| The New Deal and its Critics (1933-1936) |
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Sections:- Franklin Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address (March 4, 1933)
- Franklin Roosevelt's Fireside Chat 1 "On the Banking Crisis" (March 12, 1933)
- FDR Fireside Chat 2 "The First Hundred Days" (May 7, 1933)
- National Recovery Administration Promo (1933)
- FDR Asks Church Leaders (October 4, 1933)
- FDR Fireside Chat 4 "On the Currency Situation" (October 22, 1933)
- FDR Outlines Economic Recovery (October 23, 1933)
- FDR Fireside Chat 5 “On the Seventythird Congress” (June 28, 1934)
- Father Charles Coughlin "The Search for Social Justice" (1934)
- Huey Long: Speech to Congress (February 5, 1934)
- Huey Long "Share the Wealth" Speech (January 1935)
- FDR Social Security Act Speech (1935)
- Herbert Hoover “Challenge to Liberty” (October 30, 1936)
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| Historical Context
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882 –1945) served as the 32nd President of the United States and was elected to four terms in office. He served from 1933-1945, and is the only President to serve more than two terms. A central figure of the 20th century, scholarly surveys rank him among the three greatest U.S. Presidents.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Roosevelt created the New Deal to provide relief for the unemployed, recovery of the economy, and reform of the economic system. His most famous legacies include the Social Security system and the regulation of Wall Street. His aggressive use of an active federal government reenergized the Democratic party. Roosevelt built the New Deal coalition that dominated politics into the 1960s. He and his wife Eleanor Roosevelt remain touchstones for American liberalism. Roosevelt's administration redefined liberalism for subsequent generations and realigned the Democratic Party based his the New Deal coalition on labor, ethnic and racial minorities, the South, big city machines, and the poor. Defeating Hoover, Roosevelt won 57% of the vote and carried all but six states.
Attached Document
In his first Inaugural Address, included below, Roosevelt sketches his administration's goals for stemming the tide of the Depression. The second document is a photograph of the president. The final document is an image of a newspaper headline relating to Roosevelt's inaugural address. Questions to Consider
1. Why would fear play such a large role in the Depression?
2. In FDR’s opinion, what problems face the country?
3. Although the United States has abundant resources, what, according to Roosevelt, prevents prosperity?
4. According to Roosevelt, what is the primary goal of his administration? How does he plan on accomplishing this goal?
5. What measures does Roosevelt propose to prevent future economic recessions?
6. According to Roosevelt, what task supersedes rejuvenating international trade? Why? |
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| Historical Context
When Roosevelt was inaugurated in March 1933, the U.S. was at the depths of the worst depression in its history. A quarter of the workforce was unemployed. Farmers were in deep trouble as prices fell by 60%. Industrial production had fallen by more than half since 1929. In a country with limited government social services outside the cities, two million were homeless. The most pressing issue was the nation-wide run on the banks. The banking system had collapsed completely. After his inauguration on March 4, 1933, Roosevelt faced the bank panic, and declared that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." The very next day he announced a plan to allow banks to reopen, which they largely did by the end of the month.
Attached Document
He presented his first proposed step to recovery during his first fireside chat, the transcript of which is included below. The second image is of people queuing outside a bank after it reopened. The third is a queue of patrons inside a bank. Questions to Consider
1. Why do banks make only a small percentage of deposited funds available?
2. According to Roosevelt, what caused the rush on the banks? What were the consequences of this rush?
3. What is the bank holiday? How does it function? What is the goal of the holiday?
4. Will all of the banks reopen at the same time? Why or Why not?
5. How will state banks that are not members of the Federal Reserve System protected during the crisis?
6. According to Roosevelt, what role does confidence play in ending the crisis? |
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| Historical Context
Roosevelt's "First 100 Days" concentrated on the first part of his strategy: immediate relief. From March 9 to June 16, 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt sent Congress a record number of bills, all of which passed easily. To propose programs, Roosevelt relied on leading Senators such as George Norris, Robert F. Wagner and Hugo Black, as well as his own Brain Trust of academic advisers. Like Hoover, he saw the Depression as partly a matter of confidence, caused in part by people no longer spending or investing because they were afraid to do so. He therefore set out to restore confidence through a series of dramatic gestures.Attached Documents
Roosevelt detailed his plan for his first 100 days in office to the American people during his second fireside chat. The transcript of that speech is included below. The second document is a photograph of FDR presenting a fireside chat in the studio. Questions to Consider
1. According to Roosevelt, what was the first task of his administration?
2. How does Roosevelt justify balancing the budget while simultaneously borrowing large sums of money to finance his public works programs?
3. What is the status of American banks?
4. What measures have been taken to improve the credit of the individual citizen?
5. How many people have been put to work? How has then been done?
6. What two factors have impeded the restoration of prosperity? How does Roosevelt propose to overcome these barriers? |
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| Historical Context
The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) of June 16, 1933, part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal, was a set of United States federal laws and codes that authorized the President to regulate businesses in the interests of promoting "fair" competition, supporting (that is, raising) prices and wages, creating jobs for unemployed workers, and stimulating the United States economy to recover from the Great Depression. The law created a National Recovery Administration (NRA), an executive agency exercising powers which Congress had delegated to it, to promote compliance on the part of corporations. Firms which voluntarily complied could display the Blue Eagle.
Attached Document
The clip below is a promotional advertisement for the National Recovery Administration (2:47). The second document is an NRA promotional poster. The third document is a political cartoon expressing American's elation over the introduction of the NIRA. Questions to consider
1. How do you think the NRA's goals would effect the economy?
2. Does the NRA seem to have a positive effect on employment and production? |
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| Historical Context
Attached Document
In this video (1:25), FDR appeals to basic American values during the Depression.
Questions to Consider
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| Historical Context
In the midst of discouraging economic news reports, Roosevelt tries to paint a positive picture of economic progress, emphasizing the NRA and AAA.Attached Document
In the following Fireside Chat the president outlines a strategy for inflating currency to increase commodity prices, a policy he would later abandon after it failed to have the desired impact. Questions to Consider
1. According to Roosevelt, how many Americans have been employed since the start of the New Deal?
2. What measures has the Roosevelt administration done to reform American industry?
3. What misconceptions concerning the N.R.A. does Roosevelt attempt to dispel? |
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| Historical Context
"Dust Bowl" was a term born in the hard times from the people who lived in the drought-stricken region during the great depression. In 1932, 14 dust storms were reported in farming areas. The situation, however, was only getting worse. In 1933, 38 dust storms were reported. Crops were dying, the over plowed fields were full of dust in the drought ravaged country, and people were starving.
Attached Document
In this video (3:45), FDR sketches the accomplishments of his administration and the work left to be done. The first photograph below, which became well known, shows a woman and her children suffering during the drought. The second photograph shows a dust storm rolling over a town in Kansas. Questions to consider
1. Does Roosevelt think he has failed thus far? Do his plans seem to be working?
2. What is left on the administrations agenda?
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| Historical Context
At the close of the seventy-third Congress, Roosevelt took the opportunity to defend his New Deal against its detractors and praise the achievements of his administration.Attached Document
The document included below is a transcript of that speech. There is also a political cartoon addressing the massive number of agencies initiated by Roosevelt during his term so far. Questions to Consider
1. What achievements does Roosevelt attribute to the 73rd Congress?
2. Against the charge that American liberties are being curtailed, what questions does Roosevelt ask the individual? |
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| Historical Context
Father Charles Coughlin occupied both a strange and a familiar place in American politics in the 1930s. Politically radical, a passionate democrat, he nevertheless was a bigot who freely vented angry, irrational charges and assertions. A Catholic priest, he broadcast weekly radio sermons that by 1930 drew as many as forty-five million listeners. Strongly egalitarian, deeply suspicious of elites, a champion of what he saw as the ordinary person’s rights, Coughlin frequently and vigorously attacked capitalism, communism, socialism, and dictatorship. By the mid-1930s, his talks took on a nasty edge as he combined harsh attacks on Roosevelt as the tool of international Jewish bankers with praise for the fascist leaders Benito Mussolini and Adolph Hitler. The “Radio Priest’s” relentless anti-elitism pushed Roosevelt to sharpen his own critiques of elites, and in that sense Coughlin had a powerful impact on American politics beyond his immediate radio audience.
He began as an early Roosevelt supporter, coining a famous expression, that the nation's choice was between "Roosevelt or ruin." Later in the 1930s he turned against FDR and became one of the president's harshest critics.
Attached Document
His program of "social justice" was a very radical challenge to unbridled capitalism and to many of the political institutions of his day. In the three broadcasts reproduced here he outlines his program and responds to his critics. A photograph of Father Coughlin is included below. Questions to Consider
1. According to Coughlin, what are the two goals for the Roosevelt Administration? What is the likely outcome if these goals are not achieved?
2. According to Coughlin, what prevents the abundant resources of the United States from reaching the common citizen?
3. What errors within capitalism persist, but which must, according to Coughlin, be eradicated if democracy is to continue?
4. What arguments does Coughlin use to encourage industrialists to participate in the reform of the American economy?
5. What does Coughlin’s program recommend for America’s natural resources? |
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| Historical Context
During his three brief years in the U.S. Senate, Huey Long became one of the most flamboyant and provocative Senators in the nation's history. He earned the enmity of his fellow Senators due to his frequent use of the filibuster to make some "point of principle" about which he was especially passionate, and due to his not infrequent habit of casting aspersions on the character of his fellow Senators. But the floor of the Senate gave Huey Long what he prized most, a bully pulpit from which to expound his views. He used this opportunity to the fullest--taking the Senate floor to place in the official record his arguments for his Share The Wealth program, and to proselytize for his general world-view.
Attached Documents
These speeches delivered during 1934 and 1935 make his case that the nation is in a mess and that his Share The Wealth program is the solution. The second document below is an image of Huey Long on the cover of Time Magazine. Questions to Consider
1. How realistic is Long’s income proposal for every family? Is this fair?
2. What provisions does Long make for the elderly?
3. How does Long plan on paying for his programs that help the needy?
4. According to Long, what would be the average income of every American family? What amenities would this income provide them?
5. Who does Long blame for the United States’ economic woes? Is this justified?
6. Why does Long believe that equal distribution of wealth would actually help to expand the American economy rather than vice-versa which others believed?
7. How many hours of work per week does Long propose for the average American? Why would this also benefit the economy?
8. What does Long’s plan say about agriculture? What does he propose to do with surplus production?
9. What threatens America if Long’s plan is not adopted?
10. Who has distorted Long’s message? How have they done this? |
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| Historical Context
Long created the Share Our Wealth program in 1934, with the motto "Every Man a King," proposing new income redistribution measures in the form of taxes on large corporations and the wealthiest individuals to curb the poverty and crime that came as a result of the Great Depression. Immensely popular for his social reform programs and willingness to take forceful action, Long was accused by his opponents of dictatorial tendencies for his near-total control of the state government and was noted for his colorful and flamboyant character. At the height of his popularity, Long was shot at the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge; he died two days later at the age of 42. His last words were reportedly, "God, don't let me die. I have so much to do."Attached Document
In this document, Long outlines the major points of the "Share the Wealth" program. A photograph of Long giving a public speech is shown below. Questions to Consider
1. Despite the New Deal, what problems, according to Long, persist in the United States?
2. If Long’s plan is adopted, what would be the income for the average American family?
3. What does Long propose to assist the elderly? The veterans of foreign wars? |
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| Historical Context
The Social Security Act was drafted by President Roosevelt's committee on economic security under Edwin E. Witte, and passed by Congress in 1935 as part of the New Deal. When initially signed into law by FDR in 1935, the term Social Security covered unemployment insurance as well, but now the term is used in America to mean only the three benefits for retirement, disability and death which are the three main benefits provided by traditional private sector pension plans that still exist. Social Security was controversial when enacted and remains so today. Several provisions were introduced to sway public opinion for the passage of the law. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt promised that participation in the program would be completely voluntary and that participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual incomes into the Program. That is, the money the participants elected to put into the Program would be deductible from their income for tax purposes each year. The money the participants put into the independent "Trust Fund" rather than into the General operating fund were to be used to fund the Social Security Retirement Program and no other Government program. The annuity payments to the retirees were never to be taxed as income. In the calendar year 2004, it paid out almost $500 billion in benefits. By dollars paid the U.S. Today, the Social Security program is the largest government program in the world.
Attached Documents
In the first attached document, a video (1:55), Roosevelt outlines the goals of the Social Security Plan. An abridged transcript of the lengthy Social Security Act is also included below, as well as a photograph of FDR signing the Act. Questions to Consider
1. What is the basic fear, according to Roosevelt, amongst American young people?
2. Against what calamities does the Social Security Bill protect? |
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| Historical Context
Hoover was badly defeated in the 1932 presidential election. After Roosevelt assumed the presidency, Hoover became a critic of the New Deal, warning against tendencies toward statism. His misgivings are in the book, "The Challenge to Liberty," where he talked of fascism, communism, and socialism as enemies of traditional American liberties.
Attached Document
In this speech, given just prior to the 1936 election, Hoover summarizes his main criticisms of the New Deal. The second document is a political cartoon of Hoover and Roosevelt. The third document is a photograph of Hoover at a press conference. Questions to Consider
1. According to Hoover, what are the two contrasting styles of government confronting the American people?
2. How has Roosevelt’s government “poisoned” liberalism in America?
3. What is the basis, according to Hoover, of “true liberalism?”
4. How has the Supreme Court “saved” Americans?
5. How has Roosevelt changed his tune during the election year?
6. How has Roosevelt subtly undermined the Constitution?
7. According to Roosevelt, what effect has New Deal taxes had on commerce?
8. How does Hoover take credit for some of the progress of the Roosevelt Administration?
9. In contrast to the New Deal, what does Hoover propose?
10. How does Hoover repudiate class & class hatred? Is this legitimate? |
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