Roosevelt to the Rescue
“Let me assert my firm belief that the only
thing we have to fear, is fear itself.”
Today’s Objective
• After today’s lesson, students will be able to…
• Describe FDR’s plan for how to end the Great Depression and state
specific examples of his plan
• Examine the importance of FDR’s New Deal as it relates to both the past
and the present.
• Essential Skill
• Collaborate towards a creative outcome
Recap and Warm Up
• Read the two passages about Roosevelt and Hoover
• After reading, summarize the ideas of both presidents
and identify which one you agree with and why
Election of 1928 (Hoover)
Election of 1932 (Roosevelt)
Democratic Party Platform (1932)
• Repeal Prohibition
• Aid to farmers
• Balanced federal budget
• Promised “New Deal” for all
Americans
• Most importantly…he wasn’t
Hoover
FDR’s Leadership Skills
• Emphasized relief, recovery, &
reform
• Exuded confidence and
charisma
• “Fireside Chats” were
reassuring
• Open to suggestion, would try
anything
• “Brain Trust” advisors
Problems FDR Confronted
1) Bank Failures and Money
2) Securities (Stocks)
3) Industry and Labor Relations
4) Unemployment
5) Farming
6) Housing
7) Old Age, Disability
8) Environment
Banking Crisis
• What rhetorical strategies is
Roosevelt using in his
address?
• What are Roosevelt’s goals by
issuing this message?
Banking and Money Remedies
• Four-day “bank holiday” closed all banks
• Emergency Banking Relief Act licensed only “healthy”
banks to reopen
• FDIC insured deposits up to $5000; separated deposit
banking from investment banking; SEC regulated stock
market
• Loosened gold standard to put more currency into
circulation (created inflation)
Glass-Stegall Banking Act
• Primary objectives were twofold
• Stop the run on banks and restore public confidence in the U.S. banking
system
• Separate commercial and investment banking
• Created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
• Guaranteed bank deposits up to a specified limit
Keynesian Economics
• Government must use deficitspending to create
jobs/increase wages
• What is a major criticism of
this strategy?
New Deal Advertisements
• With a partner, you will create an advertisement about a New Deal
program
• You may use your notes or an IPad to research about your program
• Please add information that will help the class understand what your
program attempted to do or who it tried to help during the Great
Depression
• Be prepared to present your advertisement to the class
Relief
Emergency Banking Act,
1933
Federal Emergency Relief
Act, 1933
Public Works
Administration, 1933
Works Progress
Administration, 1935
Civilian Conservation
Corps, 1933
Tennessee Valley Authority,
1933
Recovery
Reform
National Recovery
Act, 1933
Glass-Steagall
Banking Act, 1933
Home Owners Loan
Corp, 1933
Federal Housing
Administration,
1934
Agricultural
Adjustment Act,
1933 and 1937
Securities Exchange
Act, 1934
Social Security Act,
1935
National Labor
Relations Act, 1935
Fair Labor
Standards Act,
1938
FDR and the New Deal Assessed
• How did FDR’s response to the Great Depression differ from Hoover’s
• Recognizing that little changed in the daily lives of most Americans, would
you consider FDR’s initial response to the Great Depression (100 days) a
success.
• How did FDR’s ideas change from the first 100 days to the Second New
Deal
• Which programs had the longer lasting impact on the United States?
• What are the effects of the New Deal?
• What are the criticisms of the New Deal?
New Deal Programs
More Banking Remedies
Truth in Securities Act
• Intended to provide buyers of
stocks with complete and
accurate information
Unemployment
Unemployment Remedies
• Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) employed youth in
reforestation, park maintenance, soil erosion, etc.
• Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)
provided $500 million to state/local relief
• Works Progress Administration (WPA) built dams,
bridges, public buildings, and other infrastructure
CCC employees
constructing a retention
wall
Waiting in line for
relief from FERA
Bonneville Power
and Navigation Dam
in Oregon, created
due to the PWA
Farming Remedies
• Controversial Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) paid
farmers to grow (or not grow) certain crops
• Sough to eliminate overproduction
• Farm Credit Act (FCA) refinanced farm mortgages
Industry and Labor Remedies
• Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) continued low interest
loans to businesses
• National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) set production limits,
wages, and conditions
• Banned child labor
• National campaign to buy from NRA businesses
NRA: “We Do Our Part”
• The Supreme Court ruled the
NRA unconstitutional in 1935
Environmental Remedies
• Tennessee Valley Authority provided cheap electricity,
flood control, reforestation, and recreation
• Controversial!
• Government owned, nuclear power
Norris Dam in
Norris, Tennessee
Second New Deal
(1934-1941)
A Shift in Politics
Works Progress Administration
(WPA)
Largest peacetime jobs
program; workers built
roads, subways, airports,
schools, and even funded
the arts
Social Security Act (SSA)
Gave money to states for aid to
dependent children, established
unemployment insurance
through payroll deduction, set up
old-age pensions for retirees
Rural Electrification
Administration (REA)
Government would loan money
to power companies to bring
electricity to people living
outside of cities and towns
Wagner Act (1935)
• Legalized unionization and
collective bargaining
• Established the National Labor
Relations Board to deal with
labor law violations
Court-Packing Scheme
• Tried to reorganize the courts by
appointing new judges
• Wanted new judges because
they would be friendlier to his
New Deal initiatives
• Proposals denied