1933 - 1939
Learning Targets
Roosevelt Takes Office
• Election of 1932
 Hoover was blamed for much of
the effects of the depression
 Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)
elected president
 Program for dealing with
depression called the New Deal
 Roosevelt was outgoing,
confident, and gave hope to the
American people
 Former governor of New York
 Married to his cousin, Eleanor
Roosevelt
Roosevelt Takes Office
• Polio
 FDR contracted polio in 1921 which
paralyzed his legs
 FDR refused to let people see him
as handicapped – all photos showed
him standing or seated – never in a
wheel chair
 FDR established a foundation for
polio victims
 Entertainer Eddie Cantor suggested
every American donate a dime
 Drive became known as the March
of Dimes and in 1945 FDR’s face was
placed on the dime
First New Deal
• The Hundred Days
 First hundred days of FDR’s
administration – flood of bills
passed into law
 Emergency Banking Relief Act –
closed all banks and re-opened
those that were financially sound
 Fireside Chats – FDR talked over
radio directly to the American
public to explain problems and
solutions
First New Deal
 Established Security and
Exchange Commission (SEC) –
regulated stock exchange and
prevented fraud
 Glass-Steagall Act – separated
commercial banking from
investment banking
 Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC) – provided
government insurance for bank
deposits up to a certain amount
First New Deal
• Farms
 Agricultural Adjustment
Administration (AAA) – paid
farmers not to grow food to raise
crop prices
 Killed livestock to raise meat
prices
 Large commercial farmers
mostly benefitted
 Small farmers, many poor black
and white sharecroppers hurt by
program
First New Deal
• Industry
 National Industrial Recovery Act
(NIRA) – suspended anti-trust
laws and allowed businesses,
labor, and government to set up
rules for industry
 National Recovery
Administration (NRA) – ran the
program set up by the NIRA.
Businesses that agreed to rules
were given the Blue Eagle to
show participation
First New Deal
• Relief Programs
 The Civilian Conservation Corps
(CCC) – offered jobs to young men
18 – 25 years old building national
parks, working in forests, and
constructing dams
 Federal Emergency Relief
Administration (FERA) – gave
money to states to administer
through their relief programs
 Public Works Administration (PWA)
– began public construction projects
like dams and roads. Required
companies to hire blacks
First New Deal
 Civil Works Administration
(CWA)
Hired workers directly
Employed over 4 million people
Built airports, schools,
playgrounds & parks, and
playing fields
CWA abolished in 1934 and
workers fired
Why?
The Second New Deal
• New Deal programs had not
significantly impacted the
Great Depression
• Unemployment still high
• Government in deficit spending
– government borrowing
money to operate
• FDR gaining opposition from
other groups
The Second New Deal
• Huey Long
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Most serious threat
Democratic senator from Louisiana
Populist / Boss of political machine
Attacked the rich
Established 27,000 “Share Our
Wealth” clubs nationwide
 If third party candidate in 1936
election could split Democratic vote
and give election to Republicans
 Assassinated 1935
The Second New Deal
• Father Coughlin
 Catholic Priest – Detroit
 Populist
 Popular radio show
 Called for heavy taxes on
wealthy and nationalization of
banking system
 1935 established National Union
for Social Justice – Democrats
feared would become 3rd party
The Second New Deal
• The Townsend Plan
 Dr. Francis Townsend
 Proposed federal government
pay pension of $200 to every
citizen over age 60
 Recipients would have to retire
and spend entire pension check
each month
 What would this accomplish?
 Elderly politically mobilized –
threatened 1936 election
The Second New Deal
• First New Deal failed to
generate economic recovery
• Second New Deal launched to
speed up recovery
• Works Progress Administration
(WPA)
 Employed workers in public
works projects (roads, dams,
airports, etc.)
 Artists hired to create murals in
public buildings
 Actors & musicians employed
The Second New Deal
• The Supreme Court
 New Deal meeting
resistance in Congress
 Supreme Court struck
down NIRA in Schecter
v. United States
The Second New Deal
• Rise of Labor Unions
 1935 National Labor Relations Act (aka Wagner Act) –
guaranteed right of labor to organize and bargain
collectively
 Law established National labor Relations Board –
organized factory elections by secret ballot
 Set up process of Binding Arbitration – neutral party
would listen to both sides and decide the issue
The Second New Deal
• The Committee for Industrial
Organization (CIO) – organized labor
where it did not yet exist especially
in auto and steel industries
• Sit-Down Strikes – workers stop
working but refuse to leave the
factory
• CIO grew to largest union – changed
name to Congress of Industrial
Organizations
The Second New Deal
• 1935 Social Security Act
 Goal to provide security for
elderly and unemployed workers
 Workers paid into the program
 Provided monthly retirement
benefit at age 65
 Provided unemployment
insurance
 Left out farmers and domestics
(65% of black workers)
The New Deal Coalition
• Blacks and women supported
by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt
• FDR appointed first female
cabinet member – Frances
Perkins (Secretary of Labor)
• Great Depression turned the
black vote to Democrats
The New Deal Coalition
• The Election of 1936
 Republican nominee Alfred
Landon
 Left-wing threats to FDR weak
(Huey Long assassinated in 1935)
 Union Party formed with
Townsend and Coughlin but had
no leadership
 Landslide victory for FDR
The New Deal Coalition
• Court-Packing Plan
 Supreme Court declared the AAA
unconstitutional
 FDR developed plan to retire some
judges and increase number from 9
to 15
 Public saw this as power play – hurt
FDR’s reputation
• Roosevelt Recession
 1937 unemployment surged
 FDR cut spending – economy
tanked
 Keynesian Economics – deficit
spending
The New Deal Coalition
• Last Reforms
 National Housing Act – help for
low-cost housing
 Farm Security Administration –
gave loans to tenant farmers so
they could purchase farms
 Fair Labor Standards Act –
established protection for
workers, abolished child labor,
and established 40-hour work
week
The New Deal Coalition
• Legacy of New Deal
 Late 1930’s saw more resistance to
FDR from Republicans and
Southern Democrats
 New Deals had limited success in
dealing with Depression
 FDR did NOT end the Depression
 Federal government had taken far
greater powers
 Broker State – US government
working out conflicts between
different groups
 Safety Net – safeguards and
programs that protected Americans
from economic disaster