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Course: AP®︎/College US History > Unit 7
Lesson 10: The New DealFDR and the Great Depression
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected president in 1932. He immediately embarked on an ambitious plan to get the country out of the Great Depression.
Overview
- Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt led the nation through the Great Depression.
- His signature domestic legislation, the New Deal, expanded the role of the federal government in the nation’s economy in an effort to address the challenges of the Great Depression.
- He was elected to the presidency four times, serving from March 1933 until his death in office in April 1945.
Roosevelt's life and long career
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, fifth cousin of former President Teddy Roosevelt, was raised amid privilege in Hyde Park, New York. He attended Harvard University, was elected to the New York State Senate in 1910, and served as assistant secretary of the Navy during the First World War. From 1929 to 1932 he served as governor of New York.
Known as FDR, Roosevelt was elected President of the United States in 1932, 1936, 1940 and 1944. He served as the nation’s 32nd president from March 4, 1933 to his death in 1945.
At age thirty-nine, Roosevelt contracted polio. He lost the use of his legs for the rest of his life, though the public was largely unaware of his disability. (In private, he moved around by wheelchair. In public, supported by steel leg braces and assistants, he could walk short distances.) His life experiences forged a man whose easygoing manner belied an interior toughness.
Roosevelt and the New Deal
In his 1932 run for the presidency, Roosevelt asserted that he would help “the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid,” and pledged himself to “a new deal for the American people.” In his First Inaugural Address, saying “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” he sought to reassure the public amid the anxieties of the Great Depression.
As president he championed the series of federal legislative initiatives known as the New Deal. The New Deal was not a blueprint for action, but was instead animated by a spirit, as Roosevelt said, of “bold, persistent experimentation,” in which he would “take a method and try it: if it fails, admit it frankly and try another.”
On March 12, 1933, Roosevelt delivered the first of his live-radio “fireside chats.” In the first chat he spoke about the banking crisis and explained the actions he and Congress had taken to address it. During his presidency he delivered thirty “fireside chats,” explaining to the public in reassuring tones and plain-spoken language his New Deal policies and the Second World War through the medium of radio.
In an ill-fated move in 1937, President Roosevelt sought to
pack the US Supreme Court, which had ruled against many of his programs, with justices who would be more favorable to the New Deal. His “court packing” plan called for adding an additional justice to the Court for every justice over the age of 70. The measure was widely denounced by the public and failed in Congress.
Although the New Deal did not ultimately succeed in lifting the United States out of the Great Depression, the United States' mobilization for World War II revived the economy during the late 1930s and 1940s.
What do you think?
Do you think Roosevelt's experience with polio changed his personality and politics? If so, how?
How would you characterize Roosevelt's approach to the Great Depression?
Why do you think the "fireside chats" were so effective as a tool for spreading public awareness of Roosevelt's policies?
Why did Roosevelt attempt to "pack" the Supreme Court? How might American politics be different if he had succeeded?
Want to join the conversation?
how did FDR make a change in the society(12 votes)
The changes FDR made to society are numerous. Although the article said that the New Deal "did not ultimately succeed in lifting the United States out of the Great Depression," I believe that, given time, it would have. Because of his New Deal programs, unemployment rates, which jumped to 25% during the Great Depression, slid to 15% during 1937 then entered single digit percentages during the war.
Another change FDR brought to society is the various Acts he started during his presidency. Just to name a few famous ones, the 1935 Social Security Act provided pensions to the elderly and disabled, and the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Acts set a minimum worker wage, maximum working hours per week, and ordered workers to be paid for overtime work.
FDR also focused on infrastructure and environmental problems, esp. from the Dust Bowl. He started the TVA project, which sought to harness the power of the Tennessee River. He also took measures against soil erosion by stopping overproduction, which meant he had to burn down some crops. He also focused on reforesting national parks.
These are a few changes FDR made to the United States of America. Hopefully this answers your question, and if it doesn't, hopefully other users would find it useful :).(19 votes)
what was the purpose of the "pact" Supreme Court?(4 votes)
Not "pact", but "packed". The purpose was to put enough new members onto the court to be able to outvote the bloc that was voting against the things that Roosevelt wanted to do.(14 votes)
Was Franklin Roosevelt really that great? The writers seem biased towards him and gave Hoover quite an unfavorable biography. Actually, the writers seem quite biased at times unfortunately.(9 votes)- Preachers are biased, doctors are biased, scholars are biased, gas station attendants are biased, why shouldn't writers be?
Anyway, here's an article about how historians have rated US Presidents. It's dated 2017, so the man who was in office that year is not included. You may learn from this, Richy. https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2017/?page=overall(0 votes)
Why was FDR relected 4 times(4 votes)- He was popular, and the party that put up candidates to run against him just couldn't compete.(5 votes)
What would you say was FDR's personal philosophy?(6 votes)
Do you think Roosevelt's experience with polio changed his personality and politics(5 votes)
It was not that it did change his personality nor his politics, but it was said that He feared that the American public would as weak as they needed as a strong leader back then. he was also seen as a traitor because rich people thought that he was betraying in deciding to help out those who were affect by the Great Depression.(2 votes)
The memorable experience which led FDR to become a new person was polio. Consequentially, it caused him to have a mental strength. Simply put, having motivated the ill-fated American people during a crisis, FDR's approach launched a new effective strategy. Perhaps, " fireside chat" could boost confidence for both sides, including American citizens and the president. Evidently, FDR used plain-spoken language in explaining and reassuring the citizens about his initiatives and plans to be taken.(5 votes)- Whom did FDR blame for the Great Depression?(5 votes)
- what did FDR believe had to happen to lift the Great Depression?(2 votes)
He decided that the government had to be more involved in helping Americans during the Depression. During his presidency, he enacted a series of federal relief programs in his New Deal.(6 votes)
According to President Roosevelt, what are the nation’s real problems and what measures will be taken to solve those problems?(4 votes)