The New Deal (1932)

“I do think that Roosevelt is the biggest-hearted man we ever had in the White House…It’s the first time in my recollection that a President ever got up and said, “I’m interested in and aim to do something for the working man.”Quoted in These Are Our Lives

Franklin D. Roosevelt

• Democratic candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt easily defeated Hoover in the presidential election of 1932. Roosevelt (FDR) promised Americans a “New Deal”

Roosevelt’s New Deal Philosophy

• The Great Depression was a national emergency

• Over a quarter (1/4) of the nation was unemployed

• The New Deal would end the view that government and the economy should be separate

• The New Deal would increase the size and power of the federal government

New Deal Legislation

• Relief: measures were short term actions to help people immediately (emergency public jobs)

- Civilian Conservation Corps (plant trees/clean parks)

- Works Progress Administration (artists, writers)

CCC workers constructing road, 1933.

New Deal Legislation

• Recovery: measures designed to restore the economy by increasing incentives to produce and by rebuilding people’s purchasing power

-National Recovery Administration (businesses were asked to follow set prices, production limits, and a minimum wage)

NRA Blue Eagle poster. This would be displayed in store windows, on packages, and in ads.

New Deal Legislation• Reform: measures were aimed at

remedying defects in the structure of the nation’s economy in order to ensure that another depression of equal severity would never strike again

-Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (1933): insured bank deposits so that people would not lose their savings if a bank failed

-Social Security Act (1935): provided workers with unemployment insurance, old age pensions, and insurance for their families if they died young

-Securities and Exchange Commission (1934): created to oversee the operations of the stock market

Bank sign indicating the original insurance limit offered by the FDIC of $2,500 in 1934.

President Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act, at approximately 3:30 pm EST on August 14, 1935

FDR and the Supreme Court

• During FDR’s first term, the Supreme Court struck down several pieces of New Deal legislation as unconstitutional.

• After his 1936 reelection, FDR promoted the Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937 to overhaul and modernize the court system

• This included giving the President the authority to appoint an additional Justice to the Supreme Court for every sitting member over the age of 70½, to a maximum of six (critics called this a “court-packing plan”).

The Hughes Court, 1932–1937. Front row: Justices Brandeis and Van Devanter, Chief Justice Hughes, and Justices McReynolds and Sutherland. Back row: Justices Roberts, Butler, Stone, and Cardozo.

FDR and the Supreme Court continued…

Shortly after FDR’s fireside chat to explain his support of the bill, the Supreme Court ruled favorably in three New Deal legislation cases

Associate Justice Willis Van Devanter (a New Deal opponent) announced his resignation from the Supreme Court.

Public support for the plan dissipated and the bill would never pass.

FDR during a fireside chat

Impact of the New Deal

• Provided relief (employment gradually rose)• Strengthened the nation’s infrastructure

(roads, dams, bridges, etc)• Restored confidence in banks (FDIC

guaranteed money deposited in banks)• Changed the role of government (federal

government tasked with the responsibility of running the American economy)

• Social Security (safety net)

Impact of the New Deal

• Provided relief (employment gradually rose)• Strengthened the nation’s infrastructure

(roads, dams, bridges, etc)• Restored confidence in banks (FDIC

guaranteed money deposited in banks)• Changed the role of government (federal

government tasked with the responsibility of running the American economy)

• Social Security (safety net)