by conservative
Democrats and wealthy
Republicans to fight
“socialistic” New Deal
schemes.
• Roosevelt won in a huge
landslide, getting 523
electoral votes to Landon’s 8.
• FDR won primarily because
he appealed to the “forgotten
man,” whom he never forgot.
“PACKING THE COURT”
• The 20th Amendment had cut the
lame-duck period down to six
weeks, so FDR began his second
term on January 20, 1937, instead
of on March 4.
• He controlled Congress, but the
Supreme Court kept blocking his
programs, so he proposed a
shocking plan that would add a
member to the Supreme Court for
every existing member over the age
of 70, for a maximum possible total
of 15 total members.
– For once, Congress voted
against him because it did
not want to lose its power.
– Roosevelt was ripped for
trying to become a dictator.
THE COURT CHANGES
COURSE
• FDR’s “court-packing
scheme” failed, but he did get
some of the justices to start
to vote his way, including
Owen J. Roberts, formerly
regarded as a conservative.
• So, FDR did achieve his
purpose of getting the
Supreme Court to vote his
way.
• However, his failure of the
court-packing scheme also
showed how
Americans still did not wish to
tamper with the sacred
justice system.
Question 30
President Roosevelt's Court-packing
scheme in 1937 reflected his desire to
make the Supreme Court
a. more conservative.
b. more independent of Congress.
c. more sympathetic to New Deal programs.
d. less burdened with appellate cases.
e. more respectful of the Constitution's original
intent.
Question 31
After Franklin Roosevelt's failed attempt to
pack the Supreme Court
a. Roosevelt was unable to make any changes
in the Court.
b. the Democrats lost the next election in 1940.
c. Congress permanently set the number of
justices at nine.
d. much New Deal legislation was ruled
unconstitutional.
e. the Court began to rule that New Deal
programs were constitutional.
Question 32
Both ratified in the 1930s, the Twentieth
Amendment ____ and the Twenty-first
Amendment ____.
a. shortened the time between presidential election and
inauguration; ended prohibition
b. limited a president to two complete terms in office;
repealed the Eighteenth Amendment
c. rendered most New Deal programs unconstitutional;
limited a president to two complete terms in office
d. ended prohibition; shortened the time between
presidential election and inauguration
e. expanded the size of the Supreme Court; ended
prohibition
TWILIGHT OF THE NEW DEAL
• During Roosevelt’s first term,
the depression did not
disappear, and unemployment,
down from 25% in 1932, was
still at 15%.
– In 1937, the economy took
another brief downturn when the
“Roosevelt Recession,”
caused by government policies.

Finally, FDR embraced the
policies of British economist
John Maynard Keynes.
• In 1937, FDR announced a bold
program to stimulate the economy
by planned deficit spending.
• In 1939, Congress relented to
FDR’s pressure and passed the
Reorganization Act, which gave
him limited powers for
administrative
reforms, including the key new
Executive Office in the White
House.
• The Hatch Act of 1939 barred
federal administrative officials,
except the highest policy-making
officers, from active political
campaigning and soliciting.
Question 33
As a result of the 1937 Roosevelt recession
a. Roosevelt backed away from further
economic experiments.
b. Social Security taxes were reduced.
c. Republicans gained control of the Senate in
1938.
d. Roosevelt adopted Keynesian (planned deficit
spending) economics.
e. much of the early New Deal was repealed.
NEW DEAL OR RAW DEAL?
• Foes of the New Deal condemned its waste, citing that
nothing had been accomplished.
• Critics were shocked by the “try anything” attitude of
FDR, who had increased the federal debt from $19.487
million in 1932 to $40.440 million in 1939.
• By 1938, the New Deal started to lose momentum and
support
• It took World War II, though, to really lower
unemployment. But, the war also created a heavier debt
than before.
Question 34
During the 1930s
a. the Great Depression forced President Roosevelt to
trim the size of the federal bureaucracy.
b. the states regained influence over the economy.
c. business people eventually came to admire President
Roosevelt's New Deal programs.
d. the New Deal substantially closed the gap between
production and consumption in the American economy.
e. the national debt doubled.
Question 35
By 1938, the New Deal
a. had lost most of its momentum.
b. turned more toward direct relief than social
reform.
c. had plainly failed to achieve its objectives.
d. had won over the majority of business people
to its policies.
e. was prepared to embark on ambitious new
initiatives.
FDR’S BALANCE SHEET
• New Dealers claimed that the New Deal had
alleviated the worst of the Great Depression.
• FDR also deflected popular resent against
business and may have saved the American
system of free enterprise, yet business tycoons
hated him.
• He provided bold reform without revolution.
• Later, he would guide the nation through a titanic
war in which the democracy of the world would
be at stake.
Question 36
Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal was most
notable for
a. ending the Great Depression.
b. providing moderate social reform without
radical revolution or reactionary fascism.
c. undermining state and local governments.
d. aiding big cities at the expense of farmers.
e. attacking the American capitalist system.