FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT AND THE NEW DEAL

Econ Weaknesses 1920s optimism drives increase in expectations of a better way of life Low savings level Installment plans Farming depressed all decade Int’l trade weak

The Great Crash soaring stock prices attract individual, corporate investment stock market crashes – directly affects 3 million – credit crunch stifles business Businesses lay off workers Demand for consumer goods declines

Unemployment,

Effects of the Depression Hardship affects all classes The middle class loses belief in ever- increasing prosperity 1000s of young homeless, jobless Suicide rate up, fertility rate down Fathers leave

Fighting the Depression Hoover – moral response Asks for business cooperation Smoot-Hawley Tariff Reconstruction Finance Corporation – bailouts to big businesses

Hoover and Voluntarism Hoover initially seeks solution through voluntary action, private charity Eventually aids farmers and bankers Resists Democratic efforts to give direct aid to the unemployed – perceived as indifferent to human suffering – programs seen as incompetent

Bank Failures,

The Emergence of Roosevelt Franklin Roosevelt – born to wealth and privilege – crippled by polio – elected governor of New York – talented politician defeats Hoover with farmer- worker-immigrant-Catholic coalition

Election of 1928?

Al Smith Urban Wet Lost Solid South Dem Party vacillates – rural-nativist, urban-immigrant

The Hundred Days Banking system saved from collapse -- FDIC

The Tennessee Valley Authority – jobs, cheap hydro, soil conserv, flood control, etc.

Roosevelt and Recovery National Recovery Administration – codes to eliminate cut-throat competition, ensure labor peace – favor big business, unenforceable – 1935 ruled unconstitutional Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 – farmers paid to take land out of cultivation – prices increase – sharecroppers, tenant farmers dispossessed

Roosevelt and Relief Harry Hopkins in charge of RFC to direct aid to unemployed Civilian Conservation Corps employment to young Works Progress Administration place unemployed on federal payroll Programs never sufficiently funded

Roosevelt and Reform focus on immediate problems shift to permanent economic reform

Challenges to FDR Father Charles Coughlin advocates nationalizing banks, cheap money, anti- Semitism Francis Townsend calls for wealth redistribution from young to elderly Huey Long calls for redistribution of wealth (Share the Wealth)

Social Security Social Security Act passed Criticisms – too few people would collect pensions – unemployment package inadequate Establishes pattern of government aid to poor, aged, handicapped

Labor Legislation Wagner Act – allows unions to organize – outlaws unfair labor practices Fair Labor Standard Act – maximum hour – minimum wage

Impact of the New Deal Had a broad influence on the quality of life in the U.S. in the 1930s Helps labor unions most Helps women, minorities least

Rise of Organized Labor National Recovery Act spurs union organizers Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO) formed by John L. Lewis CIO unionizes steel, auto industries CIO membership hits 5 million, 28% of labor force unionized

The New Deal Record on Help to Minorities Crop reduction program allows whites to fire or evict blacks, Hispanics Public works programs help by providing employment New Deal figures convince minorities that govt is on side Indian Reorganization Act “Black Cabinet”

Women at Work Position of women deteriorates in ‘30s – jobs lost at faster rate than men – hardly any New Deal programs help Progress in government – Frances Perkins, Sec of Labor, first woman cabinet member – women appointed to several other posts – Eleanor Roosevelt a model for activism

End of the New Deal New Deal peaks with Roosevelt’s reelection Congress resists programs after 1936

The Election of 1936 FDR’s campaign – attacks rich – promises further reforms – defeats Republican Alf Landon – lopsided majorities in Congress FDR coalition: South, cities, labor, ethnic groups, African Americans, poor

The Supreme Court Fight Supreme Court blocks several of FDR’s first-term programs FDR seeks right to "pack" Court Congressional protest forces retreat

The New Deal in Decline cutbacks for relief agencies severe slump hits economy Roosevelt blamed, resorts to huge government spending Republican party revives