The New Deal
FDR Elected
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
• Elected president 1932• Began to reassure the people in radio
broadcasts• Roosevelt rallied a frightened nation in
which one in four workers was unemployed. (“We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.”)
New Deal
• Legislation initiated by FDR to end the Depression
• This program changed the role of the government to a more active participant in solving problems.
New Deal
WPA
• Works Progress Administration—(WPA). Relief measures provided direct payment to people for immediate help
• Supported work of artists, writers and performers
AAA
• Agricultural Adjustment Administration—AAA
• This act allowed the government to set limits on agricultural output and to make loans to farmers
• A recovery program designed to bring nation out of depression over time
Effects of the New Deal
• The New Deal did not end the Depression
• High unemployment continued until the start of World War II
• It did help people survive by creating jobs, loaning money, and helping the elderly
CCC
• Civilian Conservation Corps – CCC
• Created work for the unemployed
• Projects of reforestation and erosion control; surveying
Lebanon, Kansas
Long-Range Reforms
• Tennessee Valley Authority Act (TVA)
• An independent public corporation
• Dams, power plants, transmission lines
FDIC
• The Banking Act of 1933 created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation—FDIC
• Reform measure corrected unsound banking and investment practices
• Insured savings deposits
Criticism of the New Deal
• RDR administration was undermining the capitalistic system with bold experiments
• Government was destroying private enterprise
Second New Deal
• Comprehensive program to assist the underprivileged
Social Security Act, 1935
• Old-age benefits, based on workers’ earnings before age of 65
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
• Projects carried out on public property at federal expense
1939
“Court Packing”
• After reelection, Roosevelt planned to appoint several additional judges to various federal courts
• Add 6 to the conservative Supreme Court
• Failed, however, by 1941, FDR had named 7 of the 9
Top Related