1. AP
The New Deal
Democratic candidate
Franklin D. Roosevelt easily
defeated Hoover in the
election of 1932. FDR
promised a “ New Deal”
2. • Only child of a wealthy family, cousin to
Theodore, he followed in his footsteps by
becoming assistant secretary of the navy. But
unlike his cousin, FDR was a Democrat.
6. A shift in African Americans toward
the Democratic Party-The Roosevelt
Coalition
7. “First of all, let
me assert my
firm belief that
the only thing we
have to fear is
fear itself”
8. The New Deal
• The New Deal was not based on a clear strategy
shaped by a single philosophy. He was not an
intellectual—he was just a practical politician.
FDR was willing to try a variety of approaches to
see what worked.
• Acted like a quarterback- some old progressive
ideas as well
• But the New Deal did change the role of
government. It made the government responsible
for managing the economy.
• This was the beginning of Big Government
9. Brain Trust and other Advisers
• In shaping this “New Deal” FDR relied on a group
of advisers who had assisted him while he was
governor of New York, as well as a group of
university professors known as the Brain Trust.
• The people that he appointed to high
government positions were the most diverse in
US history—Af. Am., Catholics, Jews and the first
Women Frances Perkins, as his Sec. of Labor
10. First Hundred Days
• He pushed through Congress
legislation( unprecedented
support) in his first hundred days
that would try and solve the
depression--setting a precedent
for all other presidents to follow.
11. Fire-side Chats
• Within the first week of being in office he called
for a Bank Holiday—closed all banks. Emergency
Banking Relief Act-- ordered the National
Treasury Department print millions of dollars to
be sent to the banks. He spoke to the American
people via the radio and assured them that it was
now safe to put their money back into the banks.
When the banks opened the day after the
speech, deposits far out weighed withdrawals.
The banking crisis was over.
• http://youtu.be/z9CBpbuV3ok
14. The New Deal can be classified into 3
categories:
• Relief—short term action to help people right
immediately
• Recovery—measures designed to restore the
economy
• Reform—measures aimed at remedying or
fixing defects
• The result was a number of “alphabetical
agencies” designed to stimulate the economy.
15. Financial Recovery Programs
• The Emergency Banking Relief Act
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)-
guaranteed individual bank deposits
• The Home Owners Loan Corp. (HOLC)-
provided refinancing of small homes to
prevent foreclosures
• The Farm Credit Admin.
16. Relief for the Unemployed
• The Federal Emergency Relief Administration
(FERA)- offered money to states and local
governments for soup kitchens and other
forms of relief for jobless
• Public Works Administration (PWA)-gave
money to state and local government to build
roads, bridges, dams and other public works
17. Civil Conservation Corps (CCC)—paid
young men to plant trees, build roads,
clear forests on Federal lands.
18. • Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)—built dams
in the Tennessee Valley to control flooding and
provide electric power-radical program-drew
criticism—a huge experiment in public
planning and regional development
19.
20. Industrial Recovery
• National Recovery Act (NRA) –asked
businesses to set prices, production limits and
wages—very complex-needed “self-sacrifice”
21. NRA
• The law gave workers the right to organize and
bargain collectively.
• It set codes for wages, hours of work, levels of
production and prices of finished goods.
• It operated for 2 years before the Supreme
Court declared it unconstitutional
22. • Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)-passed to
help farmers, raised prices, the government
bought surplus crops—taxed processors of
farm products
• Later it was declared unconstitutional
23. • Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)-
created to oversee the stock market and
prevent another collapse
24. Reform
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)-
insured bank deposits—restored confidence-
Glass Steagall Banking Act
• Off the Gold Standard
25. The Second New Deal
• FDR’s first 2 years in office were largely
focused on recovery. After mid term elections
swept in more Democratic victories, he
perceived this as a mandate to seek another
round of laws and programs concentrated on
the other two R’s- relief and reform
26. More Relief
Works Progress Administration (WPA)-billions
was spent on employing over 3.4 million
people with jobs. They built roads, bridges,
airports and public buildings. Also the WPA
employed artists, writers and actors
27. Reform
• National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act—
replaced the labor provisions of the National
Industrial Recovery Act after that law was
declared unconstitutional. This act guaranteed
a worker’s right to join a union.
28. • Social Security Act—provided workers
unemployment insurance, old age pensions,
and death benefits. It was the most important
act of the New Deal.
29. A Day for Every Demagogue
• FDR got criticism from the
Right/Conservatives— “doing too much—a
social welfare state” -being a Traitor to your
Class
• and from the Left/Liberals- “not doing
enough”—not enough for the ethnic
minorities, women and the elderely
30. Father Charles Coughlin
• supported FDR’s "New Deal“, but within two
years, Coughlin's steadfast support turned to
dedicated disdain--Eventually, he became
known as simply "anti-government”, "anti-
American“ and anti-semitic.
31. Dr. Francis E. Townsend
• Proposed giving $200 per month to older
citizen with the understanding that it had to
be spent within 30 days—believed it would
stimulate the economy.
32. Huey “Kingfish” Long
• Politician from Louisiana-preached
his “Share the Wealth” program- his way of
solving the issue of poverty and
homelessness, by redistributing the nation’s
wealth from the wealthiest to all those
underneath them--$5000 for every
family
34. Court-Reorganization Plan
• The Conservative decisions of the Supreme Court
proved to be the most frustrating for FDR. The
Court killed both the NRA and AAA.
• FDR decided to put an end to the obstacles posed
by the Court
• He proposed to appoint to the Court an
additional justice fore each current justice who
was older than a certain age (70.5). It would have
allowed Roosevelt to add up to 6 more justices to
the Court—of the Liberal persuasion
37. • Criticism comes from both sides—the makings
of a dictator-tampering with the system of
Checks and Balances
• He did not back down
38. • Ironically, while FDR was fighting to “pack” the
Court, several Justices were backing off of
their former resistance to some of his
programs.
• And also several justices retired during his
second term, enabling him to appoint several
judges thereby ensuring the court support of
his programs
39. Last Phase of the New Deal
• Fair Labor Standards Act—final victory for
labor, represented the last major reform of
the New Deal—
• A minimum wage (40 cents an hour)
• 40 hour work week
• Child labor restriction of 16
40. John Maynard Keynes
• Keynesian—an economic theory that calls for
“planned deficit spending.”
• Vast government spending in times of
recession-then when economy recovers, the
government should reduce spending.
