Franklin Delano Roosevelt
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), elected on March 4, 1933, was the president who pulled America out of the Great Depression. FDR was reelected as president 3 times and served from 1933 until 1945. And would have been reelected again if he did not die of old age during his fourth term. FDR had proposed a drastic change in the way government should be ran. Opposed to President Hoover's conservative take on the Government, Roosevelt had a different thought. Roosevelt wanted an unprecedented amount of government power to combat the increasing depression that engulfed America.
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Presidential Debate Against Hoover
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First Inaugural Speech (of 4)
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Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for president against Herbert Hoover in 1932 and he came out and told America what he planned to do to make the end of the depression come sooner. While Roosevelt only told about what he planned to do, Hoover's whole speech revolved around pointing out the flaws (the very little shown) in Roosevelt's speech. Hoover used a fear tactic to say that if voters elected Roosevelt, then he would propose that "government enslaves men to work for the government." and lose more then "61 days of the year" to government taxes. Hoover took a very ingenious side of this argument by tricking voters into thinking that they would be enslaved, however it did not work, because Franklin was elected president and gave his Inaugural Address in 1933.
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After being elected for the first time against his competitor, Herbert Hoover, for his liberal attitude towards government action, he first and foremost told the people what his plans were as president. FDR knew that the first thing he would have to do is to break America out of the current business cycle of America.
While it was very usual for the nation's economy to recover from a recession, due to Hoover's inactivity as
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president, this recession lasted more then 10 years, and it took FDR a lot of work to start to fight it. In his First Inaugural Speech, Roosevelt stated that in order to kick start the economy He would "act and act quickly" as well as "stimulate" the economy by drastically raising taxes. FDR knew that by raising taxes an borrowing money from other nations, he would be able to get the economy going again; primarily by putting "people to work" This was FDR's first order as president of the United States, and made sure the people knew this in his first speech.
Relief, Recovery, Reform
Relief
FDR instituted the FERA (Federal Emergency Relief Administration) which directly aided families living in poverty months at a time to help people recover from the depression. In fact, the FERA "supported nearly 5 million households each month with financial aid" The FERA also provided services that would give jobs to individuals, much like those shown in the "Recovery" column. |
Recovery
FDR's first problem he had to face, was to relieve those living below the poverty line and to get the economy starting again. The first relief program Roosevelt instituted was the CCC and WPA ( Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration respectively) These programs both instituted the building of several federal facilities, such as schools, hospitals, roadways, and many many more. The aim for these two programs was to immediately offer jobs to unemployed citizens and to increase the income of poor families to stimulate the economy and get it out of the recession section of the business cycle. |
Reform
In order to make sure a tragedy like the Great Depression would not happen again, FDR instituted several programs: the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) which would close al national banks and give them loans the help boost consumer convidence. The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) which prevented stocks from becoming larger then they are actually worth and prevent another stock market crash. These along with several others were part of FDR's "New Deal." |
Safety Net
Social Security, Welfare, and Unemployment insurance were the 3 main parts of FDR's idea for a Safety Net. The make sure a recession as Great as the Great Depression would never happen again, FDR instituted 3 programs to reform America and prevent this crisis from ever happening again. Social Security was and is one of the most controversial reforms during the depression. Social Security Allowed retired citizens to receive a monthly pension that was taken out of the their paychecks throughout their working lives and now can retire with enough money to stay out of poverty. Unemployment Insurance is a program that would give financial aid to those who have lost their jobs involuntarily and look for a new job. For 6 months the government will give financial aid to make finding a new job easier. Welfare would give checks to families and children who are unemployed or underemployed to help keep them out of poverty. Once a child is over 18 welfare checks stop coming monthly, but welfare helps keep millions of families above poverty. All of these reforms made the Safety Net come true, allowing an extra hand to those who are need and catch em before they become too poor and can help them get back on their feet.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
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Herbert Clark Hoover
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