• Herbert Hoover was president at the start

• Philosophy: We’ll make it!

• What He Did: Nothing

• The poor were looking for help and no ideas on how to correct or help were coming

Many waited in unemployment lines hoping for a job.

People in cities would wait in line for bread to bring to their family.

“Hooverville”• Some families were

forced to live in shanty towns– A grouping of

shacks and tents in vacant lots

• They were referred to as “Hooverville” because of President Hoover’s lack of help during the depression.

http://www.britannica.com/eb/art/print?id=72254

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

• Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) won the 1932 Presidential election.

• FDR came from a wealthy family was educated at Harvard and Columbia Law School.

• He married his distant cousin Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.

• In 1920 he caught polio and overcame the disease.

• In his inauguration speech, FDR stated that, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

Inauguration of FDR, March 4, 1933

• FDR gathered information from many economic experts, known as the Brain Trust, on how to fight the depression.

The New Deal had three major goals:

I. Relief for the unemployed

II. plans for economic

Recovery

III. Reforms to prevent another depression

The New Deal

• FDR developed many new bills that created programs to help end the Great Depression.

• These programs were known as the New Deal.

Bank run, New York City, 1931

Saving the Banks

• Roosevelt declared a “bank holiday”, closing every bank in the nation for eight days.

• Congress then passed the Emergency Banking Relief Act, which only allowed banks to open if they had enough funds to pay their depositors.

FDR signing the Emergency Banking Relief Act into law.

Fireside Chats• FDR gave 30 radio speeches to the nation, which became known as fireside chats.

FDR’s first fireside chat on the bank crisis. (March 12, 1933)

• FDR’s first fireside chat reassured people that banks were safe to use again.

Fix the Banks and Stock Market

• Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was created to regulate the stock market and prevent fraud.– *Known as “Prevention Reform”

The CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) was formed two days after

FDR took office in March, 1933.

FDR believed that this “Tree Army” of young men would relieve rural

unemployment and keep youth “off the street corners.”

They came from families on relief.

Each enrollee was paid $30 per month, of which $25 was sent to his family.

Room, board, and clothing were provided by the government.

Created in the same first year of FDR’s NEW DEAL program

was the PWA.

It was to strengthen the nation’s infrastructure while combating unemployment.

Simply put, it was designed to spend big bucks on big

projects.

Between 1933 and 1939, the PWA funded the construction of over

34,000 projects…

Challenges to the New Deal

• Support of Roosevelt and his New Deal began to fade in 1935.

• The American Liberty League was created as business leaders and anti-New Deal politicians from both parties organized to oppose the New Deal.

Launching the Second New Deal

• In 1935 Roosevelt’s second New Deal began with a series of programs and reforms to speed up recovery and provide economic security to every American.

• In the Supreme Court case Schechter v. United States, the court struck down the National Industrial Recovery Act.

The Rise of Industrial Unions

• New labor legislation was created because Roosevelt believed in high union wages to allow more spending power to boost the economy.

• The United Auto Workers (UAW) was formed and quickly became one of the most powerful unions in the United States.

The Social Security Act

(1935) Providing security for the elderly, unemployed workers, and other needy people.

Roosevelt’s Second Term

• Millions of voters owed their jobs, homes, and bank accounts to the New Deal.

• Roosevelt sent Congress a bill to increase the number of justices on the Supreme Court.

• In 1937 a sudden rise in unemployment further hurt Roosevelt’s popularity.

The Last New Deal Reforms

• Congress kept appropriations low, believing that the plan made agricultural problems worse.

• The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 gave protection to workers, abolished child labor, and created a 40-hour workweek for workers.

• New Deal legislation began to get blocked as Congress began to turn against the New Deal.

The Legacy of the New Deal

• The New Deal had limited success, but gave Americans a stronger sense of security and stability.

• The program gave Americans a safety net that provided safeguards and relief programs to protect them from economic disaster.