Critics and Impacts of
the New Deal
IB History of the Americas
Criticisms of Conservative
Opponents

Conservative opponents said the New Deal went too
far:
 It was socialism (killed individualism)
 It added to the national debt ($35 billion)
 It wasted money on relief and encouraged idleness
 It violated the constitution & states rights
 It increased the power of the
Presidency
Criticisms by Radical Opponents

Radical opponents said the
New Deal did not go far
enough. They were
demagogues (rabble-rousers)
 These men would use
campaign speeches and radio
programs to communicate their
disdain for the New Deal
directly to the people
CRITICS OF THE NEW DEAL

American Liberty League
 Dr. Francis E. Townsend
 Father Charles E.
Coughlin
 Senator Huey P. Long

Father Charles
E. Coughlin
(1891-1979)
“Share Our Wealth” Plan
Senator
Huey Long
1934
Attack from Right
American Liberty League
American Liberty League

Formed in 1934 by conservative Democrats such as Al Smith
along with many industrialists
 Its stated goal to "defend and uphold the Constitution" and
"foster the right to work, earn, save and acquire property."
 The League spent between $500,000 and $1.5 million in
promotional campaigns; much of their funding came from
leaders of U.S. Steel, General Motors, Standard Oil, and
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.
 It reached over 125,000 members and supported the
Republicans in the 1936 election
American Liberty League
 The
League used print media and radio to
distribute information
 Its political goal was defeating FDR in 1936,
backing the presidential candidacy of
Republican Governor Alf Landon.
 FDR’s strategy: Make the Liberty League
synonymous with social and economic
privilege, associate it closely with the
Republican Party, then attack the
Republicans by attacking the League.
Attack from the Left
Dr. Francis Townsend
Townsend Plan

California physician proposed an old-age pension plan to
ease the impact of the Depression.

His movement had over 5 million supporters

“Townsend Plan”
1) Providing a $200 monthly pension for everyone 60 yrs. old
2) Recipients would be required to spend the monthly benefit
within 30 days
3) The plan would be funded by a 2% tax on the production of
goods
Townsend Plan

The plan was to lower unemployment by removing
everyone over 60 from the labor force, resulting in
greater demand for workers and higher wages.

Requiring seniors to spend the benefit would increase
demand, also lowering unemployment

Critics of the Townsend Plan saw it as simply shifting
purchasing power to elderly by taxing younger workers.

The popular support for the plan prompted action on the
Social Security Act.
Attack from the Left
Father Charles Coughlin
Golden Hour of the Little Flower

Canadian-born Roman Catholic priest at Royal Oak,
Michigan's National Shrine of the Little Flower Church. He
was one of the first political leaders to use radio to reach a
mass audience

“The Radio Priest” Forty million tuned to his weekly
broadcasts during the 1930s.

During the 1932 Presidential election, he was an early
supporter of Roosevelt's New Deal reforms and coined the
phrase "Roosevelt or ruin“ & "The New Deal is Christ's Deal.“

Coughlin split with FDR because he felt that the
administration did not deal harshly enough with “money
powers” (bankers, stock brokers, & corporate magnates)
National Union for Social Justice
1936, Fr. Coughlin said “I believe that wealth … originates
from the natural resources and from the labor which the sons
of God expend upon these resources. It is all ours except for
the harsh, cruel and grasping ways of wicked men who first
concentrated wealth into the hands of a few.”
 He called for:
1) A living wage
2) Strict regulation (nationalization) of banking and utility co.
3) Abolition of the Federal Reserve
4) Lifting taxes on the working class
 After ’36 Election the tone of radio messages became more
anti-Semitic and pro-fascist, Suggesting that the Depression
was a conspiracy of Jewish bankers.
 FCC regulations limited his audience in an attempt to silence
his message. In 1942 the Archbishop of Detroit ordered him to
stop his broadcasts.

Attack from the Left
Huey P. Long
Huey P. Long

Nicknamed “The Kingfish”, A Democrat, Long was noted for
his radical policies. He served as Governor of Louisiana from
1928 to 1932 and as a U.S. senator from 1932 to 1935.

Long split with Roosevelt in June 1933 over Long’s perception
that the New Deal was too conservative.

Long’s political career was launched in Louisiana attacking
banks and the Standard Oil Company

His support of populist issues: free textbooks, lowering utility
rates, revising tax codes… he was endearing to the
powerless.
Share-Our-Wealth

Long proposed a radical wealth redistribution plan which
called for heavy taxes on accumulated wealth over one million
dollars.
 Revenue would support the following:
1) A family allowance of 5,000
2) An annual guaranteed income of 2,500.
3) Old age pensions at 60
4) Immediate payment of veteran’s benefits
5) Free college and vocational school tuition
6) Govt. purchase and storage of agricultural surplus

Long boasted 7 million members in Share-Our-Wealth
Societies across the nation
 Long considered challenging FDR in’36, Democratic National
Committee polls showed he would get 10% of the vote as a
third party candidate.
Huey Long Shot

Huey Long was shot in the corridors of the
Louisiana State Capitol building on September
8, 1935. He died from internal bleeding two
days later
 He was present at the capitol for a special
session of the Louisiana legislature eager to
pass a number of bills. One of the bills would
terminate Judge Benjamin Pavy’s job.
 Dr. Carl Weiss, Pavy’s son-in-law, shot Long in
the abdomen.
 Long’s bodyguards immediately opened fire on
Dr. Carl Weiss. He was killed instantly.
FDR v. Landon: 1936 Election
ELECTION OF 1936
 Alf
Landon: governor of Kansas: argued
there was too much government under
FDR

“constitutionally and with a balanced budget”
 Result:

FDR 61%, Landon 36 % (Maine and VT)
 new




greatest landslide in US history
Democratic coalition:
urban working classes
Northern urban blacks
Traditional progressives
Southern rural whites
Election of 1936
The Supreme Court Packing
Controversy & the
Democratic Party Purge

Protection of New Deal
Accomplishments
Steps FDR took to protect New
Deal accomplishments (both failed):


Court-Packing Plan: proposed
increasing Supreme Court from 9 to
15 members, caused a revolt in
Democratic Party
Purge of the Democratic Party:
criticisms were taking hold,
Americans were shifting away from
FDR’s sponsored politicians, FDR
tried to marginalize vocal
conservative Democratic candidates,
and Americans saw this and voted in
Republican politicians into Congress
and State positions
The Supreme Court –
Our Judicial Branch

The Supreme Court -- 1935
The Supreme Court has
had 9 members since the
early 1800s
 Their primary function is
to judge the
Constitutionality of laws
that are passed in this
country
 This function is one of the
primary checks against
the Legislative branch in
our country
FDR and the
Supreme Court
The Conflict:
• The Supreme
Court ruled that a
few New Deal
laws violated the
Constitution
• FDR was none
too pleased and
used his clout to
make changes
The Roosevelt Recession
– Unemployment surged
 FDR had decided to balance budget so
WPA and PWA had been cut significantly
 Social Security had also just taken $2
billion from the economy
 1937
The Last New Deal Reforms
National Housing Act – US Housing
Authority established to subsidize builders
for low cost housing
 The Farm Security Administration – gave
loans to tenants so they could purchase
farms
 The Fair Labor Standards Act – more
protection for workers, abolished child
labor, 40 hour workweek
 The
NEW
DEAL IN
DISARRAY
Gross National Product 19201940
NEW DEAL AND LABOR

Congress of Industrial
Organizations (CIO)



industrial unionism
worked to include blacks &
other minorities
John L. Lewis - United Mine
Workers

Revolution in lives of wage
workers

higher wages, shorter hours,
paid vacations, insurance
and unionization that enabled
them to settle disputes and
have a measure of job
security
Labor
Union
Membersh
ip, 19201992
Rise of Labor Unions in the ’30s

Decline of Welfare Capitalism


the idea that Americans should look not to the
government or to labor unions but to the workplace
benefits provided by private-sector employers for
protection against the fluctuations of the market
economy. Companies employed these types of
welfare policies to encourage worker loyalty,
productivity and dedication.
Wagner Act: Guaranteed workers’ right to join a
union and a union’s right to bargain collectively
Sit-down Strikes
Main bargaining tactic –
sit down strikes
 Sit-down Strikes –
rather than walking off
the job, workers
remained inside their
plants, not working.


Prevented production &
strikebreakers
“Memorial Day Massacre” (1937)
 Clash
at the Republic
Steel plant in Chicago on
Memorial Day



Police attacked striking
steel workers outside the
plant.
10 people were killed & 84
injured.
Memorial Day Massacre
Memorial Day Massacre, Chicago, 1937
LASTING IMPACT OF THE NEW DEAL:
Political and Economic Results

Political:




increased power of the president
Increased role of Federal government in society
Party Realignment; Democratic coalition
Economic:



created the basics of the American welfare state
aided the stabilization of the stock market and
banking system
established a power base for various disadvantaged
groups to challenge the dominance of corporations
LASTING IMPACT OF THE NEW DEAL: Social
Results
 American

Indians
Indian Reorganization Act of
1934
• returned political authority to
the tribes; tribal governments
like city governments
• Ended Dawes allotment
system; allowed collective land
ownership (~ 4 million of the 90 million acres
of Indian land lost under the allotment system returned
to the tribes)
Pueblo Indians in the Indian Service
School. Taos, New Mexico 1936 (Library of
Congress)
Women make their mark





Several women were appointed to high gov.
positions during the New Deal.
Frances Perkins became the first female cabinet
member.
Roosevelt was seeking the support of women
voters.
Roosevelt also appointed 2 female diplomats &
a federal judge.
Women continued to face discrimination but they
continued to move into the work place.
African Americans take
leadership roles
 Roosevelt
appointed over
100 African Americans to
key gov. positions.
 Mary Bethune helped to
organize a “black cabinet”
of influential blacks to
advise the president.
 Eleanor Roosevelt played
a key role in opening
doors for African
Americans in gov.
LASTING IMPACT OF THE NEW DEAL:
Limits and Legacies

positive interpretations
 Saved capitalism?
 reformed capitalism, offering protection to
disadvantaged
 completed process of progressive reform,
then moved in direction of modern liberalism
 accomplished as much as it could against
conservative forces

negative interpretations
 Failed to end Depression
 radical departure from progressive tradition
 lacked a central, guiding philosophy
 missed many opportunities to help those
groups most in need of assistance
 Hindered economy’s recovery