Franklin Delano Roosevelt stepped in as leader during a dark time in American history. Although some of his policies were unsuccessful, many of them helped pull America out of the Great Depression. There were a multitude of causes for the Depression, it was a culmination of many smaller problems resulting in one very big problem. There were also many reason as to why it lasted so long and was so cruel. FDR’s policies and programs were somewhat controversial and debated by many, but most of them proved to be successful. Even today, causes of the Depression are debated by Historians. Since 1921, rural America had been experiencing a farm crisis, but urban America paid little attention. The Hawley Smoot Tariff of 1930 quickly made things worse
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Roosevelt came from an aristocratic family, he had been the Governor of New York from 1929 to 1933 when he took office. He was not an intellectual, but surrounded himself with some of the best economists and professors of his time, they were referred to as the “brain trust.” Roosevelt was a great communicator. He began something new called “fireside chats’ where he had conversations with America through the radio. He reassured Americans that his plans to bring America to it’s feet again would be safe. FDR wanted to restore America’s trust in banks again. He created the Bank Holiday, this outlined rules made by Congress for banks to reopen. He knew the importance of banks. If people didn’t put there money in banks, there wouldn’t be any money for the banks to give as loans or help the economy grow in general. The New Deal involved the creation and maintenance of many federal agencies, it’s goal was to fix the economy by the “Three R’s.” Those three steps were relief, recovery, and reform. First he wanted to relieve the poor and unemployed, then he wanted to recover the economy with temporary programs, finally he wanted to reform the whole economic system to insure that it would stay stable for years to come. Some of the programs created were very beneficial, others caused some …show more content…
Naturally, it was mainly Republicans who did not like what FDR was doing, they thought the government should not have so much involvement in business. However, on the other spectrum of politics, many radicals did not think Roosevelt and his programs were doing enough. One of the biggest accomplishments of the Second New Deal was the signing of the Social Security Act. On August 14, 1935 this act was signed, it’s goal was to solve the financial problems for the elderly and disabled. It would be funded by payroll taxes, and money from deficit spending. Many economists say that this program was necessary to get the economy up and running. Although the Supreme Court shut down many of Roosevelt’s ideas by ruling them unconstitutional, Social Security was not one of them. It is arguably one of his most successful programs as it is still used by the United States
Roosevelt came from an aristocratic family, he had been the Governor of New York from 1929 to 1933 when he took office. He was not an intellectual, but surrounded himself with some of the best economists and professors of his time, they were referred to as the “brain trust.” Roosevelt was a great communicator. He began something new called “fireside chats’ where he had conversations with America through the radio. He reassured Americans that his plans to bring America to it’s feet again would be safe. FDR wanted to restore America’s trust in banks again. He created the Bank Holiday, this outlined rules made by Congress for banks to reopen. He knew the importance of banks. If people didn’t put there money in banks, there wouldn’t be any money for the banks to give as loans or help the economy grow in general. The New Deal involved the creation and maintenance of many federal agencies, it’s goal was to fix the economy by the “Three R’s.” Those three steps were relief, recovery, and reform. First he wanted to relieve the poor and unemployed, then he wanted to recover the economy with temporary programs, finally he wanted to reform the whole economic system to insure that it would stay stable for years to come. Some of the programs created were very beneficial, others caused some …show more content…
Naturally, it was mainly Republicans who did not like what FDR was doing, they thought the government should not have so much involvement in business. However, on the other spectrum of politics, many radicals did not think Roosevelt and his programs were doing enough. One of the biggest accomplishments of the Second New Deal was the signing of the Social Security Act. On August 14, 1935 this act was signed, it’s goal was to solve the financial problems for the elderly and disabled. It would be funded by payroll taxes, and money from deficit spending. Many economists say that this program was necessary to get the economy up and running. Although the Supreme Court shut down many of Roosevelt’s ideas by ruling them unconstitutional, Social Security was not one of them. It is arguably one of his most successful programs as it is still used by the United States