ELECTION OF 1932 THE NEW DEAL FDRs plan

ELECTION OF 1932

THE NEW DEAL FDR’s plan to provide relief, reform, and recovery • - Provide relief to struggling • Americans • - Put Americans to work • - Help the economy recover • - Make changes to prevent a • future economic crisis

THE FIRST NEW DEAL • • • FDR’s first 100 days in office “Declaration of war” on the Great Depression Temporarily closed all banks Called special session of Congress and sent them a series of bills that collectively became the New Deal Over 15 pieces of legislation passed in first 100 days

PROHIBITION ENDED

RELIEF PROGRAMS • Granted Federal money to state and local governments to help the homeless and hire unemployed Americans • Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) • Eventually replaced by the Works Progress

RELIEF PROGRAMS • Work-relief: Government-funded projects that provided jobs • Public Works Administration (PWA) • Provided money to states to build roads, bridges, hospitals, and government buildings • Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) • Hired young men to work on land projects • Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) • Hired thousands of workers in rural Tennessee Valley to build dams, power plants, and work to control flooding and

RECOVERY PROGRAMS • Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) • Improve public confidence in the banking system • Provided insurance on individual bank accounts with deposits up to $5000 • Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) • Granted subsidies to farmers • Wanted to help recover crop prices by cutting production

REFORM PROGRAMS: PRE VENT ING FUTUR E ECONOMIC CRISES • Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) • Created to regulate the Stock Market • Wanted to prevent another Stock Market crash by limiting stock speculation

FIRESIDE CHATS • Series of radio broadcasts made by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the nation beginning in 1933 • Purpose: address the fears and concerns of the American people as well as inform them of what the U. S. government was doing • Used plain language to explain the complex issues and programs

• First Lady • Interested in humanitarian causes and social progress • Very vocal about these issues with FDR • Travelled the U. S. to observe conditions and keep the president informed • FDR referred to her as “his legs” since his mobility was limited by the crippling effects of polio • Helped end discriminatory practices ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

THE SECOND NEW DEAL • The Supreme Court struck down many of FDR’s First New Deal programs • FDR believed more needed to be done for those who did not directly benefit from the First New Deal • Women, minorities, senior citizens, the disabled • The Second New Deal was aimed more aimed at reform

THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT • Provided for retirement benefits, unemployment insurance, and aid to the disabled and orphaned • First version excluded many groups • Teachers, domestic help, and children • African-Americans and women • Subsequent amendments addressed these groups • Still in effect today and makes up a large part of the Federal

THE WAGNER ACT NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT OF 1935 • Gave workers the right to form unions, bargain collectively, and submit their labor-related grievances • Employers could not engage in “unfair” antiunion practices • Protected workers right to organize with the hope that wages would rise, workers would buy goods, and the economy would benefit

FDR’S “COURT-PACKING” PLAN • The Supreme Court ruled many First New Deal agencies and programs unconstitutional • FDR was worried they might strike down Second New Deal legislation • He proposed to Congress that the President should be allowed to appoint a new Justice to the Supreme Court for each Justice that did not retire upon reaching age 70 • Would have allowed him to appoint 6 new Justices (enough to protect his New Deal legislation in the future)

FDR’S “COURT-PACKING” PLAN • FDR’s plan threatened the separation of powers • Congress rejected it and the American public condemned it • Regardless, legislation of the Second New Deal was upheld by the Supreme Court and two Justices even switched their votes • The Supreme Court has rarely declared an economic law passed by Congress to be unconstitutional since 1937

NEW DEAL CRITICISM • Faced criticism from both sides • Conservative critics accused FDR of being a “socialist” an “traitor to his class” • They opposed government intervention in the economy • Liberal critics felt FDR was not doing enough

HUEY LONG & “SHARE OUR WEALTH” • One of FDR’s biggest critics, a senator, and former governor of Louisiana • Argued New Deal agencies were too confusing and didn’t do enough • Said conditions were just as bad in 1935 as they had been in 1933 • Proposed “Share Our Wealth” program to give every American family $5000 a year paid for by the very rich • Very popular & may have challenged FDR in 1936 election but he was assassinated in September 1935

SHORT TERM EFFECTS OF THE NEW DEAL • Helped ease the effects of the Great Depression, but did not officially end it • World War II accomplished that • Thousands of Americans put to work • Mostly hard labor that benefited young men and not women or the elderly • Eventually hard labor jobs were finished and that meant unemployment again

LONG TERM EFFECTS OF THE NEW DEAL • U. S. government became significantly more involved in the economy • Political party realignment • Democrats thought of as party that favors bigger government, more spending on domestic programs, and helping those at the bottom of the economic pyramid • Republicans continue to be perceived as favoring limited government, less spending on domestic programs, and